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Racial color blindness refers to the belief that a person's race or ethnicity should not influence their legal or social treatment in society.
The multicultural psychology field generates four beliefs that constitute the racial color-blindness approach. The four beliefs are as follows: (1) skin color is superficial and irrelevant to the quality of a person's character, ability or worthiness, (2) in a merit-based society, skin color is irrelevant to merit judgments and calculation of fairness, (3) as a corollary, in a merit-based society, merit and fairness are flawed if skin color is taken into the calculation, (4) ignoring skin color when interacting with people is the best way to avoid racial discrimination. [1]
The term metaphorically references the medical phenomenon of color blindness. Psychologists and sociologists also study racial color blindness. This is further divided into two dimensions, color evasion and power evasion. Color evasion is the belief that people should not be treated differently on the basis of their color. Powerevasion posits that systemic advantage based on color should have no influence on what people can accomplish, and accomplishments are instead based solely on one's own work performance. [2]
At various times in Western history, this term has been used to signal a desired or allegedly achieved state of freedom from racial prejudice or a desire that policies and laws should not consider race. Proponents of racial color blindness often assert that policies that differentiate by racial classification could tend to create, perpetuate or exacerbate racial divisiveness. Critics often believe it fails to address systemic discrimination. [3] [4] [5]
It has been used by justices of the United States Supreme Court in several opinions relating to racial equality and social equity, particularly in public education. [6] [7] [8] [9]
In his dissenting opinion to Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote that "Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful. The law regards man as man, and takes no account of his surroundings or of his color when his civil rights as guaranteed by the supreme law of the land are involved." [6] His opinion could thus be interpreted as saying that laws should not differentiate between people of different races. His opinion was not the majority-supported decision, which at the time was that laws requiring racial segregation were allowable, establishing the idea that "separate but equal" treatment was constitutionally acceptable.
More recently, the term color blind has appeared in United States Supreme Court opinions involving affirmative action, in opinions that support consideration of race when evaluating laws and their effects:
In Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (2023), the Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action in college admissions, effectively overruling Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) [10] and Regents v. Bakke (1978). [11] In his concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas affirmed his "defense of the colorblind Constitution" and argued that "all forms of discrimination based on race — including so-called affirmative action — are prohibited under the Constitution". [12]
A color-blind society, in sociology, is one in which racial classification does not affect a person's socially created opportunities. A racially color blind society is or would be free from differential legal or social treatment based on race or color. A color-blind society would have race-neutral governmental policies and would reject all racial discrimination.
Racial color blindness reflects a societal ideal that skin color is insignificant. The ideal was most articulated "along with the emergence of the Civil Rights Movement in the US and anti-racist movements abroad". [13] Color-blind ideology is based on tenets of non-discrimination, due process of law, equal protection under the law, and equal opportunities regardless of race, ideas which have strongly influenced Western liberalism in the post-World War II period. [14]
Proponents of "color-blind" practices largely believe that treating people equally as individuals leads to a more equal society or that racism and race privilege no longer exercise the power they once did, rendering the need for policies such as race-based affirmative action obsolete. [15]
Professor William Julius Wilson of Harvard University has argued that "class was becoming more important than race" in determining life prospects within the black community. [16] Wilson has published several works including The Declining Significance of Race (1978) and The Truly Dis-advantaged (1987) explaining his views on black poverty and racial inequality. He believes that affirmative action primarily benefits the most privileged individuals within the black community. This is because strictly race-based programs disregard a candidate's socioeconomic background and therefore fail to help the poorer portion of the black community that actually needs the assistance. [16] He claims that in a society where millions of black people live in the middle and upper classes and millions of white people live in poverty, race is no longer an accurate indication of privilege. Recognizing someone's social class is more important than recognizing someone's race, indicating that society should be class-conscious, not race-conscious, Wilson argues.
In his famous 1963 speech "I Have a Dream", Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed, "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." This statement was widely interpreted as an endorsement of color-blind racial ideology. [17] Roger Clegg, the President of the Center for Equal Opportunity, felt that this quotation supported the idea that race-conscious and equal opportunity should not exist, as he believes people should not be treated differently based on the color of their skin. However, not all agreed with this interpretation. American author Michael Eric Dyson felt that Dr. King only believed in the possibility of a color-blind society under the condition that racism and oppression were ultimately destroyed. [18]
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has supported color-blind policies. He believes the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment forbids consideration of race, such as race-based affirmative action or preferential treatment. He believes that race-oriented programs create "a cult of victimization" and imply black people require "special treatment in order to succeed". [19] [20]
When defending new voting rights bills in 2020, Republican Texas legislators claimed that since the process they wanted to establish for voter registration did not involve different processes for people of different races and did not involve collecting information about race or ethnicity, their new requirements for eligibility to vote were "color blind" and should not be considered racially discriminatory. [21]
Some argue that the existence of majority-majority and majority-minority areas are not the result of racial discrimination and that this viewpoint ignores the possibility of other factors underlying residential segregation such as the attitude of realtors, bankers, and sellers. [22]
While the field of whiteness studies often discusses alleged failures of racial color blindness, it has been criticized for its focus on reprimanding the white population, whereas similar fields such as black studies, women's studies, and Chicano studies celebrate the contributions of the eponymous group. [23]
Among conservative presidents, color blindness as an idea has increased in the late 20th century as well as in the 21st century. [24]
Where racial disparities were once explained in terms of biology, they are now being discussed in terms of culture. "Culture" in this framework is seen as something fixed and hard to change. [22] One example form of rhetoric used in this framework is the argument, "if Irish, Jews (or other ethnic groups) have 'made it', how come black people have not?" [25]
Some supporters of racial color blindness argue racial inequality can be supported by relying on cultural, rather than biological, explanations such as "this race has too many babies". Some no longer view racism as a problem under this belief and see government programs targeting race as no longer necessary due to the avoidance of racism. [26] Bonilla-Silva describes naturalization as a frame that portrays racism as a natural outcome of individuals' choices, and "just the way things are". While Bonna-Silva himself disagrees with these as "minimization of racism", these are views common among supporters of racial color blindness.
In response to the global Black Lives Matter movement, the phrase All Lives Matter came into being as a term for racial color blindness. Several notable individuals have supported All Lives Matter, such as NFL cornerback Richard Sherman who said, "I stand by what I said that All Lives Matter and that we are human beings." [27] A 2015 telephone poll in the US found that 78% of respondents said that "all lives matter" was closest to their own personal views. [28] Despite this, the term was criticized by professor David Theo Goldberg as reflecting a view of "racial dismissal, ignoring, and denial." [29]
In 1997, Leslie G. Carr published Color-Blind Racism which reviewed the history of racist ideologies in America. He saw "color-blindness" as an ideology that undercuts the legal and political foundation of racial integration and affirmative action. [30] [ page needed ]
Stephanie M. Wildman's Privilege Revealed: How Invisible Preference Undermines America, writes that advocates of a meritocratic, race-free worldview do not acknowledge the systems of privilege which benefit them, such as social and financial inheritance. She argues that this inheritance privileges "whiteness", "maleness", and heterosexuality while disadvantaging descendants of slaves. [31] [ page needed ]
Sociologist Eduardo Bonilla-Silva writes that majority groups use color-blindness to avoid discussing racism and discrimination. [32] Color-blindness can be seen as a way to undermine minority hardships, as it used to argue that the United States is a meritocracy, in which people succeed only because they work hard and not their privilege. [33] John R. Logan has disagreed with this notion of meritocracy, as the average black or Hispanic household earning more than $75,000 still live in a less affluent neighborhood than a white household earning less than $40,000 and poverty rates are higher for minorities. [34] [35]
Amy Ansell of Bard College argues that color-blindness operates under the assumption that we are living in a world that is "post-race", where race no longer matters. [36] She argues this is not true and if it was that race would not be taken into consideration even when trying to address inequality or remedy past wrongs. [37]
Abstract liberalism utilizes themes from political and economic liberalism, such as meritocracy and the free market, to argue against the strong presence of racism. [38] Some suggest it results in people being for equality in principle but against government action to implement equality, described by some sociologists as laissez-faire racism.
Robert D. Reason and Nancy J. Evans outline a similar description of color-blindness, which is based on four beliefs: 1. Privilege is based on merit. 2. Most do not care about a person's race. 3. Social inequality is due to "cultural deficits" of individual people. 4. Given the previous three beliefs, there is no need to pay "systematic attention" to any current inequities. They argue the prevalence of color-blindness is attributed to lack of knowledge or lack of exposure. They argue that due to racial separation in housing and education many Americans lack direct contact with present racism. [39]
In Social Inequality and Social Stratification in US Society, Christopher Doob argues that racial color blindness's proponents "assert...that they are living in a world where racial privilege no longer exists, but their behavior 'supports' racialized structures and practices". [40]
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva has argued racial color blindness is insufficient to address racial inequality. [41] He argues it involves egalitarianism while opposing concrete proposals to reduce inequality. He has argued it ignores the under-representation of minorities in prestigious institutions, along with institutional practices that encourage segregation.
Eberhardt, Davies, Purdie-Vaughns, and Johnson studied implicit racial biases, suggesting people react differently to faces of members of their race compared to members of other races. [42] They found a correlation between race and judicial outcomes and suggest a color blind approach may not actually be possible. [43]
Fryer et al. argued that color-blind affirmative action is about as efficient as race-conscious affirmative action in the short run but is less profitable[ clarification needed ] in the long term. [44]
In 2010, Apfelbaum et al. exposed elementary school students to color-blind ideology and found that those students were less likely to detect or report overt racial discrimination. The authors argued racial color blindness allows overt racism to persist." [45]
Amy Ansell, a sociologist at Bard College, has compared and contrasted the development of the color-blindness in the United States and South Africa. Given that white people are a minority population in South Africa and a majority population in the United States, Ansell expected to see a significant difference in the manifestation of color-blindness in both countries. The thirty-year time difference between the departure from Jim Crow and cessation of apartheid and differences in racial stratification and levels of poverty also led Ansell to expect a clear difference between the colorblindness ideology in the United States and South Africa. However, she concludes contemporary color-blindness in the two countries is nearly identical. [36]
Vorauer, Gagnon, and Sasaki examined the effect that messages with a color-blind ideology had on white Canadians entering one-on-one interactions with Aboriginal Canadians. White Canadians who heard messages emphasizing color-blind ideology were much more likely to be concerned with ensuring the subsequent interaction did not go badly and were more likely hostile, uncomfortable, and uncertain. [46] White participants who heard messages emphasizing multicultural ideology, or the valuing of people's differences, asked more positive questions focused on the other person more relaxedly. [46]
Researchers also offer alternatives to the color-blindness discourse. Reason and Evans call for people to become "racially cognizant" and continuously acknowledge the role that race plays in their lives. They argue it is important to balance personal identity and a person's race. [39]
Researcher Jennifer Simpson argued that "in setting aside color blindness, White [people] must learn to see, accept...the possibility that some of the good, ease, or rewards they have experienced have not been solely the result of hard work" but from "a system biased in their favor." This conscious exploration of whiteness as a racial and social identity and the acknowledgment of the role of whiteness is connected to modern whiteness studies. [47]
In a recent publication of the academic journal Communication Theory, Jennifer Simpson proposed a "more productive dialogue about race". New dialogue must take a more complex look at race, openly looking at different perspectives on race. Simpson argues white people must engage with other races in discussing the ongoing effects of racism, requiring white people to participate in "communicative behavior that may threaten simultaneously their sense of self and their material power in the social order". [47]
A multisite case study of Atlantic State University, a primarily white institution, and Mid-Atlantic State University, a historically black college, explored color-blind ideologies among the institutions' white faculty members at the undergraduate and graduate level. [48] In interviews with white faculty members at both institutions, researchers found the faculty often engaged with students from a color-blind perspective, avoiding racial terms but implying them allowed white faculty to label minority students "as academically inferior, less prepared, and less interested in pursuing research and graduate studies while potentially ignoring structural causes" of inequity. [48] The study concludes that color-blind ideology held by school faculty can reduce a student of color's perception of their academic abilities and potential to achieve success in STEM disciplines and in graduate school.
A case study of a suburban, mixed-race high school examined the trend toward color-blind ideology in schools among white faculty. [49] It argued white schoolteachers's color-blind ideology often masks their fears of being accused of racism and prevents a deeper examination of race.
Case studies of three large school districts, (Boston, Massachusetts; Wake County, North Carolina; and Jefferson County, Louisville) found that the districts' race-neutral, or color-blind, policies to combat school segregation may disadvantage minorities and "reframe privilege as common sense" while ignoring structural inequalities. [50]
Racism is discrimination and prejudice against people based on their race or ethnicity. Racism can be present in social actions, practices, or political systems that support the expression of prejudice or aversion in discriminatory practices. The ideology underlying racist practices often assumes that humans can be subdivided into distinct groups that are different in their social behavior and innate capacities and that can be ranked as inferior or superior. Racist ideology can become manifest in many aspects of social life. Associated social actions may include nativism, xenophobia, otherness, segregation, hierarchical ranking, supremacism, and related social phenomena. Racism refers to violation of racial equality based on equal opportunities or based on equality of outcomes for different races or ethnicities, also called substantive equality.
Affirmative action refers to a set of policies and practices within a government or organization seeking to benefit marginalized groups. Historically and internationally, support for affirmative action has been justified by the idea that it may help with bridging inequalities in employment and pay, increasing access to education, and promoting diversity, social equity, and social inclusion and redressing alleged wrongs, harms, or hindrances, also called substantive equality.
Racial discrimination is any discrimination against any individual on the basis of their race, ancestry, ethnic or national origin, and/or skin color and hair texture. Individuals can discriminate by refusing to do business with, socialize with, or share resources with people of a certain group. Governments can discriminate explicitly in law, for example through policies of racial segregation, disparate enforcement of laws, or disproportionate allocation of resources. Some jurisdictions have anti-discrimination laws which prohibit the government or individuals from being discriminated based on race in various circumstances. Some institutions and laws use affirmative action to attempt to overcome or compensate for the effects of racial discrimination. In some cases, this is simply enhanced recruitment of members of underrepresented groups; in other cases, there are firm racial quotas. Opponents of strong remedies like quotas characterize them as reverse discrimination, where members of a dominant or majority group are discriminated against.
The Equal Protection Clause is part of the first section of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides "nor shall any State ... deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws." It mandates that individuals in similar situations be treated equally by the law.
Critical race theory (CRT) is an academic field focused on the relationships between social conceptions of race and ethnicity, social and political laws, and media. CRT also considers racism to be systemic in various laws and rules, not based only on individuals' prejudices. The word critical in the name is an academic reference to critical theory rather than criticizing or blaming individuals.
Whiteness theory is a field under whiteness studies, that studies what white identity means in terms of social, political, racial, economic, culture, etc. Whiteness theory posits that if some Western societies make whiteness central to their respective national and cultural identities, their white populations may become blind to the privilege associated with White identity. The theory examines how that blindness may exclude, otherize and perhaps harm non-white individuals and segments of the population.
Reverse racism, sometimes referred to as reverse discrimination, is the concept that affirmative action and similar color-conscious programs for redressing racial inequality are forms of anti-white racism. The concept is often associated with conservative social movements, and reflects a belief that social and economic gains by Black people and other people of color cause disadvantages for white people.
Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw is an American civil rights advocate and a scholar of critical race theory. She is a professor at the UCLA School of Law and Columbia Law School, where she specializes in race and gender issues.
Constitutional colorblindness is a legal and philosophical principle suggesting that the Constitution, particularly the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment, should be interpreted as prohibiting the government from considering race in its laws, policies, or decisions. According to this doctrine, any use of racial classifications, whether intended to benefit or disadvantage certain groups, is viewed as inherently discriminatory and thus unconstitutional.
Laissez-faire racism is closely related to color blindness and covert racism, and is theorised to encompass an ideology that blames minorities for their poorer economic situations, viewing it as the result of cultural inferiority. The term is used largely by scholars of whiteness studies, who argue that laissez-faire racism has tangible consequences even though few would openly claim to be, or even believe they are, laissez-faire racists.
White-Washing Race: The Myth of a Color-Blind Society is a 2005 book arguing that racial discrimination is still evident on contemporary American society. The book draws on the fields of sociology, political science, economics, criminology, and legal studies. The authors argue that the inequalities which prevail in America today, especially with regard to wages, income, and access to housing and health care, are the effects of either cultural or individual failures.
Symbolic racism is a coherent belief system that reflects an underlying one-dimensional prejudice towards a racialized ethnicity. Symbolic racism is more of a general term than it is one specifically related to prejudice towards black people. These beliefs may cause the subject to discriminate against black people and to justify this discrimination. Some people do not view symbolic racism as prejudice since it is not linked directly to race but is indirectly linked through social and political issues.
Racism in Cuba refers to racial discrimination in Cuba. In Cuba, dark skinned Afro-Cubans are the only group on the island referred to as black while lighter skinned, mixed race, Afro-Cuban mulattos are often not characterized as fully black or fully white. Race conceptions in Cuba are unique because of its long history of racial mixing and appeals to a "raceless" society. The Cuban census reports that 65% of the population is white while foreign figures report an estimate of the number of whites at anywhere from 40 to 45 percent. This is likely due to the self-identifying mulattos who are sometimes designated officially as white. A common myth in Cuba is that every Cuban has at least some African ancestry, influenced by historical mestizaje nationalism. Given the high number of immigrants from Europe in the 20th century, this is far from true. Several pivotal events have impacted race relations on the island. Using the historic race-blind nationalism first established around the time of independence, Cuba has navigated the abolition of slavery, the suppression of black clubs and political parties, the revolution and its aftermath, and the special period.
The sociology of race and ethnic relations is the study of social, political, and economic relations between races and ethnicities at all levels of society. This area encompasses the study of systemic racism, like residential segregation and other complex social processes between different racial and ethnic groups.
Societal racism is a type of racism based on a set of institutional, historical, cultural and interpersonal practices within a society that places one or more social or ethnic groups in a better position to succeed and disadvantages other groups so that disparities develop between the groups. Societal racism has also been called structural racism, because, according to Carl E. James, society is structured in a way that excludes substantial numbers of people from minority backgrounds from taking part in social institutions. Societal racism is sometimes referred to as systemic racism as well. Societal racism is a form of societal discrimination.
Color consciousness is a theory stating that equality under the law is insufficient to address racial inequalities in society. It rejects the concept of fundamental racial differences, but holds that physical differences such as skin color can and do negatively impact some people's life opportunities. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun in 1978, stated, "In order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race. There is no other way. And in order to treat some persons equally, we must treat them differently.".
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva is an American sociologist and professor of sociology at Duke University. He was the 2018 president of the American Sociological Association.
Diversity ideology refers to individual beliefs regarding the nature of intergroup relations and how to improve them in culturally diverse societies. A large amount of scientific literature in social psychology studies diversity ideologies as prejudice reduction strategies, most commonly in the context of racial groups and interracial interactions. In research studies on the effects of diversity ideology, social psychologists have either examined endorsement of a diversity ideology as individual difference or used situational priming designs to activate the mindset of a particular diversity ideology. It is consistently shown that diversity ideologies influence how individuals perceive, judge and treat cultural outgroup members. Different diversity ideologies are associated with distinct effects on intergroup relations, such as stereotyping and prejudice, intergroup equality, and intergroup interactions from the perspectives of both majority and minority group members. Beyond intergroup consequences, diversity ideology also has implications on individual outcomes, such as whether people are open to cultural fusion and foreign ideas, which in turn predict creativity.
Color Blindness is a more contemporary form of ahistorical racism that is epitomized by the phrase, "I do not see color." In essence the term refers to one who places racism squarely in the past.
In the context of race, rhetorical shields are semantic moves or strategically managed propositions to safely state certain views. They commonly appear as nonracial utterances between racial statements.
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