Race And Racism In The Colorblind Society

A popular notion says a child is born “color-blind” and remains color-blind until they reach adolescence. The problem with this concept is that people believe it to be a positive idea. However, it actually presents a damaging ideology – it suggests that race should not be a factor when trying to determine the type of person an individual is. I see it as an unsophisticated approach to view people because race is a vital part of our existence. Race is an attribute that makes individuals differ from one another, and the problem is not the differences in the colors of our skin. The problem is that we attempt to detach ourselves from the reality of being racially different. Racism will seem to inevitably exist, and in order to even try to end the malice, parents should begin teaching children about racism the right way.

Colorblindness is a defect in the perception of colors, caused by a deficiency in specialized cells in the retina that are sensitive to different colors. The term is often used today during political discourse, often by members of some factions of liberalism, when claiming that one’s race should be irrelevant to any decision making process. It is a form of moral posturing; that one should see an individual as simply an individual, but not as part of any larger group or culture. As if this philosophy will enable us to bridge any gaps between races, this thought attempts to focus on how we are all the same, rather than how we differ. Teachers and administrators are required to complete coursework pertaining to multicultural education

Race has been an issue in North America for many years. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva discusses the new racism in his book, Racism without Racists. Bonilla-Silva classifies the new racial discrimination as color blind racism. Color blind racism is then structured under four frames (26). Color blind racism is believed to have lead to the segregation of the white race from other minorities called white habitus. Color blind racism and white habitus has affected many people, whom don’t even realize that they are, have been or will be affected.

It has been a common assumption that the moral character of an individual is linked to their race. Consequently, this has been a major propagator of racism. Furthermore, this has been spread people who the author refers to as “dog whistle politicians” who think that the whites have to succeed because they have the values, work ethics, and orientations required for success. According to Lopez, using colorblindness as a means of looking beyond the skin color of an individual would be helpful in dealing with racism as a whole. Colorblindness has a great role in fighting the establishment of racial policies and in dealing with dog whistle themes. Some of the chief advocates of colorblindness such as Martin Luther King, ending segregation were not the only drive in fighting for civil rights, but also changing the common mindset of linking some races with misery. (82) In recent times, a lot has been done to try and fight the racial stereotyping “deep connection between race and disadvantage” although some gains have been achieved, the author states that a lot has to be done yet.

Racism is a word that sparks a nerve in many individuals today. As hard as it is to believe, racism is still a big factor in what we as a society know as a unified America. Although, it is not as obvious as it was in the past, it still goes on, just in ways that are less noticeable. We ask the question, is the emphasis on a color-blind society an answer to racism. Ward Connerly claims it is a way to stop the segregation and make America a whole as it has been striving to be for the longest. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva believes color-blind racism is the new racial ideology and still brings about racial inequality. As the solution to the question progresses, we ask ourselves, will a

While the media might not directly contribute to discrimination, the media is undoubtedly a significant aspect of modern day society that influences how people think about racial issues (Royce, 2009, p. 1, 17). Many people claim that racism no longer exists; however, the minorities’ struggle with injustice is ubiquitous. Whites are attempting to keep blacks and other minority families locked into an impoverished political and economic position by using various tactics to isolate them, such as mass incarceration that stems from the War on Drugs. The New Jim Crow helps us in seeing how history is repeating itself and how to legalized discrimination among the blacks and Hispanics by implementing the mass incarceration.

When Dr. King said, we shouldn’t be judged by the color of our skin, he didn’t mean to start up this colorblind illusion. What he truly meant was we should get to the part where race doesn’t matter but we still acknowledge the color of a person’s skin but not judge them based off it. Colorblind is a sociological term for the ignorance of a person’s race when making a choice of who will participate in activities and receive the service they need. Dr. King had a quote he said, “What good is having the right to sit at a lunch counter, if you can’t afford to buy a hamburger?” Dr. King wasn’t about being colorblind, he wanted racial

One of the most thought-provoking issues raised in The New Jim Crow is the concept of colorblindness, and how Martin Luther King’s call to create a society where people are not "judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" has been badly distorted by

When trying to understand the concept of color blindness we first need to understand what the term means. It is a set of beliefs in which white individuals judge non-white individuals as if they were treated equally ignoring past racism (Scott p. 77). Individuals who use color blindness do so through four central frames usually used together. The four frames are abstract liberalism, naturalization, cultural racism, and minimization of racism. To understand how the four frames are sometimes used together we need to understand their meaning.

Colorblindness has helped disseminate racism in the United States since the Civil Rights movements of the mid-sixties, by perpetuating anti-blackness and racial discrimination against other minorities. Colorblindness is a new form of racism, the new “Jim Crow” which “Legitimizes the state and society as racially neutral although they are not neutral” and creates the belief that we have become post-racial and we are all equal. While preaching homogeneity, colorblindness uses mechanisms by which white racial domination is structured and as a result, colorblind racism has caused a widespread of anti-blackness and racial discrimination against Latinos, Muslims, Arabs, and South Asians.

This chapter on the framework of the colorblind ideology seems to be the most concrete and logical chapter in the book. This chapter is very well put together, with examples that cover a wide variety of topics. He also illustrates the concept of the frameworks playing into one another very well. The premise of these four frameworks as an “impregnable yet elastic wall that barricades whites from the United States’ racial reality” makes perfect logical sense as an explanation for the “racism without racists” culture seen in the US (47). Changing attitudes towards race relations forced a change in the manifestation of racist ideologies.

The problem of the 21st Century is the problem of the color line: Mass Media and Systemic Racism

Many people in the United States society believe that people of all cultures, races, and ethnicities are now on an even playing field. People with this belief support their logic with the argument that since equal rights for people of color and women have been required by law for some time now, we are all inherently as equal as claimed in the Declaration of Independence. Many believe that race is no longer an issue, a viewpoint frequently referred to as color-blindness. National polling data indicated that a majority of whites now believe discrimination against racial minorities no longer exists. (Gallagher, 96) Color-blindness allows a white person to define himself or herself as politically and racially tolerant and then proclaim their

Racism and discrimination continue to be a prevalent problem in American society. Although minorities have made significant strides toward autonomy and equality, the images in media, specifically television, continue to misrepresent and manipulate the public opinion of blacks. It is no longer a blatant practice upheld by the law and celebrated with hangings and beatings, but instead it is a subtle practice that is perceived in the entertainment and media industries. Whether it’s appearing in disparaging roles or being negatively portrayed in newscasts, blacks continue to be the victims of an industry that relies on old ideas to appeal to the majority. The viscous cycle that is the unconscious racism of the media continues to not only be

Delgado, Stefancic, and Liendo (2012) discuss the term colorblind as a representation of this concept of ordinariness as related to the critical race theory. Colorblindness is a suggestion that one does not see the color of another’s skin. This concept of not being able to see another’s color, would also suggest the one does not see the persons struggles as the relate to race and inequality. Suggesting that one does not see race also suggest that one thinks that we are all treated equally and no changes are required to even at the field for all races. If you cannot see race, you cannot see racial discrimination. The issue of colorblindness enables casting director to cast whites in the roles that are written for ethnic minorities. Martin Luther King’s statement above implies that in such cases minorities have to remove the vail of colorblindness. When colorblindness is used to continue to oppress, it