Color Blind Racism• In this presentation you will learn the answers

to the following questions;

• Does racism still exist?

• What is color blind racism?

• What is Historical Inheritance?

• What is White Privilege?

The Big Question:Is Racism Really Still An Issue? Really??

The short answer…Yep. Absolutely.

Despite the fact that we now have a black president, salsa has replaced ketchup as the number one condiment, and most of you will claim that you have a Black, Hispanic, Asian (etc.) friend…

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"Those who favor ignoring race as an explicit administrative matter, in the hope that it will cease to exist as a social concept, ignore the weight of a vast body of sociological research that shows that racial hierarchies are embedded in the routine practices of social groups and institutions,"

-American Sociological Society August 2002

What does this mean? Well basically disparity still exists and white privilege (explanation to come) exacerbates colorblind racism making it so normal that it is invisible to most people. Lets start with disparity….

Disparity…yes it still exists.• All minorities still have overall

lower incomes compared to white people.

• All minorities are less likely to have medical insurance and receive good healthcare

• All minorities are less likely to receive a good education

• All minorities are more likely to have poor nutrition and live in poverty

Just to name a few…..

Isn’t Colorblind Racism An Oxymoron?Colorblindness refers to a disregard for racial characteristics when interacting with or selecting individuals for opportunities. It is often summed up with the phrase, “color doesn’t matter the individual does”.

Many ask…How could this be a bad thing? Isn’t that what we are working toward? Let’s talk about it….

There are two general perspectives of color blindness• The first views color blindness as positive toward

racially marginalized groups• The second views color blindness as negative

toward racially marginalized groups.

Color-blind as PositiveMany people believe that color blindness is an act of equality in that it involves the beneficial, deliberate avoidance of privileging any one race over others. They often believe that programs like affirmative action are a form of reverse racism and should no longer be used.As we have learned in this course race is a social construction. This means that socially race holds meaning for individuals and institutions both in history and today. Until race no longer holds meaning color-blindness will not be truly beneficial to minorities.

View the following Clip to learn more about different perspectives on Colorblindness

Part 2

Test Your Knowledge 1• What is Colorblindness?

When a person is not at all racistA disregard for racial characteristics

when interacting with or selecting individuals for opportunities

Another name for Affirmative Action used in the 1970s

When a person grows up without being taught racist values and doesn’t understand race

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Colorblind as Negative

Sociology studies the practice of colorblindness in society as an indirect act of oppression in that it involves ignoring and overlooking the privileges already bestowed upon certain races over others.Although there are many privileges studied by sociologists, for the purpose of this discussion we will focus on two main concepts; Historical inheritance and white privilege.

Historical InheritanceAlthough several generations have passed since the time of slavery, what many people don’t understand is that we rely on what we have inherited from past generations. This inheritance (often financial but also cultural and social) has given some groups privilege over other groups or denied some groups advantages over other groups.

Historical InheritanceLet’s look at the possible projection of a white and black family through time to see how this works…..

• The Smith Family is a white family

• The Hall Family is a black family

The Smith FamilyIn 1863 the emancipation proclamation freed the slaves. Although the Smith family did not own any slaves, they were allowed by law to own property and had a small 10 acre family owned farm. Jed Smith dies in 1890 and divides his property between his two sons. His son Jed Jr. continues to work the property and is able to make enough money to send his sons to school and then passes the property and a modest amount of money to his sons in 1950 when he dies. Those sons sell the property, take the money and buy homes in nice neighborhoods and one son (Craig) uses what he has learned in school to start a successful business. He is able to work hard to grow his business modestly and buy his children cars and send them to respectable schools where he supplements their rent and they are able to earn master’s degrees. When Craig dies in 2000 his children inherit his home in the nice neighborhood which they are able to sell for three times what Craig originally paid for it, they also sell the business but keep a certain amount of the business stock that continues to yield a modest interest. This allows him to send his children to college. One child (Rick) works hard and makes it to Harvard and is able to have the majority of his tuition and rent paid for without taking on a full-time job. He is able to do well in school and has a bright future with several employment options.

The Hall FamilyIn 1863 the emancipation proclamation freed the slaves. The Hall family had no land, no personal possessions, no education, and few job skills. They work the farm that they had been slaves on because they could not find work anywhere else. Their employers paid them very little for about 12 hours of work a day. When the head of the family Horace Hall dies in 1890, the family goes into debt to buy him a small headstone. The children inherit the debt. One lucky child (Roger) finds work on another farm where he is able to make enough to send his children to grade school where they learned to read. When Roger dies in 1950 he passes only a few small possessions to his child Joseph. Because Joseph can read and write he is able to get a lower level position in a small business. This pays the bills, and he lives well and is able to rent a medium sized apartment with government assistance. His children go to public school and one child (Bill )is able to make it into college using Pell grants and working full time. When Joseph dies in 2000 he owns an old car and a few small possession that are inherited by his children sold and most of the money is used to pay funeral bills. Bill has a college degree but is competing for jobs with those with higher degrees, prestigious college backgrounds, and those who did not have to work full time so were able to complete internships that gave them more experience. He is trying hard to save money for his own car and hopes to someday own a home. No one in the family has insurance so when his sister gets ill, the whole family chips in for medical expenses draining Bill’s car fund.

Comparison of Families• How does the Smith Family compare to the Hall

Family?• How did historical inheritance affect Bill and

Rick?• Did both work hard? • Did both have the same opportunities? Why or

why not?• What do you think will happen to their children?• Will Bill’s children go to college? Why or why

not?

Historical InheritanceAlthough the Smith and Hall Family stories are simplistic and in reality each family’s experience varies in complex ways, what we inherit from those that come before us (whether it be financial assets, social status, culture, skills, etc.) matters in our current life situation. Those that inherit less are at a disadvantage compared to those that inherit more regardless of how intelligent, hard-working, and capable they are.

Although these scenarios used a Black family, the similar scenarios apply to American Indians, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans etc.

Historical InheritanceRemember how we learned that race has social meaning?This meaning has had serious negative consequences for one or more generations of each minority group that put each following generation at a disadvantage that is no fault of their own.

Being colorblind to this historically based disadvantage treats people as equal when they are not equal in privilege and advantage.

What would you say?Color-blind racists say things like this:

• It’s not race, it’s economics …• It’s not race, it’s culture …• It’s not race, it depends on a person’s background …• I’m not prejudiced, but …• I’m not black, but …• One of my best friends is black.• My cousin married a black man.• I voted for Barack Obama.• I don’t see you as black.

And believe things like this:• I am not racist.• Blacks are not willing to work hard.• Blacks want everything handed to them.• Blacks hold themselves back, not racism.• Blacks are unfairly favored, whites are not.• Blacks do not want to live with us (or eat at our table).• Blacks live in the past. They need to get over it and move on.• Blacks need to pull themselves up from the bottom like everyone else.• Blacks cry racism for everything even though they are the racist ones.

Test Your Knowledge 2What is another way of defining colorblindness?

Deciding that other people’s skin color is blindingly beautiful

An indirect act of oppression in that it involves ignoring and overlooking the privileges already bestowed upon certain races over others

An act of letting people in your neighborhood know that racism is still pervasive and important

Studying historical setting for racism

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White Privilege

White PrivilegeThe only race that people are honestly and truly colorblind to is white.This is usually because being white is thought of as being normal.The experiences of being white socially, culturally, and economically are thought of as a norm that everyone should experience, rather than as an advantaged position that must be maintained at the expense of others. White=Good.

Being White=Being NormalThis means that instead of a racial issue it becomes a social issue. Meaning you can say you can’t get a job as a the leading actor in this film because you are not the normal lead actor type, rather than you can’t get a job because you are Hispanic.This normative assumption implicitly constrains discussions of racial inequality within the dominant discourse: such explanations are limited to factors specific to disadvantaged racial groups - who are viewed as having failed to achieve the norm - and solutions focus on what can be done to help those groups achieve the 'normal' standards experienced by whites.

Being white does have its advantages….

• The police will not stop you for no good reason. Or shoot you unless you are clearly armed. They will even keep your neighborhood safe.

• Car salesmen will charge you less.• Employers will pay you more. Even more than a black person with more

experience and education than you have. At work your ideas will be listened to more, you will trusted with more important things, you will be able to move up more easily and people are less likely to doubt that you can do something.

• If you are rushed to the hospital, doctors will try harder to save your life.• Poor whites in general live longer than middle-class blacks.• If you go to public school, the government will spend more on your education.• You are more likely to be given the benefit of the doubt by strangers,

especially if you are well-dressed.• You do not have to think about the color of your skin.• You can live in any nice part of town you can afford.• If you are a woman, society’s idea of beauty looks like you in terms of race.• White History Month is the longest month – it never seems to end.• Not just history but the news is told from the white point of view and reports

on things that interest white readers. Like missing white women.

Can you see colorblindness?

• Were the people in this film colorblind? How?

• Were they racist? How? • Did they use racist language? How?

Race still MattersMany believe and argue that we are living in a world where race no longer matters. While in many cases racism is not often as overt, and many groups are taking great strides toward equality, race is still an important and pervasive issue. Hanging and lynching are no longer prevalent, but racism has only taken on a more covert, subtle form that has made it harder to address. Sociologist study race as structural, institutional, and societal, and therefore in many ways invisible.

ConclusionIdentifying colorblind racism is one way to understand how racism continues to affect our society, and talking about race is an important way of fighting racial inequality and making race a less impactful social construction.As we understand that racial disparity continues to exist and the processes (like colorblindness) that support it we will be much more likely to be successful in making progress toward racial equality.

Test Your Knowledge 3• The white race often has privileges that

increase the invisibility of colorblindness because white people are thought of as…

RacistNormalSupremacistsThe Pure Race

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Now Share What You Have Learned!!• The best way to fight racism is to share

our knowledge and talk about the issues in respectful ways.

• Most people are afraid to talk about race and don’t realize that their colorblind actions can be hurtful.

• Now that you know—pass along your knowledge! As we all learn together we can make important changes!

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