Recommended Reading–Colorblind Racism

Published by rachels | Filed under Racism and White Supremacy, Uncategorized

If you haven’t had the chance to read anything from professor Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, I highly recommend his books–Racism Without Racists and White Supremacy and Racism in the Post Civil Rights Era. I used his model of colorblind racism in my dissertation to talk about how interracial relationships are viewed in contemporary American (US that is) society. Granny has a post (inspired by this post) discussing some of Bonilla Silva’s views on “race talk” in the colorblind era. I think Dr. Bonilla-Silva added a few more elements in the final draft of the book than he had in the earlier article that Granny cites.

Here are a few quotes from the theory section of my dissertation discussing Bonilla-Silva’s views on colorblind racism. For those who are interested in social theory, I combined a symbolic interactionist (Goffman’s and Blumer) perspective with contemporary racism theory as the foundation for the study research.

Several stylistic and ideological characteristics distinguish the “new racism” from its predecessor. Bobo, et. al. (1997) argue that laissez faire racism involves three key elements– persistent negative stereotyping of African Americans, opposition to policies to improve the conditions of African Americans, and a tendency to blame African Americans for the persistent gap in socio-economic standing. Bonilla-Silva (2001) adds other characteristics, which are particularly helpful at identifying the “style” of contemporary racism—1) increasingly covert racial discourses and practices, 2) avoidance of racial terminology and claims by whites that they experience “reverse discrimination,” 3) a racial agenda in the discussion of political matters that avoids direct racial references, 4) invisibility of the mechanisms of racial inequality, and 5) the rearticulation of some of the elements of Jim Crow racism (pg. 90). One of the most important elements of contemporary racism is the emergence of the “colorblind ideology.” The colorblind ideology asserts that color is not important and should not be the basis for social judgments. The key problem with colorblind ideology is that it is an abstract principle that does not hold true in practice, particularly in the practice of marriage and intimacy (Bonilla Silva 2001). This new racist ideology is often referred to as colorblind or laissez faire racism.

Here is another quote on the specific issues that Granny raises.

Bonilla Silva’s (2003) concept of race talk is particularly useful because he talks about the rhetorical strategies that that Whites use to avoid be labeled as racist. These strategies are very clear examples of the face work used maintain the illusion of antiracism. For example, Bonilla Silva talks about the—“I’m not racist but…” and “Some of my best friends are….” statements that Whites use in discussing racism. These statements are almost immediately followed but negative assessments of racial minority groups. Bonilla Silva identifies several other semantic maneuvers that are common.

1) The “I’m not Black so I wouldn’t know” strategy, in which White respondents claim to not know or understand racism and its effects. 2) The “yes and not, but” strategy, in which Whites claim initially to not have favorable position but then go on to express their actual views. 3) The “anything but race strategy,” in which Whites argue that nonracial factors explain racial outcomes. 4) The “they are the racist ones strategy,” in which Whites try to shift away from their own racism by projecting their views on to Blacks. 5) The diminutives strategy, which includes statements such as life is “a little harder for interracial couples. 6) The rhetorical incoherence strategy, in which Whites are clearly uncomfortable and make contradictory and incomprehensible statements. These strategies all help Whites save face and avoid the label of “racist” in front of their peers. This is particularly important since front stage discussions of racial issues are less and less candid, and avoiding the impression of racism is important for the maintenance of a positive self image under the system of contemporary racial ideology.

An additional frame not discussed in the above quotes, is what Bonilla-Silva calls the naturalization framework. When people naturalize racism, they see the current racial order as normal or natural. They may use comments such as “it’s just natural to want to be around your own kind.”

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