Colour-blind racism (1970- ), also known as aversive racism, is racism that acts as if skin colour does not matter – even when it does. It is the most common form of racismamong white Americans who grew up after the fall of Jim Crow in the 1960s. It takes the place of Jim Crow racism, the meaner, more naked white racism common in the 1950s and before.
Political correctness and the idea of hate speech grew out of colour-blind racism. So did the welfare queen andmodel minority stereotypes. It helped to spread the word “African American”.
Colour-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 favoured, 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.
Notice how white people never seem to do anything bad.
While they would agree with most of those statements, they would have a hard time saying them straight out like that. Race makes them uncomfortable. Their statements would be more long-winded and watered down, throwing in phrases like those from the first list, even the one about the cousin.
They seem to think that if they do not say the words then racism will somehow go away by magic. As if racism is just a matter of words.
They rarely think of themselves as “white” and avoid saying the word “black” in public, even when they are thinking it. Their supposed colour-blindness is a front.
For example, I have heard white people talk about someone who I knew had to be black just by the way they bent over backwards to avoid saying the word “black”. Yet when they left the room and thought I could not hear, they said “black” just as plain as day, as if they were talking about their dress.
They avoid the word “race” too. Instead they use words like “culture”, “background”, “ethnicity”. That is why they like the word “African American” so much: it seems colour-blind.
They are not as mean or violent as Jim Crow racists, nor do they wear their racism well. Unlike Jim Crow racists, they are willing to vote for a black man for president. But they still look down on blacks and still believe the stereotypes, adding some of their own.
They are not as colour-blind as they think. The only colour they are truly blind to is white.
Eduardo Bonilla-Silva asked samples of White Americans, most of them born between 1940 and 1980, questions about race issues. He noticed that at least half of them used each of the following four frames:
- Abstract liberalism – the key word here is “abstract”. Unlike Jim Crow racists, most whites now agree that all Americans, regardless of race, should have equal rights and equal opportunities. But it is just lip service. When asked about government policies that could bring about such equality, like affirmative action or busing, most whites will find one reason or another to oppose them and fail to offer any other solid measure. Freedom, democracy and equality are not things to be achieved but just empty words to dress up the way things are in America – and to dress up the racism of white people.
- Minimization of racism – Most whites believe there is still discrimination against blacks, but it is not as bad as it used to be and it is no longer the main thing holding blacks back. Instead it is their culture:
- Cultural racism – Unlike Jim Crow racists, most whites no longer believe that there is anything wrong with blacks biologically. Instead it is cultural: mostly bad families, bad values and a bad work ethic. Blaming the victim. Some note that blacks use racism as an excuse and expect handouts.
- Naturalization of racism – racist practices in society, like highly segregated schools and neighbourhoods and low rates of interracial marriage, are seen as “natural”, as a part of human nature – not as the outcome of white racism. That means it is no one’s fault, that there is little that can be done to change it.
The frames are mixed and matched as required by the argument at hand. The frames help to support each other. For example, minimizing racism makes an abstract liberalism seem more acceptable. The frames can be used in a straightforward way (“Blacks are lazy”) or more subtly (“It is hard being a single mother”).
Whites think they are a better judge of racism than blacks, particularly since blacks tend to imagine racism when it is not there.
The truth is blacks imagine little. Discrimination in hiring, housing and education has been well documented. The government should take forceful action to end it as it goes against the American value of equal opportunity for all regardless of race.
Yet almost no white person talks like that. Instead they use the frames to avoid saying anything like that. At best they will admit to discrimination but then discount its effects. Or they will say they believe in equality of opportunity but then find reasons to oppose any policy with the teeth to achieve it.
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