Color-Blind Racism in the

United States
A PERSONAL INVESTIGATION

K. Fuhrmeister | AHE 588 | Spring 2017

Introduction
In lieu of completing a second learning outcomes paper, I opted to
engage in further personal development to explore color-blind racism and its
prevalence in the United States. I came to this decision after completing my
five synthesis papers on the critical pillars of our Adult and Higher Education
program. After this review, it was clear to me that lack of study and projects
around racial issues was an area of personal discrepancy. Although I am
simultaneously enrolled in a course that does explore many of these topics,
AHE 555: our Diversity in Higher Education, I was still eager to dive deeper to
broaden my understanding of this so called new racism.

A large component of this endeavor involved reading Eduardo Bonilla-

Silvas (2014) Racism without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence
of Racial Inequality in America (4th edition). I first learned of this text a few
weeks ago through peer reference in an online discussion post to the AHE
555 course modules. The full scope of this project entailed reading Bonilla-
Silvas book, personal self-reflections, some face-to-face discussions, and will
culminate with the production of this paper. In this essay, I seek to
summarize some of what was covered in Bonilla-Silvas text as well as share
many of my personal insights that I have gained through reading, reflection,
and dialogue.

An Overview
Color-Blind Racism:

There is a strange kind of enigma associated with the problem of racism. No

one, or almost no one, wishes to see themselves as racist; still, racism
persists, real and tenacious Albert Memmi (As cited by Bonilla-Silva, 2014,
p. 1).

Bonilla-Silva explains our current racial climate as such: that outside of

white supremacist groups, few people today actually claim to be racist and
that most Whites purport that they are humanists who pay no attention to
the color of others skin (Bonilla- Silva, p. 1). Many Whites seem to recognize
that racial discrimination still exists in our country, but oftentimes they feel
that it is isolated to a few geographic areas or just a few people. To elaborate:
most Whites believe that if Blacks and other minorities would just stop
thinking about the past, work hard, and complain less (particularly about
racial discrimination), then Americans of all hues could all get along (p. 1).

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 This is where color-blind racism fits into the picture. Color-blind racism
consists of Whites avoidance of direct language that expresses their racial
views, the use of semantic moves as verbal parachutes to avoid [or save
face in] dangerous discussions and a propensity towards color-blind race talk.
The consequences of such have lead to the creation of a more covert but still
catastrophic form of racism (p. 3).

Institutionalized Discrimination:

A significant component of color-blind racism is due to Whites failure

to see the extent of the racial discrimination taking place in the United
States. Bonilla-Silva does an excellent job of sharing data that showcases
numerous ways in which Black Americans have encountered and continue to
experience systematic discrimination. For example:

Wages:
In 1999, Black males earned 60% of what White males made;
Interestingly, Black females made roughly 90% of what White
females made that year (p. 55).

Employment:
Research indicates that Blacks are discriminated against at all
levels of the job process (p. 57).

The Legal System:

Studies suggest that: police discretion and demographic bias
contributes to the over-arrest of Blacks (p. 49).
1 in 20 Black men spend time in prison; this figure is 1 in 180 for
White men (p.45).
In one study, Blacks were 4.3% more likely than Whites to receive
the death sentence for the same crime (pg. 48).
In 1975 46 percent of all people killed by the police in official
action were Black (p.25).

Involvement in Politics:
Black officials still [only] represent 1 to 2 percent of all elected
officials (p. 40).

Education:
Whites are considerably (and statistically significantly) more likely
to be placed in the academic track then comparably achieving
African American and Latino students (p. 35).

Housing:
Compared to Whites in America, Blacks are more likely to be shown
fewer apartments which are quoted at higher prices, or housing
that is in far worse condition to be steered to specific
neighborhoods (p. 33).

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 Sadly, this all is just the tip of the iceberg.

Color-Blind Ideologies:

In addition to all of the discrimination-based obstacles that Black

Americans face today, they still have to contend with Whites racial attitudes.
Color-blind racism can be used to turn a blind eye to all of these wrong doings
by using the following mental frameworks as justification:

1. Naturalization: When the word natural or the phrase thats the way
[things are] is often interjected to normalize events or actions that
could otherwise be interpreted as racially motivated (residential
segregation) or racist (preference for whites as friends and partners)
(p. 85).
2. Cultural racism: When Whites blame Blacks culture for racial
discrepancies (i.e. claiming that Blacks would do better if they stopped
waiting for a handout and just worked harder. (p. 87)
3. Rationalizing racial unfairness in the name of equal opportunity (p. 79).
4. Individual choice: Claiming that all individuals have the right to choose
for themselves (about where they live, bussing programs, etc.) to
explain away or belittle group-based advantages (p. 83).
5. The minimization of racism in the U.S.: This is the majority of
individuals failure to acknowledge that racial discrimination is still
alive and well in our county; this action then allows Whites to blame
Blacks for their own problems (p. 91).

The Other End Of the Spectrum: Being a Racial Progressive

While Bonilla-Silva doesnt provide an explicit definition of what it

means to be a racial progressive, he does give some examples of study
subjects that he claims embody it. Many of these individuals were in, or had
been in romantic relationships with people of color, they were able to
accurately verbalize the extent of the racial discrimination taking place in the
U.S., they had close friends that were people of color, and many opted to hire
the person of color in the affirmative action scenario questions in their face-
to-face interview (p. 181-194). Bonilla-Silva claims that racial progressives,
aka: antiracist Whites, cannot just be race traitors, they must engage in
struggles to end the practice and ideology that maintain White supremacy
(p. 307).

My Learning:
If Im being honest, I think that a large part of why I havent done more
work in this program around topics associated with race is because the

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subject matter has historically made me feel uncomfortable; it was out of my
element. In many ways, this is directly inline with some of the characteristics
of color-blind racism that Bonilla-Silva covers in this text. As discussed, for
the majority of White Americans, it is much more pleasant to live in the
isolated world we have created for ourselves rather than own up to both our
privilege and our actions that either contribute to or do nothing to dismantle
the status quo of color-blind racism.

Ive never thought of myself as being racist, but this book certainly
made me question my claimed status. In many ways, I feel the need to own
up my color-blind racist actions in the commentary ahead, as I
simultaneously highlight new personal revelations.

Personal Background and Analysis:

My family was poor growing up, but we still lived in predominantly

White areas. I had had some close friends over the years that were from a
racial minority, but none of them were Black. We did have one bi-racial (half
Black, half White) family in our neighborhood that we became very close
with, the Griffins. My parents and most of my four siblings all found best
friend relationships among their family, however, I was usually the babysitter
as none of the children were close to my age. Outside of our intimate ties to
the Griffin family, I really havent had any close connections to other Black
Americans. Its not that I was consciously opposed to it, it just never
happened and this book has really encouraged me to ask why? Perhaps
some of it was exposure, my high school was about 1% Black/African
American at the time (OSPI, 2001), but I realize that I cant use this same
reasoning for when I went to college. In his book, Bonilla-Silva explores the
impact that ones childhood exposure to diversity can have on the rest of
their life. According to his findings, it is possible that my low levels of
interaction with racially diverse populations could also play a role in how I
have designed my life today. Regardless, Im hoping that now that I am aware
of this discrepancy, that I can remedy it by diversifying my friend group, not
so that I can feel like I am a better person but because I genuinely want to.

On another but somewhat related note, I found it interesting to learn

about the domino effect of White segregation. In this phenomena, Whites
move to mainly White neighborhoods, which leads to the development of all
White schools White schools that will most likely get more money from
community levies coming from a wealthier demographic, thus, allowing for
better educational opportunities at these schools and further increasing the
racial divide. This is one of those cases where I feel I have been ignorant. Id
like to think that I wouldnt use the naturalization excuse described above,
that people gravitate towards those that are similar to them, but it is hard
to say retrospectively now that I know the truth. Today I teach in an

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environment where I am a minority race, which I absolutely love. Centennial
is roughly 75% Hispanic/Latino and 23% White (OSPI, 2016). But again, this
does not seem to have carried over into my personal life.

Another area where I have grown is in my understanding of the

benefits of affirmative action. When I was a firefighter for the United States
Forest Service, an organization where the fire community is predominantly
made up of White males, there was a huge amount of negative connotation
associated with affirmative action. People of color (and oftentimes women as
well) who received promotions were often scowled upon and dubbed:
diversity hires. The term diversity hire comes with the unspoken
connotation that someone more qualified or more deserving was overlooked
in order for the organization to meet a diversity quota. This truly was a top
down and bottom up mentality, with even the overhead resenting not being
able to hire who they really wanted. Having worked in this environment for
seven years, this mentality definitely did rub off on me. It was easy for me to
support the idea that hiring officials should hire the best person for the job,
regardless of their race. This perspective changed thanks to the process of
being able to read transcripts from Bonilla-Silvas research from people who
were anti-affirmative action, saying some of things that I myself have felt
before. Being able to read why those views were problematic was an
extremely helpful exercise. I feel that I am to the point now where if a person
of color with similar qualifications was hired over me because of affirmative
action that I would be quite supportive of it. I am now beginning to
understand the extent of the inequity and systemic discrimination that takes
place in our country, and believe that any candidate that has to deal with
that on a daily basis is more than deserving of any employment opportunity.

Discussions:

Over the last week, I have been having many conversations about the
issues raised in this book with my coworker, Matt (a pseudonym). Matt is a
middle-aged, White male. As I have gone through this mental process of
shifting perspectives, it has been very interesting to talk to Matt who is
generally open to change, but holds a lot of the color-blind patterns that are
covered in this text. For example, during our last conversation, he stated that
he did not feel that race was a big issue in our geographic area because
there are not really any Black people here, and that we should instead be
focusing on issues of gender equity. He then launched into a story about a
perceived inequity in his life where his wife allegedly needs to help him more
with house chores! Note: I dont think he quite realized how that argument
came across.

Despite the ups and downs of our conversations, I am thankful to be

engaging in dialogue around these issues to begin with. Conversation, I

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believe, is an important first step in cultivating change. On a personal level, I
have found that the process of engaging in these dialogues has helped to
cement my learning and also offered an interesting perspective into the
minds of others. I also have enjoyed using the new information and statistics I
gained from Bonilla-Silva to make better-informed arguments. Matt also plans
to read Racism Without Racists when I am finished with it, so I will look
forward to more enlightened conversations in the near future.

Final Thoughts:
Throughout this program I have gotten closer and closer to racial
issues, tackling instead other concepts such as homelessness, poverty,
disability accommodations, gender empowerment, etc. until this quarter
when there is really nothing to do but to rip off the metaphorical band aid to
open my eyes to the bigger picture of race inequality in the United States. It
was long overdue, Im sure non-impressive to some, but currently I feel
invigorated, motivated, and occasionally quite angry. This project truly
fostered a personal awakening and I am thankful to have had the opportunity
and freedom to embark on this important exploration. I certainly have some
personal changes that I need to make, but the new framework that I have will
hopefully help me on the path to becoming a true racial progressive
someone that can talk the talk and walk the walk.

References:
Bonilla-Silva, E. (2014). Racism without racists: Color-blind racism and the

persistence of racial inequality in the United States (4th ed.). Lanham: Rowman &

Littlefield .

OSPI. (2001). Washington State Report Card: Squalicum High School 2001.

Retrieved April 30, 2017, from http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/summary.aspx?

groupLevel= District&schoolId= 3054&report Level=School&yrs=2000-

01&year=2000-01

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 OSPI. (2016). Washington State Report Card: Centennial Elementary 2015.

Retrieved http://reportcard.ospi.k12.wa.us/summary.aspx?

groupLevel=District&schoolId=2395&reportLevel=School&yrs=2015-16&year=2015-

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