Racial Color Blindness: Emergence, Practice, and Implications

In this article, we examine the pervasive endorsement of racial color blindness-the belief that racial group membership should not be taken into account, or even noticed-as a strategy for managing diversity and intergroup relations. Despite research demonstrating the automatic perception of race (and thus the seeming improbability of actual color blindness), the color-blind approach to race has become increasingly prevalent in a variety of important domains, from education and business to law and societal discourse. An emerging research literature has revealed the many ways in which color blindness shapes individual, group, and institutional efforts to handle issues related to diversity. We offer an integrative assessment of this work, highlighting recent psychological investigations that have explored the emergence, practice, and implications of color blindness. We conclude by discussing alternative strategies for managing diversity and underscoring the importance of an approach that simultaneously accommodates the concerns of Whites and minorities.