Post Reading Week 5

We study colorblind racism in ethnic studies because it is important to realize that racism still exists today, despite what some people might think. Even though it might not be as obvious as it once was and we do have our first African American president, racism has not gone away, but has transformed. From the time of race riots and lynchings, society has changed that into the idea of colorblind racism, an idea basically saying that people do not look at race as a factor when deciding on who should get the job or who should get into college. We all know that is not the truth, and that there is still white privilege going on. As for the social justice of people of color, it is important to discuss the idea of colorblind racism so that people become more aware that racism is still alive and that there are reasons and justifications behind everything.


Learning about colorblind racism is a very useful tool in understanding race in the United States today because of how society keeps changing. I think if you just look at the world in a birds eye view, you may not see racism existing. But then, when you watch any TV show, movie, or even go shopping and see who your sale associates are, you may see a different story. On TV or movies, most of the time the people who start the conflicts or have the conflicts are people of color and the white people are the saviors. When you go shopping, depending on what store you are in, it may be obvious who the target audience is by the associates or how they look. Nobody is saying these are racists things, but this just how things are, which is what colorblind racism does, it hides these facts.

I think after reading the two articles, and having the discussions in class have made me more aware of the realities of today. Before, I knew racism still existed, but to the extent in which it did not some much. I feel like I have fallen into the justifications that colorblind racism has provided, the idea of this how the world is, when in reality everything clearly has an underlying meaning. Something that has really resonated with me throughout the discussions were the amount of scholarships for people of color. How that is just a way for white people to feel like they are contributing to something. Overall, this week has provided me with examples of life experiences that seemed to have double meanings, but at the time were not that clear.