Assessing and Extending Colorblind Racism Theory Using National Survey Data

Abstract

Eduardo Bonilla-Silva’s work on colorblind racism has become a prominent theoretical framework for analyzing racial attitudes, ideologies, and discourses in the contemporary United States. However, the scholarship has yet to produce an empirically rigorous, quantitative assessment of colorblind racism to document the theory’s generalizability and assess it as a theory of racial attitudes. In this article, we build upon the rich body of qualitative research to develop a novel measurement model of colorblind racism using nationally representative survey data. We then use the model to estimate the impact of adherence to colorblind beliefs on support for affirmative action policies and awareness of structural disadvantage. Our findings indicate a good model fit, and that awareness of structural disadvantages acts as a mediator between colorblind racism and affirmative action support. We use our findings to develop colorblind racism theory, especially regarding structural disadvantage, both empirically and theoretically; we also consider the implications of these findings and colorblind theory more generally for the study of racial attitudes in the post-Trump era.

Colorblind racial ideology as an alibi for inaction: Examining the relationship among colorblind racial ideology, awareness of White privilege, and antiracist practices among White people

“…These results echo earlier work examining the developmental processes of White people's attitudes about race, which shows that an awareness of structural/systemic forms of racism, and acknowledgement of White privilege, often precede commitments to engaging in antiracist actions (D'Andrea & Daniels, 1999;Derman-Sparks & Phillips, 1997). They are also supported in more recent research, which finds that awareness of structural racism mediates the relationship between colorblind racism and support for affirmative action policies (Hamilton et al, 2022). In a recent meta-analysis on CBRI in psychology, Yi et al (2023) found that the denial and minimization of race and racism (i.e., CBRI) was negatively associated with a host of variables that are antithetical to racial justice.…”