Race Blindness vs Racism Blindness

Discussion

Coleman Hughes, interviewed by Yascha Mounk:

"Mounk: One way of framing this is to sort of run together “race-blindness” and “racism-blindness,” as if not considering race is the same as choosing to ignore when people are discriminated against. What is your response?

Hughes: I love that distinction. The critics of colorblindness are, in a sense, narrowly right about the fact that actually we all do see race. We do. Most people who say that are speaking metaphorically. What they really are saying is, “I try my very best to treat people without regard to race.” Critics of colorblindness often seize on that phrase, “I don't see race,” because it sounds ridiculous on its face, and they say all of these people are pretending to be noble and virtuous in a way that almost nobody but children are. And so they seem like they have a legitimate point of view there. What is true is that, yes, we all see race, but we really should strive to treat people without regard to their race, and we should celebrate that virtue. And the thing about colorblindness is that it's actually only by reference to a race-neutral or colorblind standard that anyone is ever able to identify racism. It's not true that people who advocate colorblindness, like myself, don't see racism. In fact, people who reject colorblindness often end up blind to many kinds of racism."

(https://www.persuasion.community/p/coleman-hughes-on-how-america-racializes)