Colorblindness

In the United States the two most widely held ideologies regarding diversity are colorblindness and multiculturalism. These ideologies are not mutually exclusive (Stevens et al., 2008) and they both purport to reflect fairness to members of minority groups (Aragón et al., 2017). The colorblind ideology emphasizes sameness and postulates that individuals have the same opportunities and should thus be treated equally (Knowles et al., 2009). While this idea may seem like a noble sentiment, colorblindness ignores many aspects of what make people unique. By ignoring race, colorblindness is striving to solve the problems of racism and racial disparities by pretending they do not exist or are inconsequential. Colorblindness is striving to solve the problems of racism and racial disparities by pretending they do not exist or are inconsequential.Colorblindness relates directly to colorblind racism, and those in the majority may use this ideology to maintain the status quo for their own benefit (Bonilla-Silva & Embrick, 2006). Colorblindness can make those in the minority feel unaccepted and undervalued (Markus et al., 2000). When instructors claim that race does not matter when minority students know that it does, it may elicit distrust (Purdie-Vaughns et al., 2008), disengagement (Plaut et al., 2009), cognitive depletion (Holoien & Shelton, 2012), and feelings of not belonging in those students (Aragón et al., 2017).