racial color blindness

Research Question: How may critical race theory be employed to examine the use of racial color blindnessas a method for managing intergroup relations and diversity? 

Academic Sources

Source 1

Morrison, Kimberly Rios et al. “Predicting Whether Multiculturalism Positively Or Negatively Influences White Americans’ Intergroup Attitudes: The Role Of Ethnic Identification.” Personality And Social Psychology Bulletin, vol 36, no. 12, 2010, pp. 1648-1661. SAGE Publications, https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167210386118.

Summary

Main idea

The main idea of this study is that multiculturalism as an alternative to color blindness has both negative and positive impacts on the behavior of white Americans towards the perception of race.

Main points

Previous findings in sociopsychology had mixed results on whether multiculturalism increases or reduces racial bias. There is a need for the examination of ethnic identification and its impact on racial discrimination in intergroup. Observing people who strongly identify with their race informs about their perception of multiculturalism. Results indicate that people who strongly affiliate with their race tend to impose racial bias in the intergroup than those less concerned with their race.

Credibility

The authors, Morrison, Plaut, and Ybarra, are all professors in universities. Morison helped coin the psychological perspective of multiculturalism in this article. Plaut and Ybarra have extensive experience in cultural perspectives, especially multiculturalism, as seen in his publications on PubMed. This article is biased because authors have professionally majored in multiculturalism, and the study group only considers white Americans. However, it is credible based on the author’s academic and professional background.

Relevance

This paper was published ten years ago, which is a significantly long time for a society to have changed perception. However, the paper strongly relates to my topic since multiculturalism is one of the alternatives to colorblindness that I intend to discuss.

Evaluation

I am likely to use this source to extract analysis of multiculturalism as an alternative to colorblindness. The article has significant findings regarding white Americans’ views of color, and besides, it is a credible source.

Source 2

Lee, Tamara L., and Maite Tapia. “Confronting Race And Other Social Identity Erasures: The Case For Critical Industrial Relations Theory.” ILR Review, vol 74, no. 3, 2021, pp. 637-662. SAGE Publications, https://doi.org/10.1177/0019793921992080.

Summary

Main idea

The article insists that critical race theory (CRT) should be incorporated in industrial relations in the US society to reduce the counter-narratives in reducing racial bias in the labor market.

Main points

The philosophical view that the whites are dominant and the narrative of privileged groups are prevalent issues on industrial relations in the US. Among the many frameworks that have attempted to resolve social injustice against minority races, CRT provides intersectionality lacking in other frameworks and engages social sciences to provide the optimal solutions for ending the racial bias in the labor market. Authors insist that CRT will inform racial expectations from a scholarly leadership perspective in social phenomena like unions, laws, and systems like the labor market.

Credibility

After writing many peer-review articles and book reviews, Lee and Tapia, also assistant professors, have gained an extensive research background in social systems.  The paper is biased towards labor and employment and fails to explain in-depth the psychological perspectives of CRT. Nevertheless, it is a credible source.

Relevance

This paper focuses on the appropriateness of CRT in ending social injustices in industrial relations. This strongly relates to my paper since I am investigating the importance of CRT in ending racism and managing intergroup relations and diversity. Besides, the article was published this year, making its findings relevant to the current US society.

Evaluation

I would use the article to gather ideas on the application of CRT in social systems like the labor market and ingroups like labor unions. The paper’s findings would help critique the importance of CRT and the approach of colorblindness in managing intergroup relations and diversity.

Source 3

Sparkman, David. “Multiculturalism, Colorblindness, And Prejudice: Examining How Diversity Ideologies Impact Intergroup Attitudes.” Eastern Michigan University, 2016.

Summary

            Main idea

Although both colorblindness and multiculturalism contest the best approach to racial injustice, multiculturalism has significantly reduced racial prejudice in ingroups and outgroups compared to colorblindness. 

Main points

Colorblindness has been a consistent focus in social psychology as a possible means of ending racial prejudice, but the ideology of multiculturalism has gained equal attention. Models of multiculturalism concern recognizing and appreciating group differences. Findings suggest multiculturalism is better than colorblindness in overcoming discrimination.

Credibility

Sparkman has used a robust methodology with a large sample that is manipulated to identify the psychological effects of diversity ideologies. In his research, the paper exposes the author to a vast library of information concerning human behavior within ingroups. The article is also current since it was published in 2016. However, the study did not employ a control group with reduced the validity of his method. Overall, the paper is credible.

Relevance

This paper compares colorblindness and multiculturalism and their effect on prejudice, which is ideally the focus of my article. Since it was written barely five years ago, its findings are relevant to the current study to help create arguments on the strengths and weaknesses of colorblindness.

Evaluation

I would use this paper to create arguments on the strengths and weaknesses of colorblindness. I can also critique multiculturalism as an alternative to colorblindness in reducing prejudice within ingroups.

Source 4

Mueller, Jennifer C. “Producing Colorblindness: Everyday Mechanisms Of White Ignorance.” Social Problems, vol 64, no. 2, 2021, pp. 219–238. Academic.Oup, https://doi.org/10.1093/socpro/spw061.

Summary

            Main idea

Colorblindness is a mechanism designed to impose ignorance on white Americans, such that they know the diversity inherent in a race but pretend they do not know.

Main points

Since the civil rights era, US society has believed color blindness is the optimal framework to end racial prejudice. While it was the primary distinction of white structural supremacy, colorblindness has come along the way, creating a foundation for societal ignorance. Racial differences are inherent, and colorblindness ironically educates a society to pretend they cannot see what is already visible, and they do not know what they already know, which is “making people ignorant.”

Credibility

The author is a professor in the department of sociology at Skidmore College. She has extensive experience in social issues with a bias in health, as revealed in her PubMed, Google Scholar, and Oxford publications. The article provides a solid historical background of colorblindness and its impact on the current perception from a psychological point of view through an extensive methodology. The author’s radical approach to colorblindness is prone to information bias and selection bias when sampling the subjects. However, based on the authors’ professional background and the methodology used, I consider it credible.

Relevance

The article has a strong perspective on the place of colorblindness in the fight against racial prejudice. That makes it very resourceful in my work since I will need to understand the history of colorblindness and its evolution from a psychological view. Besides, the article was published in 2017, making it relevant to compare the current findings.

Evaluation

I can use this source to explain the origin and evolution of the ideology of colorblindness. I can also use the arguments presented by the author to critique the effectiveness of colorblindness in managing intergroup relations and diversity.