We tell ourselves the story that we have triumphed over the (official) racism of the land. We say, “It was awful then.” Then we twist ourselves into logical contortions to explain or ignore mass incarceration of Black men, the economic marginalization of communities of color, and a whole continuum of institutional racism.
In the post-civil rights era, newer forms of racism present formidable obstacles because they recruit and rely on our belief system about racial equality and egalitarianism. They hold that we exist in a meritocracy, and any consideration of race in policy or access is itself indicted as racism. The new forms are more insidious than the public expressions of white supremacy so easily identified and vilified as racist. Our shared narrative is a public expression of racial equality. Continue reading “The Myth of Colorblindness”
Shannon E. Williams 