From Colorblind to a Multiracial Society

Students will choose one of the options below as the topic of their paper, and will be expected to apply 

the material covered in class (especially Bonilla-Silva’s 4 frames of colorblind racism) to their everyday 

social world. This could be in their everyday personal relationships and conversations (e.g., journal); in 

public Internet postings (e.g., videos) or social media; or traditional media (film, TV, newspaper). Keep in 

mind that in Chapters 3-6, Bonilla-Silva outlines the typical colorblind racism patterns, while in Chapter 7 

he looks at how progressive racial ideology differs from those, and in Chapter 8 how racial “minorities” 

tend to use colorblindness differently than the majority. 

As his/her critical-thinking decision-making objective, the student should decide whether the societal 

evidence he/she reviews in the paper

(a) demonstrates the typical colorblind pattern that Bonilla-Silva 

describes in the textbook;

or (b) reveals a more progressive and/or minority pattern;

or (c) some 

combination of the above;

or (d) some other pattern not discussed in the textbook but worth exploring in 

future research. The student may find that the quotes he/she analyzes deliberately challenge one of the 4 

frames of colorblindness in some way, and he/she can note this in the paper as well. Each paper should 

consider the implications of the analysis of colorblindness for the future of a multiracial society. In other 

words, how do the representations discovered in your analysis help and/or hinder a society’s progress 

toward inclusive multiracial democracy? 

[NOTE: Regardless of the option chosen, students should write a minimum of 6 pages total as part of 

their paper.]