Multiracial society against racism.

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.]