discussion

Are Blacks Color Blind, Too?

Survey researchers are mostly in agreement about blacks' racial atti-

tudes. Although they all underscore that blacks share basic elements

of "Americanism" or the "American Creed," such as the belief that those

who work hard will be compensated in life, they also point out that blacks

have vastly different positions than whites on central racial issues. 1 For

example, in surveys blacks and whites consistently have polar views on

issues such as the significance of discrimination in America, the merits of

affirmative action, support for certain government programs, and busing.

Surveys even find significant differences in the level of support for inter-

racial social interaction (twenty percentage points on some items). 2

The survey results of the 1998 DAS are in line with these findings

too. For instance, whereas 53 percent of whites stated their preference

for neighborhoods that are "all" or "mostly" white, only 22 percent of

blacks preferred neighborhoods described as "all" or "mostly" black.

In fact, 62 percent of blacks preferred neighborhoods described as "half

and half." Regarding the policy of busing, 69 percent of whites opposed

it, compared to 26 percent of blacks. On the hot issue of affirmative ac-

tion, 50 percent of whites stated they would support a proposal similar to

that passed in California in 1996 to eliminate affirmative action, if such a

proposal were put on the ballot in the state of Michigan. In stark contrast,

only 6 percent of blacks said they would support such a proposal. Finally,

whereas 56 percent of whites agreed that this country has experienced a

lot of racial progress, only 29 percent of blacks agreed with this position.

Have these observed attitudinal differences between blacks and whites

been corroborated in qualitative studies? The answer to this question

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is not clear, because qualitative studies of blacks' attitudes are sparse,

single-issue driven, and based on segments of the black community, and

they usually do not cover a wide range of racial issues. Most qualitative

data on blacks' views are part of larger studies on the woes of the black

upper or middle class, the working class, the working poor, or the black

underclass. 3 Other qualitative research on blacks addresses specific as-

pects of their lives, such as their experiences in historically white colleges

or with interracial friendship. 4

Given the limited number of systematic, qualitative studies of blacks'

views, in this chapter, using interview data I gathered as part of the 1998

DAS, I examine black Detroiters' racial views. My specific goal is to assess

the extent to which blacks rely on the frames, style, and racial stories of

color blindness to articulate their positions. I recognize, however, that the

relatively small size of the sample (N 17) limits the possibility of general-

izing from this study. Yet, because the cases were randomly selected from

a randomly chosen larger sample (see chapter 1), I believe the results are

robust and will be corroborated in studies with larger samples of blacks.

I proceed as follows: first, I assess the influence of the frames of color

blindness on blacks; second, I examine the extent to which blacks rely on

the style of color-blind racism; finally, I explore whether or not blacks

have adopted the racial stories of color-blind racism.

SLIGHTLY COLOR BLIND:

COLOR-BLIND RACISM'S FRAMES AND BLACKS

Do blacks endorse the frames of color-blind racism? Do they use its

frames as the foundation upon which to articulate their views on racial

matters? Content analysis of the interviews with black and white DAS

respondents suggests blacks are significantly less likely than whites to

use the frames of color blindness directly. As table 8.1 shows, whereas all

these frames are essential to whites' explanations of racial matters, only

three (abstract liberalism, cultural racism, and naturalization of racial

matters) have impacted blacks' consciousness.

Because the direct effect of the frames of color-blind racism on blacks

is minimal, it is plausible to argue that blacks and whites navigate two

totally different ideological worlds and thus that color-blind racism is

partially ineffective. However, an ideology is not dominant because it af-

fects all actors in a social system in the same way and to the same degree.

Instead, an ideology is dominant if most members (dominant and sub-

ordinate) of a social system have to accommodate their views vis-a-vis

that ideology. 5 If an ideology dominates the space of what people think

is feasible and thinkable, and even provides the parameters to oppose the

Are Blacks Color Blind, Too?

201

status quo, then that ideology is dominant. In this section I analyze how

the different frames of color-blind racism have affected blacks. My main

contention is that color-blind racism has affected blacks indirectly and that

this has consequences for the likelihood of blacks developing an all-out

oppositional ideology to color-blind racism.

Abstract Liberalism and Blacks

Abstract liberalism is the explanatory well from which whites gather

ideas to account for residential and school segregation, limited levels of

interracial marriage, and a host of other racial issues. Slightly more than a

third of the blacks in this study used this frame directly in their answers. 6

I will illustrate in this section how this frame has affected blacks' views

on two issues, namely, affirmative action and school and residential seg-

regation.

Affirmative Action

Affirmative action has become emblematic of racial tensions in contem-

porary America. Not surprisingly, the frames of color blindness had very

little direct and indirect influence on blacks on this important subject.

Blacks overwhelmingly expressed support for affirmative action and

other race-targeted programs and rebuked white opposition to them. A

typical response to the question "Are you for or against affirmative ac-

tion?" was that of Edward, an unemployed man in his fifties:

I'd say that I would have to be for affirmative action simply because you

still have ignorant people. Some of these ignorant people are in control and

have a little more power than I'd like to think they should have in regards

to what they can do to prevent other people from having opportunities that

means that they can't have growth and development. Affirmative action is a

means and method. Then it's like a key when you got a locked door. You've

got to have it.

When asked, "What would you say to those who say affirmative action

is unfair to whites?" Edward responded, "I tell them that 'What do you

call fair?' If you got everything, it's kind of like saying you are upset be-

cause you got ice cream and you don't have a cone. Then put it in a bowl,

you already got everything. Don't worry about it."

Regina, a poor homemaker in her early fifties with little formal educa-

tion, expressed her support for affirmative action in clear terms. Her an-

swer to the affirmative action question was, "I'm for it." In the follow-up

question about whether affirmative action could be regarded as unfair to

whites, Regina stated, "Well, I say the colored race have had a hard time

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Table 8.1 . Deployment of Color-Blind Frames by White

and Black Respondents, DAS 1998

Frames

Whites

Blacks

Abstract Liberalism

64/67 (96%)

59/67 (88%)

59/67 (88%)

27/67 (43%)

56/67 (84%)

6/1 7 (35%)

1/17 (6%)

4/1 7 (24%)

4/1 7 (24%)

1/17 (6%)

On Affirmative Action

Cultural Racism

Naturalization

Denial of Discrimination's Systemic Nature

all they lives and the whites, it's been easy for them. I think they should

give them [blacks] a break."

Finally, Joe, an electronic technician in his thirties, echoed the views of

the previous respondents on whites' concerns about the unfairness of af-

firmative action: "They need to wake up and smell the roses. "

Only one black respondent, Irma, an accounting clerk in her early

thirties, opposed affirmative action. She explained her opposition to af-

firmative action in a way that resonates with how whites explain their

opposition to this program: "Affirmative action [draws out the words], I

guess I would say I'm against because I believe you should have the equal

opportunity not just be given something just because of your race. I think

it's just for equal opportunity." However, Irma's stand on affirmative

action was more complex than this answer suggests. For instance, Irma

believes discrimination is an everyday matter and she provided personal

examples. When asked, "Have you yourself experienced that type of

discrimination," she said, "[answers immediately] Oh yeah, umhum." At

the interviewer's request, Irma elaborated about her personal encoun-

ters with discrimination: "Urn, we've experienced discrimination in our

neighborhoods growing up as kids walking down the street. Police offi-

cers were, you know, call you names, you know, the white race would call

you names, throw chocolate milk at you." Consistent with this answer,

Irma supported the decision of the hypothetical ABZ company, described

as 97 percent white, to hire a black over a white candidate to redress past

discrimination. And when she was asked, "What do you say to those who

think that this is preferential treatment?" Irma replied,

We say some blacks take so much discrimination that sometimes, I guess, we

deserve a break. But I still think that given, put on the same playing field and

same rules and same kind of scores and everything like that, whoever gets

the highest scores should be able to fill that position.

Irma realizes that "blacks take so much discrimination," but hopes to

live in a society where race does not matter in hiring decisions. Yet, since

Are Blacks Color Blind, Too?

203

Irma realizes that employers are not color blind; when asked why she

thought the hypothetical company in the question was 97 percent white,

she suggested, "Probably 'cause they wanted to keep it like that."

School and Residential Segregation

In contrast to the issue of affirmative action, abstract liberalism had a

profound influence on how blacks interpreted segregation. Although a

large number of blacks blamed the government, whites, or racism for

residential segregation (seven of seventeen) and a majority blamed them

for school segregation (twelve of seventeen) and demanded school equal-

ity (in funding and otherwise), blacks' views were not monolithic. Four

blacks believed school or residential segregation was "natural," three

that blacks had something to do with residential segregation or that it

was "no one's fault," and two that racial segregation was not a problem.

More significantly, six blacks used the abstract liberalism frame directly

to account for school or residential segregation. (Note that the numbers

do not add up here because some respondents blamed whites for segrega-

tion and still used the abstract liberalism frame or claimed that blacks had

something to do with it too.)

First, let me provide one example of how most blacks answered the

questions on residential and school segregation. Latasha, a self-employed

nail polisher in her late twenties, blamed government for the lack of

school integration. She pointed out that whereas schools in the suburbs

"might get $2,500 per child," public schools in Detroit city "only get

$1,000 per child." She asserted in her discussion on busing that "the

problem you come about education, it's the money, that's what the main

thing is, is the money with the kids." Latasha's concern with the limited

funding received by inner-city schools was echoed by most blacks.

Latasha aspires to live in a society where race does not affect people's

residential choices, or in her words, "You shouldn't have to single your-

self to this area or single yourself to that area because you're [of a] dif-

ferent race." However, because Latasha realizes discrimination has not

disappeared in America, her color-blind dream is not like that of whites.

After stating her hope for a race-neutral housing market, for example,

Latasha acknowledged of race that "sometimes it is" a factor. More spe-

cifically, Latasha commented she has experienced discrimination herself

while shopping in downtown Detroit. Therefore, she supported govern-

ment intervention to guarantee blacks access to all neighborhoods and

programs to improve the neighborhoods where most blacks live.

Although most blacks blame whites or the government for the high

level of segregation in the United States, their views are more mixed and

contradictory. For example, Tyrone, an unemployed man in his early

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forties, supported school and residential integration. Tyrone stated his

support for residential integration, a choice supported by 62 percent of

blacks in the survey, as follows: "I think all the neighborhoods should

be mixed. Then every — then there wouldn't be no concept of how differ-

ent people are. They would know how each race would be." However,

Tyrone opposed government intervention to guarantee residential inte-

gration: "Well, you can't tell people where [to] live. They got to pay for

their own house, so people are going to live where they want to live. So

you can't do that." Tyrone used the abstract liberalism frame ("You can't

tell people where to live" and "They got to pay for their own house") to

oppose doing anything about one of the central factors behind blacks'

contemporary plight in America. 7 Interestingly, Tyrone, as I will show

below, was a strong supporter of government intervention on many other

racial matters.

Tyrone's contradictory position on this issue was not unique. For ex-

ample, Mark, a bus driver in his thirties, recognized the role of white

violence in the maintenance of school segregation. Yet he opposed gov-

ernment intervention to increase residential integration:

No more than if blacks or whites attempt to integrate an area and are faced

with, are faced with . . . [Mark whispers to himself: "I can't think of the word"]

aggression when attempting to do so. And I can't say necessarily the federal

government, but on a local level, they should be afforded every protection or

opportunity that they deserve and that is their right.

Mark's answer, particularly his insistence on governmental interven-

tion to guarantee individuals' access to housing markets, is almost verba-

tim the standard answer offered by most whites to this question.

One good example of how abstract liberalism has blurred blacks' views

on some issues was provided by Nel, a retired janitor in her early seven-

ties who thought racism was an important force behind neighborhood

segregation. However, Nel believed blacks were partly responsible for

this situation:

Well, [the] only thing I can say is, I believe the whites don't want to live

around blacks and some of the blacks don't want to live around the whites. It

is because they have, well, they have a chip on their shoulder. I think a neigh-

borhood is much better when it's mixed, you know. We got the little thing

that's racism. That's what causes a lot of this, too, between black and white.

The consequence of interpreting neighborhood segregation as the

outcome of people's choices ("some blacks don't want to live around the

whites") is that Nel did not see any role for government to help remedy

this situation. 8 Hence Nel stated in a pessimistic manner the following

Are Blacks Color Blind, Too?

205

about the prospects of the government redressing residential segregation

in America: "They go [laughs] ah, if they were right it would be good if

they could do something about it, but I don't see much [they can do]."

Finally, one extreme example of blacks' reliance on abstract liberalism

to explain segregation is Carla, an executive secretary in her forties. She

believed that school segregation was a matter of choice:

I think it's everybody's fault except for the government. White people and

black people choose to put their children in [the] school that they wanted

them to be into and a lot of time you go into a school and they say, "There's

a lot of black people enrolled and I'm going to send you to this one," or, "It's

more white people here than black so I'm going to send you to this one." So

it's more so the parents' fault.

For Carla, neighborhood segregation is the product of people's choices.

Therefore, she does not believe anything can be done about it. She says

of the prospects of changing the situation, "Nothing, I mean, nothing as

far as showing anybody anything or telling anyone anything. They will

only do what they want to do so you can tell them and stress it but if they

choose not to, they won't."

Cultural Racism and Blacks

Whites' cultural explanation of blacks' standing in America affected di-

rectly only a few blacks (three of seventeen). The typical black respondent

argued this is a ruse used by whites to hide their role in blacks' contem-

porary situation. For example, Jimmy, a social worker in his forties, ex-

plained blacks' lower standing compared to whites as follows:

Because the whites are in the majority and all and they're in a position of

power. They got the wealth, they do the hiring, they [are] the employers

opposed to the employees. They — we have the last hired, the first fired, and

we get the lowest jobs and those [are] the things that perpetuate those situ-

ations and all.

Another example of blacks' typical responses to this question is Tri-

sha, a homemaker in her early forties: "I wouldn't say they lazy. I think

they just say you lazy 'cause you black. But I don't think they is. They

just don't want to give them a chance to prove themselves that they can

achieve more."

Despite the fact that few blacks bought completely this cultural expla-

nation, this bounded the way many blacks discuss issues such as discrimi-

nation or the specific charge that they are lazy. The direct and indirect

influence of this cultural frame in the interviews did not come as a total

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surprise, since in the survey a significant proportion of blacks agreed

with many stereotypes about blacks. For instance, 32 percent of blacks

agreed with the proposition that blacks are "violent," 32 percent with the

idea that blacks are "lazy," and 30 percent with the notion that blacks are

"welfare-dependent" (50 percent, 20 percent, and 53 percent of whites

agreed with these stereotypes, respectively).

The two examples below illustrate how this frame has bounded blacks'

views. First is Vonda, a homemaker in her late fifties with very little edu-

cation. She explained blacks' lower standing compared to whites in the

following way: "Ah. [Eight-second pause] I don't know, I don't know how

to answer that one. Maybe if they get off their butts and get an education

like white, I don't know. Maybe that's it."

When asked specifically if she believes blacks are worse off than whites

because they are lazy, Vonda stated, "Yeah, I think they probably more and

more lazy than white are." Although Vonda's answer sounds much like

those of whites on this issue, it is important to point out that she agreed

with the majority of blacks on most of the other issues.

Next is Regina, a homemaker in her early fifties who shared most po-

sitions on race issues with the majority of blacks in the sample. Yet, the

cultural theme framed the way she explained why blacks are worse off

than whites in this country:

Well, I don't think they [lack] the proper, you know, things to succeed, but

the ones that wants to have, they can have. But it's just some don't want to

have anything. They can't blame it on other person, which I don't. I don't

blame it on anyone 'cause I don't have anything. I blame it on myself 'cause

I think I should have did better when I was coming up and got a better

education.

Nevertheless, Regina, as most blacks, believes discrimination is impor-

tant and stated without hesitation and with emphasis that being white

is still an "Advantage*." When she was asked, "Why?" Regina replied,

"Because of they color." In her responses to the questions on discrimina-

tion, Regina said blacks experience "a lot of discrimination" and that the

reason why blacks have a lower standing than whites is because "they

don't have the education that they should have."

There are two significant things to underscore about Vonda's and Regi-

na's answers. First, both accept the cultural premise to explain blacks' sta-

tus in America (laziness is a central reason why blacks are behind whites

in this country) although Regina limits it to some blacks. The second

point is that, as most blacks, both of these respondents believe discrimina-

tion is a central factor behind blacks' current standing in America. Their

puzzling stance (believing that blacks are lazy but that discrimination is

Are Blacks Color Blind, Too?

207

central) exemplifies how color-blind racism has affected some blacks on

central racial matters.

Naturalization of Racial Matters and Blacks

Although blacks do not have a cohesive view on segregation, their expla-

nations of why segregation exists are different from those of whites. Most

blacks point out that whites have something to do with segregation or

that whites do not want to live or share resources with blacks. For exam-

ple, Jimmy, the social worker cited above, said about school segregation:

Yeah, I think the mixing of the races in the school, to me, is probably the

whites' fault, to me. And, if it's a better school, and blacks try to go there and

all, I think they are not really welcome and given an opportunity to [develop]

and then they don't get the — In the inner city and all, it's not — the schooling

the funding or whatever is not the same. If it was equal here in the black and

white areas and all, they might not even want to go there. But I think this,

if they, [when] they try to go to better schooling, I think they're prohibited

from going there more so by whites and the government and all.

Yet, some blacks (three of seventeen) relied on the naturalization

frame mixed with abstract liberalism to explain segregation. For instance,

although Jimmy underscored the role of discrimination in school segre-

gation, he attributed neighborhood segregation to natural tendencies in

people:

Well, I'm sure that people clique by choice and all. I mean whites tend to

stay with whites because they're comfortable. But given, you know — I'd say

if we tried to mix a little more, we might tend to get together more and all,

integrate more and all, but as it stands now and all, we tend to be comfort-

able [with] our race and that's the way it generally goes.

Natasha, a licensed practical nurse in her early thirties, blamed the gov-

ernment for the low level of school integration in this country "because

they make the laws." She also supported busing because it is "a good

thing because you get to know about other peoples' cultures and their

way of living." However, Natasha believes neighborhood segregation is

the product of peoples' natural choices or, in her own words,

I really don't [think about this situation] 'cause I move basically [giggles]

where I can afford it. I don't think that any one race shouldn't be allowed

anywhere in this world. It's a free country, so. I think they just choose to be

with their kind. Blacks choose to live around blacks and whites choose to live

around whites.

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Therefore, when asked if she believes the government can play a role in

remedying residential segregation, Natasha said,

No, but I think that [there] shouldn't be any limitations on that one man,

one black woman moving into an all-white neighborhood. He shouldn't get

treated any different. But I know that [lowers voice] [I am] fantasizing [very

loudly and giggles]. I mean, you never know, it may work out. I really don't

think the government should get into it because I don't think they'd say,

"OK, this is a white [raises voice] neighborhood," you know what I'm saying?

Like I said, people tend to segregate together."

The third respondent who used the naturalization frame was Mark, the

bus driver cited above. Mark believes school segregation is maintained by

whites — often through violent means — to the detriment of "many bright

African American students in urban areas [who do] not have the means

to get to predominantly white schools to be afforded greater learning

experiences." However, Mark explained neighborhood segregation as the

outcome of natural tendencies in people:

It's something that's gonna naturally occur. And both because of economic

and social grievances, there are gonna be some whites that are economically

better off than other whites and other blacks and they are gonna want to be

along with other races. And that holds true with both blacks also.

Minimization of Racism and Blacks

Notwithstanding how color-blind racism affects blacks' understandings

of various racial issues, the reality of discrimination is such that few

blacks believe discrimination is no longer very significant. An over-

whelming majority of blacks stated that antiblack discrimination is still

central in America. In the survey questions regarding this issue, blacks'

answers confirming discrimination were twenty to thirty percentage

points higher than those of whites. More significantly, 61 percent of

blacks, compared with only 33 percent of whites, agreed with the state-

ment "Blacks are in the position that they are as a group because of

present day discrimination."

Blacks' answers to the questions about discrimination in the in-depth

interview were as strong, if not stronger, than their answers in the survey.

For example, Tyrone, the unemployed man cited above, said about blacks

facing discrimination,

I think sometimes you do. 'Cause I used to work in Sterling Heights [a neigh-

borhood in Detroit]. I used to be out their waiting on the bus, somebody

Are Blacks Color Blind, Too?

209

would drive by and call me a "black-ass nigger" at least three times out of the

week [laughs] and I'm just trying to work and come home [Interviewer: Wow!].

Likewise, when he was asked why he thinks blacks have a lower stand-

ing than whites in America, he cited racial discrimination as a factor:

Well, 'cause who is the boss? He want to give you the worse job 'cause of

the color of your skin. I been through that up in Sterling Heights. Me and

Dwayne was the only two blacks in the maintenance department. Me and

Dwayne got the nastiest jobs they was. They go, "Go get them they'll do it!"

And they'd come get me and Dwayne. Me and Dwayne got the nastiest jobs.

Accordingly, Tyrone was a strong supporter of affirmative action,

government programs for blacks, and even of reparations. He stated his

support for reparations as follows:

They should get something [raises his voice], they should get something. They

was suppose to give the black man forty acres and a mule. Where's my forty

acres of land at or my money that you going to pay me for these forty acres I

was supposed to get? You know, give me a tractor, give me some money, give

me something!

Natalie, a data entry clerk in her twenties, said about whether or not

blacks experience lots of discrimination, "I think some blacks do experi-

ence it." When asked to give examples, Natalie, as most blacks, 9 narrated

a personal experience.

Yes, I agree with that because I have had, store [stutters slightly] people that

work in stores follow me around [raises her voice] "May I help you?" you

know, they do it in a way that you, if you weren't paying attention, you

wouldn't think that they were following you but they are, and they tend to

follow black people more than they do other people.

Consistent with her view on discrimination, Natalie believes blacks

are worse off than whites because of "racism" and thus supported gov-

ernment intervention on blacks' behalf. Her response to the question on

whether government should intervene on blacks' behalf was,

Yes, because they tend to have, they [raises her voice] have programs for other

people who suffered past discrimination. They help like Japanese people and

stuff, so why can't they help us? I mean, basically, the reason that we were

discriminated against and people from Japan were discriminated against

their own people by their own people, but we helped them out. Why they

can't help some black people like they do them?

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Other respondents narrated incidents typical of post-civil rights dis-

crimination. 10 For example, Jimmy, the social worker cited above, said of

discrimination:

Well, I think it's real and it's true and all and if you really — it's just hard to

get the evidence and put it on the table and expose it and all. But examples

are like when you see a black and a white go out together to apply for an

apartment and the white get told one thing and given the better break and

the black being told the opposite thing and a worse break. It's just one way

to expose it and all. But it is real and it does exist and it's just hard to uncover

and all.

Latasha, the self-employed nail polisher cited before, answered the

question about the significance of discrimination for blacks in a personal

way:

You do, you do, you really do because you have some people that just won't

let it go. You know, they put on a lot of front and a lot of air and you have

some people that just won't let go and some people just won't hide it. They'll

slap it right in your face and do it right in front of you.

When asked if she could provide any examples, she narrated how her

own supervisor avoids dealing with her directly and relegates this task to

some of her white coworkers.

Thelma, a widow in her late sixties, answered the discrimination ques-

tion by saying, "By whites? [Interviewer: Or by whomever, yeah anyone.]

Yeah!" When prompted to say more on this subject, Thelma said, "Be-

cause it's like me or you go to a job and apply for a job, right. They turn

us down and this white man or white female walks up there and they hire

her like this. So that's discrimination right there!"

One of the scariest incidents of overt discrimination was narrated by

Edward, the unemployed forty-one-year-old man cited above. As part of

his explanation about the interactions he used to have with whites in jobs,

he narrated the following incident:

I even had an argument when I was hired at Cross Company, and guess

what it was about? They said how violent we were and I was commenting

about "Well, look, man, y'all ain't no different." And guess what? I had

somebody jump up behind me — and we are in an engineering office — and

he called me. And who I thought was a fairly decent person, I thought who

I was on good terms with. And they started this conversation about racism,

about the difference between black and white people. It wasn't me. I'm the

only black person in the office. I'd exchanged my viewpoint with people in

the office. He jumps up and he wasn't necessarily being insulted. He jumps

us and calls me an African Nigger. He comes around the drafting board and

Are Blacks Color Blind, Too?

Ill

I coaxing him along because I'm thinking that he's not gonna do anything.

But the guy swings at me and clips me in the jaw.

So far I have shown that blacks believe discrimination is salient, that

it affects them personally, and that it operates in crude and subtle ways.

Yet, the minimization of racism frame has affected how some blacks think

about discrimination. For example, most whites regard discrimination

exclusively as old-fashioned, one-on-one racist behavior by whites against

minorities and, therefore, think discrimination is declining in significance.

Some blacks agree with this view and do not think discrimination is im-

portant. For instance, Carla, the executive secretary mentioned above,

answered the discrimination question by stating, "I don't experience ah,

did you say racial discrimination? I don't experience discrimination in

daily life, maybe on one or two occasions but not every day."

Other blacks who regarded discrimination as overtly racist behavior

believed that only blacks who work with whites experience lots of dis-

crimination. For example, Alma, a homemaker and part-time worker,

answered the discrimination question as follows:

Well, if they are [giggles], I mean, that's kind of hard to say for everybody

because on the average most people don't be around another race every day

in order to consider discrimination. But probably a person that works on [a]

mixed, you know, with whites and blacks, it's well, yeah those I've heard

have the discrimination.

Yet other blacks qualified their answers ("some blacks experience dis-

crimination, but . . .") and used the cultural and abstract liberalism frames

to explain the status of blacks. For instance, Natasha, the practical nurse

cited above, answered the discrimination question as follows: "I'd say

[high-pitched voice] some probably do, they probably do. It depends on

what plan in their life, where they are, besides their job, what type of job,

they would get some discrimination." When pressed by the interviewer

with the question, "How much do you think it affects, you know, black

people, this discrimination, in their daily lives?" Natasha stated,

It don't — it [doesn't stop] anything as far as that goes, you know. You know

what I am saying? You might have to deal with it, but you have to keep

going. I don't think it really puts an impact on it, on your day, or inhibits

anybody from doing what they want to do or being what they want to be.

That's up to the individuals.

Vonda, the homemaker cited above, could not even assess whether or

not discrimination affects blacks a lot: "[Eight-second pause] I don't know

how to, you know, I don't know how to answer that one."

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THE STYLE OF COLOR-BLIND RACISM AND BLACKS

I suggested in chapter 4 that the style of color blindness is oblique, indi-

rect, subtle, and full of apparent ambivalence and even flat-out contradic-

tions. My main finding in this section is that blacks have not been affected

in any meaningful way by the style of color-blind racism. Because the

influence of the style of this ideology on blacks is virtually nonexistent in

some areas (racist terminology, racial projections, and diminutives), here

I examine only its impact in the areas of semantic moves and rhetorical

incoherence.

Semantic Moves and Blacks

Whites use a number of verbal pirouettes to avoid appearing "racist."

Specifically, I argue that color blindness has a peculiar race talk that in-

cludes semantic moves in situations in which whites feel they may sound

racist. Although some analysts might expect blacks to be as conscious

of not being perceived as antiwhite as whites are of being perceived as

antiblack, or that they might be as conscious as whites of being seen as

having strong racial views, my findings suggest otherwise — a finding that

is consistent with previous work. 11 In general, blacks call it as they see it.

If they oppose interracial marriage, they are significantly less likely than

whites to beat around the bush. If they do not have white friends or do

not associate with whites, they say so without promoting a white acquain-

tance to the friend status. 12 If blacks agree or disagree with a policy, they

usually state their opinion clearly. I suggest this straightforwardness re-

flects the fact that blacks have very little to hide — or very little to lose — in

the contemporary racial order. 13 Whereas in slavery or Jim Crow, blacks

had to be "stage Negroes" 14 if they wanted to survive, as a consequence

of new norms, whites now have to be "stage whites." Therefore, being at

the bottom of the racial order in post-civil rights America gives blacks at

least the freedom to speak their minds.

An area that potentially could have made blacks defensive and brought

out some rhetorical hesitation was the issue of "reverse discrimination."

Nevertheless, blacks were clear in their beliefs that this idea is nonsense.

Jimmy, the social worker cited above, said that whites who talk about

"reverse discrimination" are "just hollerin'." Jimmy's response to a ques-

tion about whether or not the decision of a hypothetical company hiring

a black over a white job candidate was discriminatory against whites 15

was as follows:

Yeah it's discriminating against whites, but in the sense that you already got

all the power of a position and all. And it's like you're a hundred percent

Are Blacks Color Blind, Too?

213

and all and if I say go down to 97 percent you'll holla' you're discriminating

against me and all. But, you know what I mean, you need some discrimina-

tion [laughs].

Although Jimmy interprets affirmative action as "discriminatory," he

believes it is necessary to improve blacks' status. Malcolm, a construc-

tion worker in his forties, expressed views similar to Jimmy's and in a

straightforward manner as well. For instance, when asked about his view

on affirmative action, he answered "I'm for it." His response to a follow-

up question asking if he thought this program was unfair to whites was,

"Well, racism affects all blacks but affirmative action affects a certain

percentage of whites. So you really can't compare. You know, like this,

they call it anti-[/ou>ers his voice] discrimination or, you know, you can't

compare the two."

Although most blacks answered the questions without filtering

them through the rhetorical maze of color blindness, a few answered

questions using phrases similar to those of color blindness. However,

I suggest these respondents, unlike whites, were not trying to buffer

polemical or racist views. Instead, they were usually pointing out con-

tradictions between the way things ought to be and the way things are.

For example, Tyrone, the unemployed worker I cited before, used what

could be seen as the "yes and no" move to explain his view on affirma-

tive action.

Well one way I'm for it, one way I'm against it. Now, if everybody had

equal chance, there's nothing against the color of your skin or nothing, we

wouldn't need affirmative action. But by the way not giving people chances,

we need it. You gotta have something, you know, to help.

Although his answer seems to include the "yes and no" move ("one

way I'm for it, one way I'm against it"), Tyrone does not hesitate at all in

stating that because America is not color blind, we need affirmative action

("You gotta have something to help"). By contrast, when whites used the

"Yes and no, but" move, they added other phrases to signify ambivalence

and insecurity (e.g., "I am not sure" or "I don't know"), even when they

were making a strong case one way or the other (see chapter 3). Tyrone

did not do that. Further evidence that Tyrone was not ambivalent or try-

ing to hide his views on affirmative action discursively comes from his

answer to the question about whether or not the decisions of the hypo-

thetical company were discriminatory against whites. His answer was,

"How can they discriminate against whites when the employment is 97

percent white? That's no discrimination! You got 97 percent white people

and 3 percent of a different race."

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In the same vein, when he was asked to explain why so many whites

seem to be angry about affirmative action, Tyrone replied in a way that is

consistent with his strong support for affirmative action:

Well some of them figure out that they are not getting a fair chance. Some of

them don't like it just because it's helping the blacks. But to me, you know,

like I said, if we all had a fair chance, we wouldn't need affirmative action.

They ought to know. See, they not black and how can they say this is what

they go through? They ain't never been black. They ain't never been through

what we go through.

Another semantic move that has become quite popular among whites is

"Some of my best friends are black." I did not find a single black respon-

dent who used the analogous phrase "Some of my best friends are white."

Whereas whites used this phrase to inflate their associations with blacks

and, occasionally, to be able to say something very negative about blacks,

blacks did not resort to similar phrases to state their views about whites.

For example, blacks who did not have white friends had no problem stat-

ing it. The following examples illustrate how blacks who did not have

white friends described this situation. Mark, the bus driver previously

cited, when questioned about whether or not he had close white friends in

school, responded, "At Renaissance I didn't have any close white friends.

I had some that I interacted with that were associates and acquaintances."

Later in the interview, when asked if he had white friends on his cur-

rent job, Mark said, "I can't say I have any friends. I have those whites

that I associate with basically on the job." Natasha, the young practical

nurse cited above, when asked, "Did you have any close white friends in

school," replied, "Ah no, I didn't have any." Regina, the homemaker cited

above, stated in no uncertain terms that she did not have white friends

while growing up: "No, not down [raises her voice], not in Louisiana. No."

Rhetorical Incoherence and Blacks

Most whites in these studies were incoherent at some point in the inter-

views because of the racially sensitive nature of the subject of discussion.

In contrast, when blacks were incoherent, it was because either that was

their usual speech pattern or they lacked knowledge of the issue at hand.

For example, whereas the topic of intermarriage led many whites to

virtual muteness, blacks stated their views on this matter without much

hesitation. Their behavior on this subject corresponds to the survey re-

sults. Fifty-eight percent of whites and 88 percent of blacks in the DAS

survey approved of interracial marriage. However, when the question

was "Suppose your own child married (a white/ a black) person. Would

you mind it a lot, a little, or not at all," 58 percent of whites said they

would mind it "a lot" while 32 percent said they would mind it "a little,"

Are Blacks Color Blind, Too?

215

whereas 84 percent of blacks said that they would not mind it at all, a

number that almost matches the 88 percent who approved of interracial

unions. This suggests blacks have more consistent views on this sensitive

matter and, therefore, may be less likely than whites to try to provide

socially desirable answers.

Whether blacks approved of interracial marriage and would do it

themselves (eight of seventeen), approved of it but would never do it

themselves (seven of seventeen), approved of it but pointed out prob-

lems the couples might face (two of seventeen), or were opposed to these

relationships (one of seventeen), they stated their answers in a clearer

manner than white respondents (numbers add up to eighteen rather than

seventeen, because the answer of one respondent fit two categories). Be-

fore proceeding with my analysis, I need to add two caveats. First, I am

interested in highlighting the form or style of their answers rather than

examining the ultimate meaning of their answers. Second, I must point

out the asymmetric interpretation of these questions for black and white

respondents. 16 Whereas for whites the question of interracial marriage

seems to evoke visceral reactions based on racialized readings of black

bodies, for blacks — particularly for older blacks — the question evokes a

history of rejection, exclusion, and even the not well-studied social and

family training among blacks of avoiding these relationships to stay out

of trouble. This means that blacks' and whites' disapproval of interracial

marriage means different things because the issue evokes different his-

torical and personal circumstances and reactions.

An example of a black respondent who had no problems with inter-

racial marriage but would not do it herself was Nel, the retired janitor

cited above:

Interviewer. OK, thank you. Now can you tell me, I guess the, you know,

[who] were the people that you dated and married, were they — what race

were they?

Nel: Black [laughs].

Interviewer: They were all black?

Nel: Yeah.

Interviewer: All right, thank you. Let's see, now, did you ever have any ro-

mantic interest in a white person?

Nel: I never even dreamed, you know, thought of it.

Interviewer: Now why is that?

Nel: I don't know. You're talking 'bout like romance, no? [unintelligible] I re-

ally can't answer that question.

Nel's answers in this series of questions were, for the most part, very

straightforward. Only on the last question, dealing with why she did not

have any romantic interest in whites, did Nel not provide a satisfactory

answer. However, the demeanor, tone, and rhetoric used by Nel and the

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Chapter 8

other respondents to questions in this category suggest they were not try-

ing to hide or distort their feelings and opinions on this sensitive matter.

Nel's straightforward style, for example, surfaced even when she was

asked her opinion on interracial marriage. Nel's answer was a simple "I

don't think there's anything wrong with it." When the interviewer asked

Nel to explain this answer, she stated, "I don't see anything, really, I

don't see any difference no more than the skin tone." Although this an-

swer could be interpreted as a baseless one similar to that of most whites,

Nel did not qualify her support for these marriages, as most whites did.

Moreover, Nel added the following piece of information that bolstered

the credibility of her answer: "But now I have a brother who's still [alive]

and his [white] wife. And they was just so nice, you know. They lived up

in Minnesota but they were nice, you know. Maybe that's why I don't

think anything about it, you know."

Eight black respondents approved of interracial marriage and said they

would do it themselves. Their answers to the interracial questions were

similar to that of Irma, the young conservative accounting clerk previ-

ously cited:

Irma: I, it doesn't matter to me. If, if the persons [are] in love, then it don't

matter.

Interviewer: Would you yourself have considered marrying someone from a

different race?

Irma: Yeah if I had, if the opportunity were, yeah I guess.

An extreme example of blacks who subscribed to this view is Carla,

the executive secretary previously cited. She is also an example of how

straight blacks were in answering the interracial marriage question. Her

answer was, "If you like it, I love it." Asked if she would consider mar-

rying outside her race, she said, "Yes." These answers were unusual for

blacks but fit Carla's answers on this and other subjects. For example,

when Carla was asked if she had ever had any romantic interest in people

of other races, she said, "[I] always wanted to." And when she was asked

if she had ever been interested in whites, she said, "Yes."

Black respondents who opposed interracial marriage said so without

much hesitation. For instance, Joe, an electronic mechanic in his forties,

opposed interracial relationships without hesitation:

Interviewer: Did you ever have any white relationships?

Joe: No.

Interviewer: Did you ever have any romantic interest in a white person?

Joe: No.

Interviewer: And why would you think that is so?

Joe: My preference.

Are Blacks Color Blind, Too?

217

Interviewer. Is your spouse the same racial background as you are?

Joe: Yes.

Interviewer. People have mixed feelings about marrying outside their race.

What is your view on this delicate matter?

Joe: [clears throat] I feel people of the same race should stay together instead

of interacting.

Interviewer: So you yourself would not consider marrying someone or would

not have considered marrying someone of a different race?

Joe: I would say that. I would say that.

Joe answered all these difficult questions the same way he answered

all the questions throughout the interview: in a short and precise manner.

Of all the blacks in this sample, I found only two who hesitated in a

notable way on the interracial marriage question. The hesitation of one of

these respondents came when the interviewer asked him a question that

was not part of the interview protocol. Malcolm, the construction worker

cited above, hesitated somewhat in his answer to the question "Did you

think you could see yourself having a romantic interest in another black

person here?" Malcolm's answer to this question was, "I probably would.

I, I, if it happened like that, then I'd say either way." The interviewer posed

this rather unusual question to Malcolm, a man in his forties, because

he described himself as a "solitary person" but said he had dated a few

women while he was in the "service" in Germany and all of them were

white. His hesitation, then, could be attributed to the interviewer address-

ing a sensitive issue but on a different front: a forty-something man not in-

volved with any woman (was he concerned that the interviewer was check-

ing his sexual orientation?) or his exclusive interest in white women (was

he concerned that the interviewer thought he was a negrophobic black?).

RACIAL STORIES OF COLOR BLINDNESS AND BLACKS

In chapter 5, I documented the salience of four color-blind story lines,

namely, "The past is the past," "I didn't own any slaves," "I did not get a

(job / promotion) because of a black man," and "If (ethnic groups such as

Jews and Italians) have made it, how come blacks have not?" I also dis-

cussed the role that testimonies or personal stories have in the color-blind

ideology. I argued that racial stories help whites seal tightly their larger

color-blind fable by providing gut-level, emotional arguments to validate

some important myths about race relations in America. Notwithstanding

that color blindness has tainted the way blacks formulate many issues,

based on my analysis of the seventeen interviews it seems that blacks are

not buying into these stories in any significant way. I could not detect

any influence of the latter two story lines, even among conservative black

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Chapter 8

respondents, and I could detect none whatsoever of testimonies. Nev-

ertheless, the story lines "The past is the past" and "I never owned any

slaves" affected one black respondent directly and four indirectly.

The first two stories, which tend to appear together, were used directly

by Carla, the conservative executive secretary. She answered the question

on reparations as most whites did:

That became [a] topic in school. I don't remember what I said but right now

I feel that was so long ago that the people who are here now didn't have

anything to do with it. So I don't feel it would, I mean, you can say you're

sorry but it's not, it's not going to take back what happened. Therefore, I

don't think it's necessary.

Although these stories and their logic affected very few blacks directly,

they affected four blacks indirectly. For example, Natasha, the young

practical nurse, answered the question on reparations as follows: "Yeah,

I think so. But are there any of those people around? Would it go to that,

to those surviving family members?"

Although Natasha supports reparations, she seems influenced by the

idea that only people who were directly affected by slavery can demand

compensation. This idea, mentioned by many white respondents, oper-

ates under the assumption that discrimination is a matter of a distant past

that does not affect blacks' life chances today. If discrimination ended in

the 1860s, then blacks who were affected by it are long gone and repara-

tions and other forms of government intervention on blacks' behalf are

unnecessary.

Another example of the indirect influence of these stories is Edward,

the unemployed forty -one-year-old man. His answer on reparations was,

"Oh bullshit, no, no! I think that America needs to think about its people

now and the American people are all kind of folks." Edward exhibits

the same emotion as many whites when answering this question ("Oh

bullshit, no, no!") and thinks, like most whites, that the issue is helping

all Americans now rather than dwelling on the past.

CONCLUSION

In this chapter I examined the extent and ways in which color-blind rac-

ism affects blacks. First, I showed that blacks, for the most part, do not

subscribe wholeheartedly to the frames of color blindness. Furthermore,

I pointed out that blacks have oppositional views on many important

issues. For example, they believe discrimination is a central factor shap-

ing their life chances in this country, firmly support affirmative action,

Are Blacks Color Blind, Too?

219

and are very clear about whites' advantageous position in this society.

However, I also documented that some of the frames and ideas of color

blindness have had a significant indirect effect on blacks. For example,

the frame of abstract liberalism has shaped the way many blacks explain

school and residential segregation. Second, I documented that the style

of color-blind racism has had a very limited impact on blacks. Whereas

whites hesitate and use double-talk to state their views on racial matters,

blacks state their views clearly and without much hesitation, even when

the topic of discussion is interracial marriage. Finally, I suggested that

only two of the four story lines of color blindness have had some impact

on blacks. Although most of the impact of these stories was indirect, the

fact that five of the seventeen blacks were directly or indirectly affected

by these stories suggests the ideological transmission belt is working well.

Thus, I regard the ideology of color blindness as the current dominant

racial ideology because it binds whites together and blurs, shapes, and

provides many of the terms of the debate for blacks.

For students of ideology my findings should not be surprising. Domi-

nant actors (men, capitalists, whites), by virtue of their centrality in the

social system and their superior resources, are able to frame the terrain of

debates and influence the views of subordinated groups. Therefore, as I

argued above, a dominant ideology is effective not by establishing ideo-

logical uniformity, but by providing the frames to organize difference. 17

As Nicos Poulantzas wrote about dominant class ideology,

The dominance of [an ideology] is shown by the fact that the dominated

classes live their conditions of political existence through the forms of

dominant political discourse: this means that often they live even their revolt

against domination of the system within the frame of reference of the domi-

nant legitimacy. 18

Women and workers, for example, may have views that are different

from those of men and capitalists, but they share enough of their views

and ideas, and more important, the terrain of political discourse, so that

even their challenges to patriarchy and capitalism fall within the limits

of what is "legitimate" for men and capitalists. Women and workers

may demand "equal opportunity" — a demand that does not subvert the

parameters of gender or class rule — but they are less likely to struggle

for proportional representation and rewards in all social networks and

institutions or for wealth redistribution.

What is the significance of my findings? On the one hand, my find-

ings reveal in some detail the precise way in which blacks disagree

with whites on central racial issues of our time. For example, unlike

whites, blacks realize that racism is structural and that lack of power and

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Chapter 8

differential access to rewards is at the heart of America's racial situation.

Therefore, they strongly support programs such as affirmative action, de-

spite the relentless ideological campaign against this program. On this, I

concur with those 19 who claim that blacks and whites have different views

on most racial issues. On the other hand, my findings reveal quite clearly

that blacks are influenced directly (e.g., the cultural rationale and natu-

ralization of racial matters) and indirectly (e.g., the free-market rationale

and laissez-faire racism) by the frames of color blindness. For example,

although one would expect blacks to have a strong tendency against the

"culture of poverty" concept, I found that too many buy into substantial

parts of this argument. This ideological infiltration of the frames of color

blindness into blacks' political consciousness hinders the development

of an all-out oppositional ideology or "utopia" 20 to fight contemporary

white supremacy. Thus, because so many blacks are swayed by elements

of color blindness, the struggle against color-blind racism will have to be

waged not only against color-blind whites, who cannot see the centrality

of race in America, but also against the many slightly color-blind blacks.

One burning question that many readers may have is whether blacks

are as "racist" as whites. To properly answer this question, I need to go

back to the theoretical framework that anchors this book: the racialized

social-system framework (see chapter 1). My concern has been describ-

ing the dominant racial ideology of the post-civil rights era in detail and

exploring how it affects whites and blacks. In this process, I have avoided

moralizing the analysis (attempting to identify "good" and "bad" peo-

ple). My overall findings are that most whites believe this new ideology

wholeheartedly and rely on its various elements to articulate their views

on racial matters and that a significant number of blacks are indirectly

affected by this ideology and use some elements of it, too.

But I do not want to avoid what may be the real question for some read-

ers: are blacks as "racist" (meaning antiwhite) as whites (meaning anti-

black)? This question, which was formulated by some white respondents

in my studies, has received some legitimacy in liberal and radical circles

by the position articulated by Michael Omi and Howard Winant in the

1994 edition of their important book, Racial Formation in the United States. 21

In this book, Omi and Winant argue racism amounts to any practice that

"creates or reproduces structures of domination based on essentialist categories

of race." 22 Based on this criterion, they conclude blacks can be "racist," too,

and that, in fact, some are. From the racialized social system framework

vantage point I have developed, the answer to this question is different.

First, the question needs to be rephrased from "are blacks as 'racist' as

whites?" to "are blacks as 'prejudiced' as whites." I do so because the

concept of "racism," as used by most social scientists and commentators,

is grounded on methodological individualism (the separation of "racist"

Are Blacks Color Blind, Too?

221

and "nonracist" individuals) and psychologism (assuming "racist" indi-

viduals are pathological, whereas those who are not "racist" are normal).

In contrast, I have attempted to conceptualize racism as a sociopolitical

concept that refers exclusively to racial ideology that glues a particular

racial order. Thus, I have suggested that color-blind racism is the ideol-

ogy of the "new racism" era. My answer, then, to this rephrased question

is that any race (or ethnic group) can be "prejudiced" against any other

race or races (e.g., blacks can be anti-Jewish and Jews can be antiblack).

Regarding the matter of the degree to which blacks are antiwhite, most

research suggests they are less likely to be antiwhite than whites are to be

antiblack. In fact, the most interesting finding on prejudice research is

that blacks are almost as likely as whites to believe many of the antiblack

stereotypes. 23

If the question is, "Are blacks likely to develop a racialized social sys-

tem in the United States with blacks as the dominant race?" the answer

is absolutely not. Blacks lack the power 24 (organizational capacity and

resources) to carry out a nationalist program 25 to create a pro-black racial

state. Blacks also lack the demographic capacity (numbers) needed to

mount a revolution like blacks did in Haiti in the eighteenth century. In

fact, given current changes in the racial demography of the nation (blacks

are no longer the largest minority group in the nation), the most likely

scenario for the future is that race relations will become Latin America-

like, that is, that a new, triracial order will emerge with a pigmentocratic

component to it. 26 As a Latin America-like society, any form of race-based

contestation will become increasingly more difficult, which, as in Latin

America, will allow white supremacy to reign supreme, hidden from

public debate.

In the next chapter, I hypothesize what the future of racial stratification

in the United States might look like in the future.

NOTES

1. Jennifer Hochschild, Facing Up to the American Dream (Princeton, N.J.: Princ-

eton University Press, 1995).

2. Michael Dawson, Behind the Mule: Race and Class in African American Politics

(Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1994); Hochschild, Facing Up; Lee

Sigelman and Susan Welch, Black Americans' View of Racial Inequality: The Dream

Deferred (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991); Howard Schuman et al.,

Racial Attitudes in America (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1997).

3. On the black upper middle class, see Sharon Collins, Black Corporate Ex-

ecutives: The Making and Breaking of a Black Middle Class (Philadelphia: Temple

University Press, 1997). On the black middle class, see Joe R. Feagin and Melvin

Sikes, Living with Racism: The Black Middle-Class Experience (Boston: Beacon, 1994).

222

Chapter 8

An example of work on the black working class is Lillian Rubin, Families on the

Fault Line: America's Working Class Speaks about the Family, the Economy, Race,

and Ethnicity (New York: HarperCollins, 1994). On the black working poor, see

Michelle Fine and Lois Weis, The Unknown City: Lives of Poor and Working-Class

Young Adults (Boston: Beacon, 1998). Finally, on the black underclass, see Elijah

Anderson, Streetwise (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990).

4. Examples are Joe R. Feagin, Hernan Vera, and Nikitah Imani, The Agony of

Education: Black Students at White Colleges and Universities (New York: Routledge,

1996), or, on interracial friendship, Mary W. McCullough, Black and White as

Friends: Building Cross-Race Friendships (Cresskill, N.J.: Hampton, 1998). Two excep-

tions to this trend are Robert Blauner's Black Lives, White Lives (Berkeley: University

of California Press, 1989), and Studs Terkel's Race: How Blacks and Whites Feel and

Think about the American Obsession (New York: Doubleday, 1993). Although these

two books are exceptional examples of interview-based research with blacks, both

are based on unsystematic samples and lack a rigorous analytical strategy.

5. Mary R. Jackman, The Velvet Glove: Paternalism and Conflict in Gender, Class,

and Race Relations (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1994).

6. It is worthwhile to point out that blacks subscribed to traditional laissez-

faire views (not race related) in the survey at rates similar to those of whites. For

example, 94 percent of blacks and 95 percent of whites agreed with the statement,

"Any person who is willing to work hard has a good chance of succeeding."

Similarly, 59 percent of blacks and 71 percent of whites agreed with the statement,

"Most people who don't get ahead should not blame the system; they have only

themselves to blame." For similar findings, see Lawrence Bobo and James Klue-

gel, "Opposition to Race-Targeting: Self-interest, Stratification Ideology, or Racial

Attitudes?" American Sociological Review 58, no. 4 (1993): 443-64.

7. Douglas Massey and Nancy Denton, American Apartheid (Chicago: Univer-

sity of Chicago Press, 1993).

8. It is important to point out that blacks were significantly more likely

than whites to report having friends from the other group (39 percent of blacks

reported having one or more white friends, whereas only 13 percent of whites

reported having one or more black friends) and to have a preference for living in

integrated neighborhoods.

9. Most blacks reported personal examples of old-fashioned discrimination

in stores, with coworkers, supervisors, or police, and in encounters with regular

white folks.

10. See chapter 3 in Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, White Supremacy and Racism in the

Post-Civil Rights Era (Boulder, Colo.: Rienner, 2001).

11. Blacks' straight talk on racial matters can be seen in Blauner, Black Lives,

White Lives; Rubin, Families on the Fault Line; and Fine and Wise, The Unknown City.

12. See chapter 5. See also Tom W. Smith, "Measuring Inter-Racial Friendships:

Experimental Comparisons," paper presented at the annual meeting of the American

Sociological Association, August 6, 1999, in Chicago, in which he documents through

survey experiments how whites inflate the number of black friends they have.

13. Based on 1998 research by Public Agenda — a nonpartisan and nonprofit

public opinion research organization — with 1,600 white and black parents, the

organization concluded that,

Are Blacks Color Blind, Too?

223

Conventional wisdom in research circles says an African American moderator is neces-

sary to ensure forthright focus group conversations with African Americans. But one of

the earliest observations in this project was that it was far easier for a white moderator

to talk with an all-black group about race and schools than for a white moderator to

discuss these issues with an all-white group.

In the same report, the organization suggested the following about the implica-

tions of whites' silence about their true views:

But the reticence of white parents to talk explicitly means their fears and anxieties

remain beneath the surface. One consequence is that while the views of African- Amer-

ican parents are resolved and focused, the views of whites about race and the schools

often seem murky and ambivalent, replete with twists and turns in attitudes that are

difficult to unravel because they are sometimes hidden — sometimes not worked-

through — and rarely discussed.

See www.publicagenda.org/ specials/ moveon/ moveon8.htm.

14. David R. Goldfield, Black, White, and Southern: Race Relations and Southern

Culture, 1940 to the Present (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1990).

15. The scenarios were varied (equal qualifications, white slightly more quali-

fied, and decision based on past discrimination by the company) to allow exami-

nation of the strength and consistency of respondents' views on this sensitive

issue.

16. This is an interpretative problem that plagues survey research. The inter-

pretation of the survey questions and the meaning of the answers often hinge on

the respondents' race. Thus, for example, when whites and blacks both agree that

discrimination is still important in America, they mean totally different things

(see chapter 4).

17. See William H. Sewell Jr., "The Concepts(s) of Culture," in Beyond the Cul-

tural Turn, edited by Victoria E. Bonnell and Lynn Hunt, 35-61 (Berkeley: Univer-

sity of California Press, 1999).

18. My emphasis. Nicos Poulantzas, Political Power and Social Classes (London:

Verso, 1984), 223.

19. Dawson, Behind the Mule; Donald Kinder and Lynn Sanders, Divided by

Color (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996).

20. Teun van Dijk, Ideology: A Multidisciplinary Approach (London: Sage, 1998),

182.

21. Michael Omi and Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States

(New York: Routledge, 1994). For disclosure purposes, I argue in my White Su-

premacy and Racism in the Post-Civil Rights Era that "most radical writing on race

in the 1990s has been inspired by Omi and Winant" and that "my own theory

owes heavily to their work." However, I also point out some of the serious limi-

tations of their "racial formation" perspective. I also wish to acknowledge that

Omi and Winant are extraordinarily collegial and generous comrades and that I

am indebted to them in many ways. Yet, I disagree profoundly with them on the

matter of "black racism."

22. Omi and Winant, Racial Formation, 71.

224

Chapter 8

23. See Lawrence Bobo and Devon Johnson, "Racial Attitudes in a Prismatic

Metropolis." For a discussion of the historical roots of why whites are more likely

to be antiblack than blacks are to be antiwhite, see Mia Bay, The White Image in

the Black Mind: African-American Ideas about White People, 1830-1925 (New York:

Oxford University Press, 2000).

24. I also disagree with Omi and Winant's assertion that blacks have "power."

If by power they mean the capacity to enact their racial interest into concrete poli-

cies and crystallize it into institutions, blacks have very little power and seem to

be losing the little they have by the day. As a matter of fact, given the new racial

demography of the nation, blacks are likely to continue losing power in the future.

On the concept of power, see Keith Dowding, Power (Minneapolis: University of

Minnesota Press, 1996), and the always-indispensable Nicos Poulantzas, Political

Power and Social Classes.

25. However, and as one would expect from any oppressed people, blacks

have had nationalist tendencies from slavery until today. For a historical analysis

of black nationalist forces and programs in the twentieth century, see Roderick

Bush, We Are Not What We Seem: Black Nationalism and Class Struggle in the Ameri-

can Century (New York: New York University Press, 1999). For a recent analysis

of nationalism among blacks, see Michael C. Dawson, Black Visions: The Roots of

Contemporary African-American Political Ideologies (Chicago: University of Chicago

Press, 2001).

26. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva and Karen Glover, "'We Are All Americans': The

Latin Americanization of Race Relations in the USA," in The Changing Terrain of

Race and Ethnicity: Theory, Methods and Public Policy, edited by Amanda E. Lewis

and Maria Krysan (New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 2004).