Colorblind Racism
Think about how you learned about race and racial groups. We are going to apply Bonilla-Silva’s theory, colorblind racism to our personal experiences.
The module includes a lesson on colorblind racism, a theory by sociologist Bonilla-Silva. He shows us that many people assume there is no racism when in fact there is. The ways racism is structured in society is through different social structures, like family, school, peers, and the media.
The discussion asks you to find examples where this happens and identify which aspect of his theory it is. He has 4 frames, 4 styles, story lines and testimonies. Find an example from your life, then determine which of his frames, styles, etc. it is.
For example, if one of my pals says in a discussion that she is not racist as she has friends that are a different race from her, that would be an example of a testimony.
Pick one of the Socializing Institutes below and discuss how this institution may socialize us to be racist. To do this, provide three elements of Bonilla-Silva’s theory. Specifically, that means at least one frame, one style or one story for the socialization institution.
Bonilla-Silva shows us that there are a list of 4 frames, 4 styles and storylines and testimonies used to maintain racism in a “colorblind” society — so you can pick which frames and stories/storylines to talk about but you will need to apply 3 of these to 1 institution of your choice.
Socializing Institutes
- How do families socialize us to view groups in particular racialized ways?
- How do schools and education systems construct racialized ideologies?
- How do peer groups inform us about race and inequality?
- How do the mass media, including social media, present racialized images that lead us to adopt ideologies?
Example
Here I demonstrate 1 frames,1 style and 1 story line for family.
Family: Abstract liberalism, Avoidance of Direct Language, and Testimonies*
At a family dinner, my cousin brought a friend who talked about how unfair policies are that favor one group over another. He talked about Affirmative Action saying it was “reverse discrimination.” There is no “reverse” as discrimination is discrimination, but the fact that he said this is an example of the frame Abstract Liberalism — he is saying it is “unfair.” This is also an example of the style Avoidance of Direct Language as he would not say this if there were people of a different race in the room. This is also an example of testimony as he said there would be plenty of talented people of color who would be accepted for jobs if they just applied — he knows some. Therefore Affirmative Action is necessary.
*You may not use my example for your submission.
