Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity by Tim Wise

Colorblind: The Rise of Post-Racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity Reviews

• 
  Rob

  (6/10) In this book Tim Wise finally decides to step up to the plate and take a swing at Obama, in the most respectful and definitely-not-racist way possible. His thesis here is that Obama represents a trend in liberal thought away from specific attention to racial issues via affirmitive action and such towards what Wise calls "colorblind universalism", which focuses on creating universally beneficial public programs.
  
  This is a real phenomenon, and Wise cites a number of influential authors whose ideology falls squarely into this category. But this all seems to be happening on the level of public ideology -- the official mask of liberalism -- and not actual action. I would love it if Obama and the Democrats were actually attempting to build public social institutions, no matter how colourblind they are, but their actions in power have been to further demolish what's left of these institutions and shunt progressive energy into the masquerade of health insurance reform. The problem with the current political order isn't that it's dominated by liberal idealism, but rather by the neoliberal cynicism on display in the current budget "Grand Bargain".
  
  Again, Wise does have a point here, specifically about Obama's eagerness to distance himself from black issues. Even so, I still feel that a non-cruel and universal welfare system would benefit African-Americans a lot more than, say, specifically-targeted college spaces for black students. But the larger issue is that Wise mistakes the public image projected by Obama and company for their actual actions, a mistake which only furthers the smoke and mirrors of liberal politics.
• 
  John Kaufmann

  This book debunks the idea of post-racial liberalism. Post-racial liberalism is the idea that we have addressed most of the major racial issues in our society, capped by the election of our first black president, and that appeals to race may be counterproductive to further progress. Instead, the argument goes, social issues are better dealt with in a race neutral context (e.g., health care for all, raising the minimum wage, etc.).
  
  Certainly, we have made progress in addressing many of the issues raised by the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. However, it doesn’t mean we have eliminated the problems. In fact, Wise argues, many of our social problems still disproportionately affect black Americans, beginning with incarceration but including employment, health care, education, housing, etc. If race wasn’t a component, how, he asks, can we explain why patients with the same diagnoses are given significantly less aggressive/effective treatments if they are black; or how employers react to the same job application/resume depending on whether the applicant has an European surname or a black sounding name; or how teachers treat students differently, based on biased expectations shaped by neighborhood or other cultural contexts. (Wise argues persuasively that much of the opposition to the Affordable Care Act - Obamacare - motivated by the perception that many/most of the beneficiaries are black.)
  
  In addition, Wise argues that it is race-neutrality, not race consciousness, that hinders social progress. Proponents of race-neutrality argue that direct racial correctives are not as urgent these days, and that they may be counter-productive by engendering backlash. However, Wise argues that race-neutrality often can and is used as a cover for racial discrimination (albeit in many cases it may be subconscious rather than direct or blatant discrimination). Wise’s corrective is what he calls “illuminated individualism” – bringing a race consciousness into our decision making. By ignoring race, subconscious fears may surface and bias our decisions unknowingly. By trying to bring our (collective as well as individual) fears and stereotypes to the forefront of our consciousness, we can neutralize the effect that our subconscious and/or collective fears and biases can exert.
  
  
• 
  City Lights Booksellers & Publishers

  "If you don't know who Tim Wise is, you will after this book." — Mark Anthony Neal, author of New Black Man and Professor of African & African-American Studies at Duke University
  
  "With Colorblind, Tim Wise offers a gutsy call to arms. Rather than play nice and reiterate the fiction of black racial transcendence, Wise takes the gloves off: He insists white Americans themselves must be at the forefront of the policy shifts necessary to correct our nation's racial imbalances in crime, health, wealth, education and more. A piercing, passionate and illuminating critique of the post-racial moment."
  — Bakari Kitwana, author of The Hip-Hop Generation: Young Blacks and the Crisis in African American Culture
  
  "Tim Wise's Colorblind is a powerful and urgently needed book. One of our best and most courageous public voices on racial inequality, Wise tackles head on the resurgence and absurdity of post-racial liberalism in a world still largely structured by deep racial disparity and structural inequality. He shows us with passion and sharp, insightful, accessible analysis how this imagined world of post racial framing and policy can’t take us where we want to go—it actually stymies our progress toward racial unity and equality."
  —Tricia Rose, Brown University, author of The Hip Hop Wars
  
  "Tim Wise's Colorblind brilliantly challenges the idea that the election of Obama has ushered in a post-racial era. In clear, engaging, and accessible prose, Wise explains that ignoring problems does not make them go away, that race-bound problems require race-conscious remedies. Perhaps most important, Colorblind proposes practical solutions to our problems and promotes new ways of thinking that encourage us to both recognize differences and to transcend them."
  —George Lipsitz, author of The Possessive Investment in Whiteness
  
  "A phenomenal book, a great read, you definitely want to check out."
  —Roland Martin, The Tom Joyner Show & CNN
  
  "I highly, highly, highly recommend it."
  —
  Tavis Smiley
  
  "I finally finished Tim Wise's 'Colorblind' and found it right-on, straight-ahead piece of work. This guy hits all the targets, it's really quite remarkable . . . That's two of his that I've read [the first being 'Between Barack':] and they are both works of crystal truth . . ."
  —Mumia Abu-Jamal
  
  "America needs not to 'move beyond' race but to adopt innovative public policies that directly address it. Wise gives specific ideas of what those policies might be."
  —World Wide Work
  
  "Wise's powerful and thought-provoking book is aimed at opening the eyes of Americans, by showing them that this country, in 2010, is not a colorblind society."
  —The Empowerment Initiative Online Newsletter
  
  "Tim Wise dismantles the myth that full equality has been won and the playing field is level with hard facts, citing studies that have shown the persistence of institutional racism and white racial preference in all areas, including employment, education and health care."
  —Kel Munger, Sacramento News and Review
  
  "The book is consistently interesting and, in many ways, unsettling as it challenges the settled opinions on race matters. . . . In a post-racial society, ‘race-bound problems require race-conscious remedies.’ A preeminent anti-racist, Tim Wise lays out brilliantly his views on a society that is yet to move beyond discrimination to a post-racial liberalism."
  —Tribune India
  
  “The author of 'White Like Me' returns with the timely and provocative 'Colorblind,' examining the ongoing racial disparities in all aspects of American life in the age of Obama. Wise convincingly argues that by turning a colorblind eye, we not only fail to achieve equality but in fact worsen racial injustice.” —Shelf Unbound
  
  "A new book by Tim Wise, “Colorblind: The Rise of Post-racial Politics and the Retreat from Racial Equity,” provides an excellent companion piece to Alexander’s “New Jim Crow”. Wise argues that Barack Obama’s appeal to post-racial universalism has been an unmitigated disaster. By refusing to address the tidal wave of racist rhetoric currently engulfing the Republic, Obama has multiplied its power. . . . I urge you to run out and buy a copy of this important book..."
  —Alan Bean, Friends of Justice
  
  
• 
  Adam

  Yes.
  
  Tim Wise speaks a real talk that is incredibly accessible, unarguably relevant and extraordinarily necessary. Here, Wise attacks the developing push for a post-racial America, especially by the self-proclaimed liberal left. He levels attacks not only on an ideological front but more importantly from a purely strategic angle, persuasively arguing that meaningful progress with regards to racial disparities requires a race-conscious, not race-neutral, approach.
  
  After exploring the rise of post-racial liberalism, Wise clearly articulates how this era of supposed colorblindness threatens to undermine racial progress. He then acknowledges that lambasting a political system is hardly worth its weight in words without offering a better alternative.
  
  So he does.
  
  The final section of the book is devoted to flushing out the ways in which individuals, the collective, and government can foster a truly more equitable society by recognizing, focusing on, and actually discussing the consequences of race in our society. He calls in the final pages for an illuminated individualism, a social and political approach to recognizing that individual identities shape experiences differently and thus cannot simply be steamrolled into a single I, or We for any particular discussion or purpose.
  
  Most of all, he calls for an end to individual neutrality and passivity. For in an era where colorblindness has proven to be destructive, so too is issue blindness and, as he says, "standing still is never an option so long as inequities remain embedded in the very fabric of the culture."
• 
  Jennifer

  "To begin, if the rhetoric of racial transcendence gives the impression--as it does, almost by definition--that the racial injustices of the past are no longer instrumental in determining life chances and outcomes, it will become increasingly likely that persons seeing significant racial stratification in society will rationalize those disparities as owing to some cultural or biological flaw on the part of those at the bottom of the hierarchy. In other words, racial bias would become almost rational once observers of inequity were deprived of the critical social context needed to understand the conditions they observe. Whereas a color-conscious approach allows for a more nuanced understanding of racial inequities and how they've been generated, colorblindness encourages placing blame for the conditions of inequity on those who have been the targets of systemic injustice. Ironically, this means that colorblindness, often encouraged as the ultimate non-racist mentality, might have the consequence of giving new life to racist thinking."
  
  "Illuminated individualism seeks to respect the uniqueness of all persons and communities--and thus not to assume that racial identity or country of origin, as in the case of non-citizens seeking to become residents, automatically tells us what we need to know about a person and their background--while yet acknowledging the general truth that to be white, a person of color, indigenous, or an immigrant continues to have meaning in the United States."
  
  'Whether race is a burden or a benefit is all the same to the race neutral theorists; that is what they mean when they speak of being colorblind. They are colorblind, all right--blind to the consequences of being the wrong color in America today.' --Julian Bond, Chairman, NAACP 2003
  
  "Evidence points to a process whereby whites over-remember stereotype-confirming behavior or tendencies in applicants of color, and ignore the same traits in whites. So, for instance, if a person of color mispronounces a word, ends a sentence with a preposition, or stumbles while speaking during an job interview, it may trigger what psychologists call a mental schema (or set of ideas that are linked to one another in memory) regarding stereotypes of inadequate black performance and ability. Yet, if a white job applicant did the very same things, it would not trigger remembrance of a stereotypical and negative schema regarding white people (because there are none when it comes to intelligence), and it would likely be forgotten or never even noticed."
  
  "So if a black person of some notoriety agrees with a racist assumption made regularly by white people, those white people can no longer be thought of as engaging in racism. Which means, by definition, that if even one prominent black person can be found who would defend segregation or enslavement--and of course, such persons existed--neither of those amounted to racism either: a position so intellectually putrid as to merit no further comment."
  
  "Having to be 'twice as good' to get half as far, even when one manages to pull it off, can easily devolve into a real-life 'John Henryism,' in which, like the folk legend about the steel-driving man who wanted to prove he could pound rail ties as well as a machine, individuals who fall prey to it prove themselves, only to die early from over-stress."
  
  From the Journal of the National Medical Association:
  'The failure to address differences in the behavior towards and opportunities afforded to racial/ethnic minorities contributes to the inability to eliminate racial/ethnic disparities in health. Too often, programs designed to eliminate disparities focus on educating the community without regard for their environment and other circumstances that restrict their freedom of choice and opportunities. Addressing racism as it relates to racial/ethnic health disparities requires an assessment of its prevalence and an understanding of the specific manner in which it operates, not only in the social environment, but in healthcare delivery systems as well.'
• 
  Claire

  I have often felt the inadequacy of "colorblind" approaches to life, but on an intuitive level. This book expands that by explaining those inadequacies on a rational level.
  
  Tim Wise presents argument after argument, study after study, to show how ignoring racial difference reinforces the gap between races. In spite of all those studies, the book is quite readable. It is well organized with all its parts put clearly into place. For those interested in reading actual studies, there are abundant footnotes.
  
  He opens with chapters showing how the theory of colorblindness developed, aided by then President Obama's own race neutral approach. He follows this with evidence that we have indeed not transcended racial disparities. He critiques victim blaming. He includes discussion of persistent racial bias in employment, housing, education and health. He addresses these areas again in the last section where he offers suggestions for action, action on both the individual and policy level.
• 
  Jess

  While this book was written during Obama's presidency, it is worth reading now in order to gain historical perspective regarding our general cultural inability to discuss matters of race and racism and the structural racism (in education, housing, and healthcare) that pervade in the U.S. Wise brings readers back to the Moynihan Report in 1965 and the rhetoric of racial transcendence that it initiated amongst white cultures causing a problematic culture of colorblindness and what Wise refers to as "post-racial liberalism," a culture which continued in the Obama era. He also offers solutions to how to begin addressing system racism in our institutions and cultures.
• 
  Aaron Siegel

  If post-racial liberalism, also known as colorblind universalism, was a framework constructed of bricks, Tim Wise is able to comprehensibly and effectively dissect and knock down each of these poorly laid bricks, and in doing so, shows that the race-related problems within the realms of employment, housing, education, and health care are not based on economics and/or culture, but good ole American racism. The danger in a colorblind attitude, a very ironic danger, is it often breads and cultivates what it is meant to alleviate, and that is racism.
• 
  Heather

  3/5 stars due to the 3rd chapter alone (I was initially only going to give 2 stars before getting to the last chapter). I went into this book really wanting to like it. The first two chapters were muddled and difficult to get through. Overall, not my favorite.
• 
  Shelly Carman

  A spewing of statistics and data that was not engaging. Other authors have made this same point and engaged my interest and attention better.
• 
  Corey Wrenn

  A treatise on the problem with "universal" public policy designed to "lift all boats," Colorblind blasts the reader with dozens upon dozens of psychological and sociological studies on the clear and persistent problems with racism in education, housing, employment, and health. Even when controlling for class, people of color are disproportionately disadvantaged--"lifting all boats" will simply lift the white advantage further, doing nothing to narrow the racial gap in American life.
  
  For that matter, by refusing to talk about race, far from placating whites, "colorblind" discourse empowers white supremacist thinking. If policy is "colorblind" and racism is a thing of the past, then whites are left to presume that the persistent racial differences are due to cultural, individual, or biological differences. Colorblind policy does little to damper conservative whites' fears and bigotry, since, without explicitly discussing race, universal policies translate to policies that secretly help people of color in the white imagination. Wise also points to research that supports how actually acknowledging race (a strategy he calls "illuminated individualism," meaning that individuals are understood in the context of the structures that impact them) has been demonstrated to challenge implicit bias and overt racism. This strategy is based in psychological research which finds that openly discussing race creates a cognitive dissonance in which they will seek to align their sense of fairness with their treatment of others. Not openly acknowleging race, on the other hand, fosters stereotypical thinking.
  
  The scientific evidence Wise repeatedly loads on to support his claims and strategies for change are compelling. Indeed, unlike most books, Wise provides an entire chapter on clear, easy to understand, research-based solutions. These include training teachers and doctors to understand their own implicit biases and how to cater to students and patients grappling with the unique challenges of racism. He also suggests nixing school tracking, individual/competitive work in classrooms (since this fosters stereotype threat among minorities), and designing school projects that invite students to examine and honor their own culture and ideologies.
  
  In the realm of public policy, he suggests race-conscious policies that require new projects to report on the potential racial impact, the available contractors of color available in an area (since historically, people of color have been excluded from government contracts), and aggressive penalties for companies that have been shown to engage in racist practices. Racism, too, should be declared a public health problem, which would encourage greater government resources and counter conservative attacks on race-targeted programs. Only by explicitly acknowledging how racism manifests can it be addressed.
  
  Wise's book is a compact and hard-hitting book that leaves the reader with no doubt that racism remains a persistent and extreme social problem in the U.S. The wealth of research utilized to bolster claims makes it a useful piece of scholarship. At times, however, this gets overwhelming, particularly as the 200 page book is organized into just three chapters. Better organization would have aided the reading and improved its usability in classrooms.
  
  Furthermore, Wise appears to exhibit a bit of colorblindness himself, as the vast majority of the book grapples with discrimination against the Black community. Given the growing Latinx population and the extreme discrimination they have also endured for hundreds of years in the US and its territories, I found this to be a curious oversight. Another such oversight was Wise's failure to discuss his own positionality as the author. His writing style is quite personal and his thesis argues for illuminated individualism, and yet his own bias and privilege as a white author are not examined. I was left wondering if his personal biography (a resident of Tennessee) could explain why he foused on Blacks to the exclusion of Asians, Pacific Islanders, and other minorities. I was also left wondering why he was presenting himself the expert on how best to address racism and not people of color themselves.
  
  Lastly, this book is focused on the Obama administration and thus dates itself immediately. Obama's presidency is, of course, historic and his failed application of colorblind policy is compelling, but we now live in the Age of Trump and the ante has just been upped. For that matter, the impact of the Black Lives Matter movement and prison abolition efforts on the academic discourse in recent years becomes quite clear to the reader since, this book (written in 2010) makes no mention of police violence or mass incarceration as race-specific discriminations.
• 
  Lauren

  As a regular reader of Tim Wise, I was excited to pick up his new book AT City Lights during a recent trip to San Francisco. Sadly, I didn't find this text as engaging as some of his previous works. It's not for lack of a good concept - Wise's thesis is that "post-racial liberalism" (as practiced by many democrats, including President Obama) actually moves us further from racial justice than a more color conscious approach (here he calls it "illuminated individualism). Intriguing, right? Yet he then proceeds to spend two-thirds of the book trotting out all of his previous research on racial inequities, which is old hat if you've read any of his other works. It's not until the last section on illuminated individualism that you get to something really fresh and radical - Wise's recommendations for policy changes that would bring us closer to a liberated society. Declaring racism as a public health issue for folks of color? Genius.
  
  If you've never read Tim Wise before, by all means start with this book and enjoy filling your head with US racial disparities 101. But if you have, I recommend skimming the early sections and then digging in to part three. You'll appreciate the new material he brings to the table, but you won't have to wait as long as I did for something new.
• 
  Shannyn

  It is distressing that most of the people who really need to read this book never will and, fundamentally, that explains the prevalence of the flawed post-racial narrative Wise intellectually destroys in this book. The fact of the matter is that most people who do not have to think critically about the consequences of race do not, and they certainly do not take it upon themselves to pursue an understanding of the critical historical context of the race-based social and economic disparities our society has inherited and, consciously and unconsciously, repackaged to create the illusion of post-racialism. Likewise, this lack of contextual knowledge (easily acquired by reading books like this one), combined with various unconscious manifestations of racial bias and resentment, explains the phenomenon in which whites who swear by colorblindness nevertheless reject deliberate methods to remedy the disadvantage experienced by black and brown people.
  
  Tim Wise, you are my hero.
• 
  Svetlana Kurilova

  Tim Wise is very convincing in his arguments that we are not ready for colorblindness. The equalities penetrate all areas of our life – education, work, and health policies. We still are facing racial issues throughout life. The author describes the situation and proposes the ways of how to “fix” our society. We have to be aware of our own stereotypes and keep them in check. Tim Wise also discusses that it is really important to teach our children the history of the U.S. and about the role of the race in its establishment. We have to teach future generations why we all have a different color skin and that life opportunities should not depend on its color. We are a long way to go but if we have more people such Wise we might speed up the process and move closer to the healthy society where you will have a chance to be successful if you are dark and you will not be judged or called sick if you are in an interracial relationship or have a mixed race child.
• 
  Zawn V

  This is not Wise's strongest work. It seems there's a trend with writers who do social science. Once they begin to get publicity, they start churning stuff out every two years; unfortunately, much of the stuff is recycled old work. This is the case with Colorblind.
  
  Wise rehashes the basic arguments of why white people are privileged, why racism still exists, etc. And while this is necessary if this book is given to someone who's never been introduced to these basic concepts, for his readers who are familiar, it's a waste of space. Wise's books have read like primers in recent years, and I would have liked to see a harder hitting approach to the "colorblind" trend in the U.S. Still, Wise keeps his charm and his message is good, so he gets three stars.
• 
  Lori Peek

  This book is for anyone who cares about living in a more just and racially equitable society. Wise does a masterful job of pulling together hundreds of social-psychological and sociological studies that illustrate the ongoing signficance of race in shaping lives and life chances. The book is organized around four aspects of social life - housing, education, health care, and employment - where racial disparities are most glaring. Wise convincingly argues why the "post-racial" and "colorblind" narratives that have overtaken today's political scene are not only dishonest, they are also dangerous. He offers a path forward ("illuminated individualism" and various policy prescriptions) in the conclusion, which I appreciate very much.
• 
  Ko Matsuo

  Tim Wise's critique of the modern color-blind solutions to racism is extremely insightful and eyeopening, though disjointed and sometimes rambling in its presentation. The color-blind argument is that if we address "bigger" issues such as poverty, drug abuse, and education, racism will eventually disappear. A well known example is President Obama's Democratic National Convention Speech, in which he said, "There is not a black America and a white America ... - there's the United States of America." In reality, according to Wise, such approaches merely ignore racism and as a result, passively ignore it. His solution is to continue to educate and face specific racism issues. A good contribution to an extremely complex issue.
• 
  Paul

  I thought this book was incredible. I have heard Tim Wise speak once before during college and I have heard about his work through word of mouth but this was the first book I decided to read of his. I found it compelling, well-researched, thoughtful, and above all else practical. I appreciated his deep analysis of the fallacy of post-racial liberalism and how we must on the one hand address structural change but at the same time develop what he calls illuminated individualism. I also appreciated his policy recommendations towards the end of the book and hope that our country becomes more race conscious as we move forward.
• 
  Qwerty

  I was interested in reading this book after watching Tim Wise on YouTube. He is clearly a dynamic speaker and a very thoughtful academic. The book itself is a bit academic and dry, but thought-provoking. His central premise is counter-intuitive, that color-blindness (ignoring race) itself leads to unfairness because it ignores both historic and present-day disparate treatment. In its place, he suggests a form of race-conscience individualism, recognizing that someone is both an individual and a member of a distinct historical group. Wise does a decent job of presenting his thesis, marshaling his arguments, and presenting his recommendations.
• 
  Ryan Wilson

  Does a great job of putting to bed the idea that we live in a post-racial country, in spite of the fact that we elected a black president. The book spends a great deal of time showing empirically the effects of both historical, legal racism and contemporary, subversive racism. It advocates for race-based reform in addition to socioeconomic-based measures. The last quarter of the book offers some concrete suggestions to working toward a more equal society. I strongly recommend it to anybody interested in understanding more about the nature of white supremacy.
• 
  Lisa

  Illuminating book and a fairly quick read. Tim Wise is a gifted writer, presenting logical arguments that are easy to follow.
  
  By taking a color-conscious approach, the author shines a light on modern-day racism found in employment, housing, education and health care. Over and over he proves that being black in America has its own set of risks unique to the United States.
  
  Throughout the book, Wise makes a strong case against the myth of racial transcendence, asserting that "When it comes to race, we must be color-conscious, not colorblind."
  
  Highly recommend this book.
• 
  Aaron

  Tim Wise does a fantastic job of laying out the reasons for why we should abandon the concept of 'colorblind.' He spends quite a lot of time on health care in the African American population and the ways in which discrimination manifests into illness.
  
  Then he lays out his vision of adopting color-conscious policies and approaches to hiring, health care, education, and housing. His vision of illuminated individualism is insightful and brilliant.
• 
  Tammy

  This book took me a long time to read, but I think it's because there was so much to take in and think about even though it wasn't an overly academic-type of read. Wise helps clarify and make accessible some pretty tough and complex issues that are extremely relevant. I would definitely need to read this again. Too bad I borrowed a friend's copy - I think I would have underlined and marked up a lot of things.
• 
  Stig Edvartsen

  Well worth reading to challenge your own assumptions about racism. This should be mandatory reading for anyone in a position where they can influence public or company policy on recruitment and racism. It very anchored in the US, so readers in other countries may want to supplement with local authors on the same topics.