Colorblind - 9780872865082

"Tim Wise's Colorblind is a Powerful and Urgently needed book. One of our best and most courageous public voices on racial inequity, Wise tackles head-on the resurgence and absurdity of post-racial liberalism in a world still largely structured by deep racial disparity and structural inequity. 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, author of The Hip Hop Wars

"Colorblind Proposes Practical Solutions to our problems and promotes new ways of thinking that encourage us to both recognize differences and transcend them."---George Lipsitz, author of The Possessive Investment in Whiteness

"You Will Literally Lose Your Breath Trying to keep up with the ways that Wise lays waste to the idea that we've achieved anything close to a `post-race' society. 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

Legal gains were interpreted by some as ensuring equal treatment for all and that "colorblind" policies and programs would be the best way forward. Since then, many voices have called for an end to affirmative action and other color-conscious policies and programs, and even for a retreat from public discussion of racism itself.

Bolstered by the election of Barack Obama, proponents of colorblindness argue that the obstacles faced by blacks and people of color in the United States can no longer be attributed to racism but instead result from economic forces. Thus, they contend, programs meant to uplift working-class and poor people are the best means

for overcoming any racial inequalities that might still persist. In Colorblind, Tim Wise refutes these assertions and advocates that the best way forward is to become more, not less, conscious of race and its impact on equal opportunity.

Focusing on disparities in employment, housing, education and healthcare, Wise argues that racism is indeed still an acute problem in the United States today, and that colorblind policies actually worsen the problem of racial injustice. Colorblind presents a timely and provocative look at contemporary racism and offers fresh ideas on what can be done to achieve true social justice and economic equality.