According to a new study by a professor of education and black studies at the University of Missouri, people who have a “colorblind attitude” oppose racial preferences! Yes, you heard that right: surprising as it may be to some, having a “colorblind attitude” is actually a good predictor of opposition to affirmative action! Who’d a thunk?
Kevin Cokley, associate professor of educational, school and counseling psychology in the MU College of Education and associate professor of black studies, found that colorblind attitudes are more accurate than racist attitudes in predicting someone’s position on affirmative action. Previous research has focused on predicting affirmative action attitudes based on prejudice and modern racist ideals, such as the notion that discrimination is a thing of the past and that minorities are using unfair tactics, such as affirmative action, to gain access to institutions and professions where they are not wanted.
Lest his findings be thought too dramatic, Prof. Cokely added:
“It is important to point out that conceptually, color-blind attitudes are seen as a consequence of racism,” said Cokley, who co-authored the study with Germine Awad, a Fellow in the Center for Women’s Intercultural Leadership at St. Mary’s College. “Therefore, colorblind attitudes are related to, but distinct, from prejudice. A colorblind approach fails to recognize that discriminatory attitudes still persist, even in individuals who deny having prejudiced attitudes.”
Prof. Cokely also found (hold your breath!) that
Black Americans … display more favorable attitudes toward affirmative action and less colorblind and modern racist attitudes than whites.
I would be curious to know the basis for Prof. Cokeley’s conclusion that “[a] colorblind approach fails to recognize that discriminatory attitudes still persist, even in individuals who deny having prejudiced attitudes,” since no one I know or read who believes in colorblindness denies that racism still exists.
To answer this and other questions, I hope Prof. Cokely will pursue his studies of “modern racist ideals,” by which he seems to mean a similar denial of the persistence of racism combined with a belief that affirmative action is unfair. Having already established that people who oppose racial preferences can be predicted to … oppose racial preferences, who knows where Prof. Cokely’s research will lead. As Boston Globe columnist Jeff Jacoby (who called my attention to this study) observed in an email,
what will those researchers discover next — that dislike of cold weather predicts negative views on northern winters?
Believe in color-blindness? RACIST!!
John Rosenberg nails another beaut. This time it’s a “new study” by “a professor of education and black studies at the University of Missouri.” Kevin Cokley, associate professor of educational, school and counseling psychology in the MU College of Educ…
It’s amazing how similarly we approached this story on each of our blogs (although you beat me to it, I haven’t been checking here for a while due to your technical difficulties).
Check out the second study I unearthed though related to this with the researchers bias against “bargainers” (blacks who make self-reliance statements being more respected by whites). I’ve linked it in my url space on this response.