Can - Or Should - America Be Color-Blind?

Introduction:

Many people hold that racism is a belief that one racial group is innately superior to other groups, especially in terms of intellectual ability and cultural practice.

Most Americans agree that eliminating racism will help lead to equal opportunity for all. But many disagree on how to achieve this goal.

One opinion holds that ignoring race, or skin color, is the best avenue to social justice. Many prominent Americans, including Lyndon Johnson and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., have subscribed to this color-blind ideal.

Critics of the color-blind approach argue that it ignores research showing that, even among well-intentioned people, skin color (and other identifiable physical features such as ethnicity, gender, and physical disability) figure prominently in everyday attitudes and behavior. To get beyond racism and other similar forms of prejudice, we must first take the differences between people into account.

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