Chamiyah - Chapter 6

Racism Without Racists Chapter 6

Are all Whites refined Archie Bunkers?

Most whites in the United States rely on the ideology of the color-blind racism to articulate their view and interpret interactions with people of color. And because whites believe discrimination is a thing of the past, minorities’ protestations about being racially profiled, experiencing discrimination in the housing and labor markets, and being discriminated against in restaurants, stores, and other social settings are interpreted as excuses. Does this mean that all whites are refine Archie Bunkers? Does every single white subscribe to the frames, racial stories, and style associated with color-blind racism? Obviously not. Racial has always transpired because of the joint efforts of racial minorities and white progressive.

Interview data from the 1997 Survey on Social Attitudes of College Students and the 1998 Detroit Area Study suggest young, working-class women are the most likely candidates to be racial progressive. These opinion-shaping agents also propagate the view the most whites, whom they classify as ‘middle class,’ are racially tolerant. Systems of privilege are defended by most of their beneficiaries in a variety of ways.

In this chapter Bonilla-Silva profiled white racial progressives. Bonilla-Silva found that young, working-class women are more likely than any other segment of the white community to be racially progressive. They were more likely to support affirmative action and interracial marriage and understand discrimination is a central factor shaping the life chances of minorities in this country. Most also admitted that being white is an advantage in this country. Although these respondents were substantially different in their views from most whites in these two studies, many of their views denoted the influence of color-blind racism. All these respondents, though to various degrees, have been influenced by the grames of color blindness and, hence, on some issues had exactly the same views as most whites probably children of interracial couples would face.