Within Critical Race Theory, color blindness only strengthens racism as something that goes unnoticed and untalked about in every day operations, making it impossible to address racial harms other than those so flagrant that everyone immediately recognizes them as racism, but is then dismissed as abnormal or something of the past.

Criticism of color blindness (within Critical Race Theory)

Color blindness is the view or standard that everyone should or is being treated uniformly, regardless of differences in race. 

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These are terms that were created within Critical Race Theory or are necessary to understand some of the theories within Critical Race Theory

- Intersectionality
- Color blindness
- Racial Idealism
- Racial Realism

Key Terms within Critical Race Theory

Delgado, R., & Stefancic, J. (2012). Critical Race Theory: An Introduction (2nd ed.). NYU Press.

Critical Race Theory: An Introduction 

Intersectionality examines the experiences of people who are experiencing discrimination on the basis of two or more marginalized identities at the same time, and how this differs from experiencing discrimnination on the basis of these identities individually.  Because of this depending on context, we all have areas where we experience privilege, as well as areas of oppression

For example, the stereotypes or preconceived notions held about black women are not merely a combination of those held about black people and those held about women, but a unique intersection of racism and sexism that black women experience differently from either black men or white women.

Intersectionality

Color blindness (racial)

Also called economic determinism, racial realism focuses on the material consequences of racism. It views racism as an economic system that privileges white people through tangible benefits: education, land, jobs, etc. Under this view, histories of race relations are histories of economic changes. 

Racial Realism

Race idealists position racism as something that originates in the mind, and must be addressed there as well in order to be eradicated. They are most concerned with thoughts, attitudes, and discourse, and how these can be changed to eliminate racially discriminatory beliefs .

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