Anti-racecraft vs. Colorblind Racism

In a piece for Third Rail, I sought to provide some clear examples of racecraft—the process whereby racial differences (instead of practices like racism and exploitation) can explain differences in behavior and outcomes. Building on an analogy offered by Karen and Barbara Fields, I wrote:

To understand how racecraft operates, consider a different conjured reality: Santa Claus.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, millions summon the myth of Ol’ St. Nick to explain the meaning of the season’s gift-giving to children. Songs, books, movies, malls, and school teachers all play a role in the effort to reinforce the belief in children that Santa exists and magically provides gifts around the world, especially if they behave in accordance with their parents’ and guardians’ expectations. To ensure this narrative remains intact, parents take measures such as wrapping gifts while children sleep and hiding the gifts in their bedroom closet or the trunk of their car.

Children do not adopt the belief that Santa exists because they are stupid or unreasonable, but rather because they have grown up in an environment where institutions and authority figures have put enormous effort into rituals that bring Santa to life.

Race is a pervasive myth that adults don’t seem to grow out of—even if it works like Santa. When the make-believe figure of Santa is taken-for-granted as a reasonable explanation for why gifts are under the Christmas tree, the production, purchasing, and wrapping of gifts by parents or guardians are rendered invisible. When the myth of racial differences is used as a reasonable explanation for social problems, the actual causes of those problems (like racism and exploitation) are rendered invisible.

Of course, some adults believe in racial differences and Santa. Ex-Fox News host Megyn Kelly who once stated, “for all you kids watching at home, Santa is just white.”

In discussions about racecraft, I frequently have to answer the following question:

Aren’t you promoting colorblindness?

I know that I’m not the only person who has received this question. Therefore, I’ll provide the answer that I use in these situations:

The term “colorblindness” often refers to the belief that race should be ignored because racism doesn’t exist. This is the argument that conservatives have used to justify their opposition to anti-discrimination practices and programs. They even evoke the image of civil rights leaders like Dr. King to justify their reasoning.

The difference between colorblindness discourse (or postracialism or colorblind racism) and an anti-racecraft perspective, however, is that folks on the Left (like Dr. King, Karen and Barbara Fields, Toure Reed, Cedric Johnson, Adolph Reed Jr., and many others) believe that the practice of racism exists. They have argued that the belief in racial differences serves as the premise of racist practices; it is the practice of racism that reinforce the illusion that nature produced different types of human beings that we call “races.”

The different is subtle and easy to miss because of racecraft. One of the consequences of racecraft is that the term “race” is often used as a shorthand for “racism.” Whenever someone says “racial issues” or “Dr. King died because of the color of his skin,” they are probably using the term race as a substitute for the term racism. The problem with colorblindness discourse is not that they promote the belief that racial differences aren’t real; they problem is that they reinforce the myth that racism is not real, and that any complaints about racism are illegitimate.

In short, the difference between an anti-racecraft perspective and colorblindness discourse can be clarified if we focus on the question, “does racism exist?” The proponents of an anti-racecraft perspective argue that racism exists and reinforces the premise that nature produce racial categories. They reject the argument that racial differences can explain inequality; practices like racism and exploitation are legitimate social problems. On the other hand, the proponents of colorblindness argue that racism doesn’t really exist in the post-Jim Crow era, and therefore any solutions for racism (or so-called “racial issues”) are illegitimate.

I hope this is useful, especially for my fellow educators out there.