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Bryce Madrid
Race & Social Justice
Lo
October, 11,2015
Colorblindness in Racial Formation
Authors, Omi and Winant, ponder the definition of race and how it
influences life on the micro and macro levels of society. They both identify
colorblindness within Racial Formation in the United States as a key concept.
Colorblindness is essential to the argument because it is fueling the
perception of race as time goes on. Thus is a consequence to society in that
multiculturism is not used to an advantage.
Some context for Omi and Winants argument is often its tempting to
see race as an essence or an illusion. Essence is something that is innate,
fixed and unchanging. The opposite of that ideological illusion is a
construction that a non-racist group seeks to flush out. However, the authors
define race in their own terms as a concept, which signifies and symbolizes
social conflicts and interests by referring to different types of human
bodies(Omi and Winant, 55).
After setting the standard definition of race in their argument, Omi and
Winant can divulge into their argument. Both authors expand on the topic of
society seeing race as a problem that we must get passed; but Omi and
Winant see race as an element of social structure rather than an
irregularity(Omi and Winant, 55). Moving on, it is then said racial formation

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is a process of creating, possessing, evolving and eliminating racial
categories. This is what Omi and Winant set their argument around. At the
macro-level, Omi and Winant describe racial formation through a letter from
Charles Murray, arguing that welfare is an advantage to a race and that
race is not a morally admissible reason for treating one person differently
from another(Omi and Winant, 57). They use this example to reach the
statement that the government simply cannot be colorblind since its actions
and decisions are anything but. Leading into colorblindness being a trend
within society. Omi and Winant approach this topic by starting out with the
political perspective in claiming colorblind policy. They then go to
colorblindness on a micro-level of ones everyday life: first things we notice
about people when we meet them (along with their sex) is their race.(Omi
and Winant, 59). Both authors make it known that the colorblindness
projects are the heart of racial formation(Omi and Winant, 60). The rest of
the argument then continues to talk about: evolution of racial formation,
religion, science, politics, forms of government. Ultimately drawing to the
question of what is racism? The authors answer this question with the
product of centuries of systematic exclusion, exploitation, and disregard of
racially defined minorities (Omi and Winant, 69). They then relate racism to
racial projects meaning that through racial projects of structures of
hegemony or categories of race then it is deemed racist. Coming to the
conclusion that racial ideology and social structure, therefore, mutually

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shape the nature of racism in a complex, dialectical, and over determined
manner (Omi and Winant, 75).
Omi and Winants key concept, colorblindness, is important because
though it is only briefly explain; it can be seen in every aspect of the
argument. It also gives a possible cause of why society cannot get passed
many issues of hegemony, whiteness, and white supremacy. It is essentially
a wake up call to the world that they are choosing to be blind rather than see
whats in front of them and play as a strength. Fast-forward from the time
this book was published, colorblindness, is still taking place and may be even
more prominent just different forms.

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Works Cited:

Omi, Michael, and Howard Winant. "Racial Formation." Racial

Formation in the United States: From the 1960s to the 1980s. New York:
Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986. N. pag. Print.