I Am, but I Do Not See: Color-Blind Racial Ideology in College Millennials

I Am, but I Do Not See: Color-Blind Racial Ideology in College Millennials

ABSTRACT Title of Dissertation: I AM, BUT I DO NOT SEE: COLOR-BLIND RACIAL IDEOLOGY IN COLLEGE MILLENNIALS Jonathan M. Cox, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017 Directed By: Professor Rashawn J. Ray, Department of Sociology Research suggests that in the midst of pervasive claims of a post-racial society, it is mostly whites who ascribe to color-blind ideology, while people of color still point to the significance of race. However, we know relatively little about the views of young adults, who have largely come of age during the time of the U.S.’ first black-identifying president. Building upon research done by Bonilla-Silva (2003), and drawing upon from literature on racial ideology and racial identity, my research primarily addresses the following question: In what ways do the racial identities of Millennials impact their utilization or rejection of a color-blind racial ideology? To answer my research question, I conducted a study involving 70 racially diverse college students from four schools in the Washington, D.C. area. Students kept weekly journals about race in their lives for a period of time between 3-12 weeks (n = 65), and I interviewed about half individually following the journaling period (n = 35), with questions focusing on racial identity and racial attitudes. My findings suggest that white college Millennials still utilize the frames and styles of color-blind racism in largely the same ways as the individuals in Bonilla-Silva’s work. Millennials of color use color-blind racism, but typically in more nuanced and even contradictory ways. Millennials of color across all races use color-blindness at similar rates, although some differences emerged across ethnicity. Additional emergent themes include that whites often demonstrate a disconnect between their beliefs about living a diverse life and their actual lives, experience white guilt, and are impacted in complex ways by colorblindness. People of color live more diverse lives than their white peers, believe that race and discrimination are still significant factors in their lives, and may use colorblindness as a coping mechanism. My research brings people of color into conversations about colorblindness in ways that have not been done before. Further, it has implications for understanding racial ideology within the emerging tri-racial system in the U.S., suggesting that the intersection of racial identity and racial ideology within this emerging system may be just as complex as identification itself in the system. I AM, BUT I DO NOT SEE: COLOR-BLIND RACIAL IDEOLOGY IN COLLEGE MILLENNIALS by Jonathan M. Cox Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology 2017 Advisory Committee: Professor Rashawn Ray, Co-chair Professor Kris Marsh, Co-chair Professor Dana Fisher Professor Kimberly Griffin Professor Shaun Harper Professor Leslie Picca © Copyright by Jonathan M. Cox 2017 PREFACE This research is the result of years of reflection on my work with college students. I have been involved in higher education since I finished my bachelor’s degree, when I decided to pursue a master’s in college student affairs. Through the years, I have attended or worked out several institutional types: a historically black school, two large state universities, and a small, private liberal arts college. As I got older, I began to notice a trend in the ways some students spoke about race in their lives: it seemed, at times, very different from the ways I understand race in my life. At first, I could not quite put my finger on what was happening. As I interacted more and more with students in different arenas, it finally occurred to me: when I was speaking with some students of color, if I were to close my eyes and imagine them as white, what they were saying would make perfect sense. But they were not white. And it really threw me off balance. As I continued to experience this strange phenomenon, I knew that I would have to research it. I had been shopping around for years for a new research angle, something I was truly interested in that I could sink my teeth into. I knew race was at the center of my interests, but substantively I was everywhere and nowhere. After I had the realization that there was something happening with the ways in which these younger college students understood race that I could not easily comprehend, I decided to tackle it head on. I made a connection between color-blind racial ideology and the students with whom I was speaking: in a color-blind world, where race is not a significant factor, their expressions of race in their lives made more sense. Perhaps this was the ideological reality for these students. It made sense if I considered just how much post-racialism has been pushed for years—although I obviously did not buy into these ideological notions. ii Once I made the connection to color-blind ideology, I realized exactly what was throwing me off about the conversations with certain students of color. It was not that they did not see race as a significant factor in their lives, at least not in the same ways my peers and I did. I had come across students of color in the past who were simply disconnected from their racial identities, and so I did not think twice about their claims that “race didn’t matter.” The reason some students threw me into a mental tailspin, the intellectual equivalent of the swirly Spongebob meme with the crab, was because they often appeared to be very connected to their racial identities, but would still express thoughts about race more consistent with the average white student (who studies show are very often disconnected from not only their race, but race in general). For me this simply did not make sense: how could you have a strong racial identity, yet seemingly believe that race was not an important factor in people’s lives? Thus, my new research focus was born. I decided that one great way to uncover the connection between racial identity and racial ideology was to take a very simple approach: take some work that I really like and extend it to people of color. I thought Bonilla-Silva’s work from Racism with Racists was perfect; he had written mostly about whites, a little about blacks, but the intellectual world was wide open beyond that. I started putting together a research plan, and things took off from there. Once my research project had more body and was becoming a living thing, I began to get worried. As a race scholar, I am always cognizant of the potential impact of any scholarship I produce. I may have intentions for one thing, but once it is out there in the world, anyone can interpret or use my work in whatever way they see fit. The main iii theoretical question I sought to answer was in what ways do the racial identities of Millennials impact their usage or reject of color-blind racial ideology. My greatest fear was that I would uncover that Millennials of color were using colorblindness in the exact same ways as whites, and I could just see the headline some eager journalist would write: “New Study Finds That Racial Minorities Are Just As Racist As White People.” I felt a true moral dilemma: if I found that to be true, would I publish my work? Or would I use it to gain my doctorate, and let it disappear quietly into the background, while I pursued other research agendas? Obviously these concerns were greatly exaggerated in my psyche, but the underlying fear was real, and I think it is one that is shared by many scholars who study issues close to their hearts. Thankfully for me, my fear was never confirmed. My findings overall did not support the notion that people of color were “just as racist” as whites. Instead, I found that race does still matter for the majority of people of color, and although young people may have had some different experiences that I had growing up, in general we share a common understanding of the significance and salience of race. There are, of course, many complexities that exist, many of which are tied in very interesting ways to racial identity. It is with great enthusiasm that I finally share the results of many months, years even, of cumulative work. In the proceeding chapters, I elucidate all of I have learned about racial identity, racial ideology, and college Millennials. Enjoy. iv DEDICATION I would like to dedicate this work to three groups of people. First, to my family. To my wife and partner, Charissa, thank you for being a beacon of support through the years, particularly during this last major push. Without your cheerleading in these closing months, I might have curled up in Apollo’s crate and called it quits. I love you immensely, and hope that I can be such an immovable foundation for you in the years to come. To my father, the premier educational administrator, and my mother, the only other PhD in our family, thank you for not only believing in me and supporting me since birth, but providing such shining examples, and always pushing me to do post-graduate work even in my childhood. To my sister, I still think you are the smarter sibling; thank you for always encouraging me. To Hezekiah, thank you for being a source of joy for the last ten years. To all of the other family members who have seen me through all of these degrees, particularly those in the DMV area, thank you for always welcoming me with open arms, and cheering me on from the sidelines.

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