How can colorblindness - the idea that race does not matter - be racist? This engaging book introduces the paradox of colorblind racism and explores how dismissing or downplaying the realities of race and racism can perpetuate racial inequality and violence. Drawing on a range of theoretical approaches and real-life examples, Meghan Burke shows colorblind racism to be a defining feature of much contemporary racism in the United States and beyond. Starting with an investigation of what is meant by colorblind racism, Burke explains what is at stake in the many areas of institutional and everyday life where it comes into play, its role in the history of racism, and its effects on how we talk about and treat race today. Engaging with recent critiques of colorblind racism, the book shows the limitations of this framework and how a deeper, more careful study of colorblindness is needed to reveal more about the persistence of racism and how it may be challenged.

Introduction -- Colorblindness in historical context -- Colorblindness in divergent contexts -- Contested colorblindness -- New directions.