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Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

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Social and Cultural Anthropology

Selected Works

2016

Color-blind racism

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Racemaking In New Orleans: Racial Boundary Construction Among Ideologically Diverse College Students, Natalie Young, Lourdes Gutierrez Najera Mar 2016

Racemaking In New Orleans: Racial Boundary Construction Among Ideologically Diverse College Students, Natalie Young, Lourdes Gutierrez Najera

Natalie A.E. Young

We explore how an ideologically diverse group of white students at Tulane University respond to evidence of racial inequality in post-Katrina New Orleans.  In line with prior research, we find commonalities in racialized attitudes and behaviors between students whose racial ideologies otherwise differ.  Drawing from anthropological theories of boundary construction and sociological work on color-blind racism, we argue that the Otherization of non-whites is part of the everyday worldviews and social practices of white Americans. We draw on fieldwork in New Orleans to demonstrate that racist stereotypes and beliefs in racial difference continue to be transmitted within white social spaces.  …