Colour-blind racism in post-apartheid South Africa

Abstract

Several scholars point out that racism now resides under the guises of equality, meritocracy, non-racialism, and multiculturalism. The term ‘colour blindness’ has gained noticeable currency in international and local scholarship on racism and race. In the context of South Africa, while several authors are using the term ‘colour blindness’, very few studies offer a systematic analysis of colour-blind racism (CBR). This article examines how Whites deploy CBR in historically white universities, and it considers the relationship between colour-blind racism and neoliberalism in post-apartheid South Africa. The article advances the following two arguments. First, colour-blind racism is an ideological resource that Whites can use in post-apartheid South Africa to silence discussion about historical injustices; to resist interventions intended to address racial inequalities, and to express racialized feelings without appearing defensive. Second, colour-blind racism has proven to be useful to proponents of neoliberalism (White and Black) in their pursuit to erase race from the affairs of the state, and to assign responsibility for development and justice to the market.