Colorblind Rhetoric

Abstract

This essay examines the Supreme Court's modern rhetorical construction of colorblindness as a constitutional restriction on the state's use of racial classifications in Shaw v. Reno, a case marking an important turning point in contemporary voting rights jurisprudence. It compares Shawi Colorblind Rhetoric to its landmark voting rights precedent Gomillion v. Lightfoot ’s construction of colorblindness as the prohibition of discrimination against African Americans. I argue that the rhetorical transformation of colorblindness as an appeal to the immorality of discrimination against African Americans into a symbolic inducement to “transcend the race problem” is redefining an important cultural ideal that shapes our understanding of racism in order to protect white privilege.