So I heard an interesting debate on the merits of colorblindness and I think it has helped to clarify the issues at stake.

We need to think of colorblindness as a multifaceted concept.

There is the colorblindness of interpersonal relations. This is simply that I will not treat a person better or worse because of their race. I think this is how most people think of colorblindness and indeed they are confused about those of us who are critical of the use of colorblindness to solve racial issues. Do we want to mistreat those of certain races?

Well answering for myself, but I believe that most other critics feel the same the answer is no. While I consider a person's racial identity in trying to understand them I do not treat a person worse or better because of their race. I react to them based on my observations about their character, their needs, and their actions.

But there is another dimension of colorblindness. That is the dimension about how social structure impacts people of different racial groups. Those of us who are critics of colorblindness are concerned that if we ignore those structures then the problems that arise from them will continue. Speaking for myself, there is no desire to punish majority group members but just to figure out how we can overcome the structural and historical racial disadvantages built into our society.

It may be that we critics of colorblindness have not made it clear that we are operating in two dimensions. Perhaps we need to emphasize more the benefits of colorblindness in our personal relationships. Regardless, keeping in mind the multidimensional nature of colorblindness and how most critics of it do not want to remove it from our interpersonal relationships may offer some degree of clarity about the disagreement that has arisen in conversations about how to solve the racial issues in the United States.