“I’M UNDER NO illusion that humanity will completely eradicate the racial tribal instinct or racism or bigotry itself. But I feel that colorblindness is the North Star that we should use when making decisions,” argues Coleman Hughes, a writer and podcaster who specializes in race, ethics, and public policy.
Hughes’ forthcoming book, The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America, calls for returning to the original ideals of the American civil rights movement, arguing that “our departure from the colorblind ideal has ushered in a new era of fear, paranoia, and resentment.” After some staffers and audience members declared his recent TED talk “hurtful,” for example, Hughes believes TED deliberately downplayed the online version of the presentation. “TED,” Hughes concluded, “like many organizations, is caught between a faction that believes in free speech and viewpoint diversity and a faction that believes if you hurt my feelings with even center-left, center-right, or, God forbid, right-wing views, you need to be censored.”
In November, Reason’s Nick Gillespie spoke with Hughes about colorblindness, free expression, and whether class or race is the more accurate indicator of being disadvantaged in the U.S. today.
Reason: What is the case for colorblindness?
Hughes: We are human beings. Despite the philosophies of people like Michel Foucault and others who I know you have some admiration for, there is such a thing as human nature. One of its
