Seeing a Color-Blind Future: The Paradox of Race (1997 BBC Reith Lectures) [Paperback]

Patricia J. Williams (Author)

Book Description

Series: 1997 BBC Reith Lectures | Publication Date: April 1, 1998

In these five eloquent and passionate pieces (which she gave as the prestigious Reith Lectures for the BBC) Patricia J. Williams asks how we might achieve a world where "color doesn't matter"--where whiteness is not equated with normalcy and blackness with exoticism and danger. Drawing on her own experience, Williams delineates the great divide between "the poles of other people's imagination and the nice calm center of oneself where dignity resides," and discusses how it might be bridged as a first step toward resolving racism. Williams offers us a new starting point--"a sensible and sustained consideration"--from which we might begin to deal honestly with the legacy and current realities of our prejudices.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Seeing a Color-Blind Future comprises five essays that author Patricia J. Williams presented at the highly prestigious Reith lectures in Britain. Erroneously perceived by some conservative British papers as a "militant black feminist" Williams proves in these highly readable and intelligent essays that she is an influential and important voice in race theory. Williams and other left law professionals theorize on "quiet racism." This is a racism that doesn't make newspaper headlines but occurs all the time. It is the taunting of black children by white children in the playground, it is being singled out in a crowd because you are black, it is not being viewed as the "norm." Williams asks, "How can it be that so many well meaning white people have never thought about race when so few blacks pass a single day without being reminded of it?" So can there ever be a solution? Williams does hold hope for a color-blind future, and her answer lies in a society where we must deal honestly and openly with our prejudices, and where we must eliminate the "little blindnesses" not just the big. This is a slender little book, filled with compelling and thought provoking narratives. --Naomi Gesinger

From Kirkus Reviews

These five related essays, originally given as the 1997 BBC Reith Lectures, showcase the subtle thinking of Columbia University law professor Williams (The Rooster's Egg, 1995). The notion of a ``color-blind'' society, in which everyone is judged by their performance and behavior, rather than by their racial makeup, is one of the clichs of American political discourse, wielded by both right and left. Williams tells her audience at the outset of this slender but immensely suggestive volume that ``I embrace color-blindness as a legitimate hope for the future, [but] I worry that we tend to enshrine the notion with a kind of utopianism whose naivet will ensure its elusiveness.'' Williams dissects with a scalpel-sharp wit the many layers of paradox at the heart of the American (and English) racial divide. Despite the subtitle, the racial question is not one paradox but a fabric woven of many paradoxes. Among the paradoxes she highlights are the plight of African-Americans poised between two polesthe hypervisibility of being scapegoated and the oblivion of social neglect; the O.J. Simpson case being used as a crude parody of racial dialogue; the strange fact that ``whiteness'' is never coded as race but treated as normative. Williams readily admits that, unlike most pundits in this overcrowded field, she has no single, simple answer, no checklist of prescriptions, nor does she give credence to the idea of a society in which all is peace and light. Rather, she offers a commonsensical plea for empathy with the Other as the first step toward bridging the gap among white, black, red, yellow and brown. Written with an unerring eye for the thought-provoking and fresh metaphor, and with a skillful blending of personal and professional observation, this is one of the most intelligent commentaries on the vexed subject of race in many years. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 84 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374525331
• ISBN-13: 978-0374525330
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #622,471 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars to the point, March 30, 2003

By 

kelly (Annandale, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seeing a Color-Blind Future: The Paradox of Race (1997 BBC Reith Lectures) (Paperback)

i think its really important for everyone to understand what williams puts forth in this book- its difficult for white people to understand the extent of modern racism. social stigmas make discussion of this topic taboo, making william's writing even more important. she makes a valid point- ignoring the problem is not going to make it go away. nor should we just assume that racism is a thing of the past- it is still a very real problem. also, williams asserts that it is counter-productive to ignore our racial differences- going out of our way to NOT be racist only perpetuates the fact that we are focusing on our differences rather than just accepting them and moving on. in effect perpetuates racism itself. important message.

5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome Book, October 29, 2010

By 

Gwen - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seeing a Color-Blind Future: The Paradox of Race (1997 BBC Reith Lectures) (Paperback)

This was an awesome book!! It explores the issues of racism African-Americans experience on a daily basis. Williams uses poignant examples of the still very real struggles of African-Americans. The book also talks about a variety of issues including the issue of accent discrimination. It is a must read book for people of all races. May we all come to the point of color-blindness.

9 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars really good, May 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Seeing a Color-Blind Future: The Paradox of Race (1997 BBC Reith Lectures) (Paperback)

This is a very good book. It is easy to read, and not confusing, and does not use hard language and words. As a white person, I hope that someday racism will become a thing of the past. Because I am a girl, I want to make sexism go away, as well as racism, and so it is important for black women to write these books.