“I Have a Dream” of a Colorblind Nation? Examining the Relationship between Racial Colorblindness, System Justification, and Support for Policies that Redress Inequalities

Abstract

One of Dr. Martin Luther King's most memorable quotes came from his famous “I have a dream” speech, which arguably called for a racially colorblind society. Today, colorblindness represents a complex ideology used in education, businesses, and governments, with both positive and negative implications for intergroup relations. On the one hand, colorblindness is used to promote fairness and equality between groups by asking people to ignore group membership and treat everyone the same. On the other hand, colorblindness serves a system-justifying function by holding minority groups responsible for their current disadvantages. The present research utilizes a nationally representative sample of majority group New Zealanders (N = 8,728) to examine the implications of colorblindness on support for policies that redress inequalities between the indigenous (Māori) and majority (European) population through resource redistribution and symbolic incorporation into the nation's identity. Additionally, we examine the indirect effect of system-justifying beliefs on the relationship between colorblindness and policy support. Data revealed that colorblindness predicted opposition toward both resource-based approaches to redress inequalities and symbolic policies that incorporate indigenous culture into the national identity. Importantly, there was a significant indirect effect of system-justifying beliefs on both outcomes. Taken together, these findings suggest that colorblindness can be used to undermine support for policies that redress inequalities between majority and minority groups in a post-colonial society.