Color-Blindness: A Philosophic and Political History of an Embattled American Idea

FAIN: FT-58798-11

Peter C. Myers
University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire (Eau Claire, WI 54701-4811)

Proponents of racial equality in America long regarded the idea of color-blindness as central to America's first principles and national mission. In recent decades, however, many racial egalitarians have come to mistrust this idea, associating it with a program of racial conservatism or reaction. The purpose of my project is to explore the philosophic foundation, historical meaning, and continuing viability of color-blindness, as policy principle and as moral ideal. The NEH Stipend period will be devoted to researching and drafting the initial chapter of a one-volume, philosophical and historical study of this idea's career in America, provisionally entitled, Color-Blindness: A Philosophic and Political History of an Embattled American Idea.