Immigration in the Era of Color-Blind Racism

Abstract

For most of the history of the United States, race played an explicit role in immigration laws that designated only Whites (and later Blacks) as eligible for U.S. citizenship. Today, however, we are in a new era in race relations—one that Eduardo Bonilla-Silva refers to as “colorblind racism.” Color-blind racism provides a critical perspective for understanding the enduring role of race in immigration practices in the post–Civil Rights era. This article illustrates this enduring reality within immigration policies and practices utilizing the color-blind perspective. We begin by summarizing the key tenets of Bonilla-Silva’s color-blind racism. We then overview immigration policies and practices in effect during the era of explicit racialization. Next, we contrast policies and practices with the more subtle employment of racialization today. The bulk of our article is devoted to illustrating how the racialized impact of immigration policies and procedures serves as a mechanism for the reproduction of color blindness and a racially unequal social order. We conclude with a discussion on the difficulties of grappling with this reality in a racially stratified society that is reluctant to acknowledge it.