The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Color-Blind Racial Ideology and Lack of Empathy

In this chapter, I present competing and complementary definitions of empathy from psychology and neuroscience. I demonstrate through theoretical, empirical, and public commentary how groups or individuals lack empathy and adopt a preferential color-blind racial ideology (CBRI) and empathy bias. Preferential CBRI is when an individual chooses to engage in racially color-blind behaviors in particular circumstances but not in others. It is similar to strategic CBRI, which I define later in the chapter. I also discuss empathy and an empathic disposition’s connection to race in societies. I argue how empathy in everyday life presents different challenges for different groups. Finally, the chapter concludes, using a CBRI framework, with an examination of empathy or the lack of empathy and its effect on perceptions of race in a color-blind society. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)