Publicly Desired Color-Blindness: Whiteness as a Realized Public Value

Color-blind administration is a realized public value because it desired by substantial numbers of Americans and legally mandated as an equality strategy. However, critical race scholars argue that color-blindness is a means of communicating White racial dominance by devaluing the experiences of people of color. This article argues that a public administration theory of Whiteness and color-blindness illuminates the tension between the goals of equality in public organizations and the historical and contemporary reality that outcomes tend to benefit Whites.