Color-Blind: Seeing Beyond Race in a Race-Obsessed World [Paperback]

In Color-Blind, Cose analyzes the issue of race in America in ways that only someone who has felt the sting of discrimination could fully understand. Building on his earlier examination of race in America (and arguably, Canada), Cose looks at recent events, such as the OJ Simpson trial, and recent pubications, such as "The Bell Curve" and "The End of Racism" to acheve a dual purpose - to further illustrate the stereotypes and misconceptions that pervade American society, and to attempt to find solutions that will help blacks to fully reach their potential in contemporary American society.

Cose starts by picking up where Martin Luther King left off - the dream of a colourblind world. Unfortunaltely, for those who are black, Cose argues that dreams of economic equality, particularly as it relates to discrimination in the workplace, have fallen far short of what Dr. King would have hoped for as we appoach the end of the century.

However, Cose looks at a number of examples, at home and abroad, that illustrate how it is possible for blacks and other minorities to excel and achieve their full potential, and possibly overcome very pervasive and deep-seated stereotypes.

In fact, there is an air of optimism in this book, that a colourblind society could be more than a figment of someone's overly-fertile imagination. Cose even suggests a ten-step plan for achieving this goal.

Unfortunately, as a Human Resources Manager, I am still haunted by Cose' earlier expose, "The Rage of a Privileged Class", five years after its original publication. This book should be required reading for every Human Resources Manager, black professional and MBA student in North America - unfortunately it is now out of print at a time when its observations and anecdotes are more relevant than ever.

As an expert in recruitment and selection, it is hard for me to believe that anyone would doubt, or be shocked by the painful, but all too real stories of successful black professionals in "Rage". However, having seen the dismantling of Employment Equity in Ontario, and the woeful under-representation of blacks and other visible minorities in managerial and executive positions, I can only hope that more that 60,000 copies of "Color-Blind" are sold, but I somehow doubt that it will.

I cannot imagine a more important, intelligent and thorough examination of race and society being written in the near future. I applaud Ellis Cose for his vision and eloquence in attempting to shed light on the misconceptions of racial progress in our society.