All societies create ideologies to make excuses for inequality.
Although most whites state in surveys that they support integration, equal opportunity, and are less likely than ever before to disapprove of interracial marriage, they also oppose programs to reduce racial inequality and residential and school segregation by claiming that they violate America's traditions. These whites claim that their own hyper-segregated lifestyle in neighborhoods and in primary relationships has nothing to do with race. The central measures of color-blind racism are illustrated with a 1998 Detroit Area Study on White Racial Ideology. I will highlight a few quotes from Richard, a 46 year-old white construction foreman, to show how notions of liberalism are often applied to racial matters in a way that preserves racially unfair situations. Before leaving Richard, I must cite part of his response to a question on interracial marriage.