“Race doesn’t matter?”: Sociodemographic predictors of racial colourblindness and perceptions of racism among social work professionals

Abstract Colourblind racial ideology (CBRI) encompasses beliefs that deny, minimize, or distort the relevance of race or racism. The present research examined the role of sociodemographic variables as predictors of CBRI among pre-service and in-service social work professionals in Germany, and how their endorsement of CBRI, in turn, relates to their sensitivity to recognizing racist incidents. Specifically, we introduced and tested a mediation model hypothesizing that older, more privileged professionals living in rural or Eastern German regions are less likely to recognize racist incidents due to their higher endorsement of CBRI. We also explored whether the assumed relationships differ between the two forms of CBRI derived by Frankenberg (1993): colour-evasion and power-evasion. Results from a correlational, cross-sectional online study with pre- and in-service social workers (N = 242) largely supported our predictions. However, social workers’ region of residence (Eastern vs. Western Germany) did not emerge as a significant predictor of CBRI, and only power-evasion but not colour-evasion significantly mediated the relationships between sociodemographic variables and racism recognition. Implications of these findings for social work practice and education are discussed considering contemporary critical whiteness theory.