Race Neutral

Description: Omits race for consideration in policies and programs—instead references alternatives that focus on individual characteristics or socioeconomic status, etc.

Purpose: To achieve mission and goals without naming race explicitly in problems and solutions

Critiques & Limitations: Ignores the persistence of racial disparities in outcomes of well-being, the manifestations of racism in opportunity domains, and vast research showing how policy benefits and program services are not received equitably by communities of color

As it relates to grantmaking: Race and ethnicity are neither examined nor addressed in a foundation’s internal operations or grantmaking

As it relates to LGBTQ grantmaking: LGBTQ grants and strategies are supported without examining racial inequities

Sources: Eduardo Bonilla-Silva, Racism Without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States: Second Edition (Oxford: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc, 2006); and Philip Mazzoocco, The Dangers of Not Speaking About Race: A Summary of Research Affirming the Merits of a Color-Conscious Approach to Racial Communication and Equity (Columbus, OH: Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, May 2006)

	"Those taking a more universal approach may instead craft policies that avoid initial suspicions and unite groups around a common shared goal." —Angela Glover Blackwell, Searching for the Uncommon Common Ground: New Dimensions on Race in America

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