ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the methodological and interpretative commitments necessary to approach the paradox of colorblindness. In Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, the Supreme Court ruled against the Seattle School District’s usage of a racial tie-breaker in its school assignment policy. The Seattle School district allowed students and families to apply to any school within the district. In order to comprehend the Court’s colorblind position on issues of race, the role of hermeneutics must be a central concern. Hermeneutics, or the science of interpretation, can be understood as the site to locate the conflict of interpretations. In the context of the colorblind court and educational issues, the hermeneutical process is needed to fill the incredible gap that exists between the Courts’ colorblind language and the racially significant material life it allegedly describes. If colorblindness is poison to race positive policy making, then Critical Race Theory (CRT) is the antidote.
