Cognizant Dissonance:

When the Existence of Racism Is Admitted but Its Consequences Are Denied

For years, I used the expression “cognizant dissonance” to describe something I had observed repeatedly in discussions about racism. Then one day, someone corrected me. The proper psychological term, I was informed, was cognitive dissonance. Of course, I already knew and understood the established terminology, but I also knew what I meant by the expression I had chosen to use instead. From then on, I found myself having to explain what I meant.



I wasn’t describing people who were in conflict with the contradictions in their thinking about racism. I was describing people who knew racism existed, acknowledged its existence, and then would proceed to deny or minimize its extent, magnitude, and consequences. Their awareness was central to my observation, which is why I used the word “cognizant.”



And after years of encountering the same rhetorical behavior, particularly among white Americans, I remain convinced that cognizant dissonance describes something that warrants recognition beyond the familiar explanations of cognitive dissonance and unconscious bias or willful ignorance.



Psychologist Leon Festinger introduced cognitive dissonance theory in 1957 to explain the psychological discomfort associated with holding contradictory beliefs, attitudes, or behaviors. According to the…