A telephone survey of 2,000 U.S. households concluded that people prefer to use a language the researchers call "diversity-speak" in order to appear colorblind when discussing racial matters.

"The fact is, most Americans value diversity," says the study's co-author, associate sociology professor Doug Hartmann. "But they see it as a benefit with the potential cost of cultural disunity and social instability."

Hartmann and his graduate student co-author, Joyce Bell, found that everyone interviewed for the study had difficulty discussing the inequalities and injustices that typically accompany diversity in the United States.

The study by Hartmann and Bell is to be published in an upcoming issue of American Sociological Review and is part of the University of Minnesota's American Mosaic Project which looks at race, religion and cultural diversity in the United States.