# Coleman Hughes
**Coleman Cruz Hughes** (born 1996) is an American writer and podcast host.[1](https://colemanhughes.org/) His publisher describes him as a writer, podcaster, and opinion columnist who specializes in issues related to race, public policy, and applied ethics.[2](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2243862/coleman-hughes/) He is a contributing writer at the Free Press, runs the Substack newsletter Coleman's Corner and the podcast Conversations with Coleman, and is a contributor at CNN.[3](https://colemanhughes.substack.com/about) • [4](https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/05/opinions/black-conservative-race-coleman-hughes) His 2024 book, *The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America*, published by Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, argues that people should be treated without regard to race in both private life and public policy.[4](https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/05/opinions/black-conservative-race-coleman-hughes) • [5](https://www.ted.com/speakers/coleman_hughes) He first drew national attention at age 23, when Republicans put him forward as a witness at Congress's first House subcommittee hearing on slavery reparations in June 2019.[6](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/us/coleman-hughes-black-conservative-colorblind.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name and birth | Coleman Cruz Hughes, born 1996; American writer and podcast host[1](https://colemanhughes.org/) |
| Education | B.A. in philosophy, Columbia University; briefly attended the Juilliard School before dropping out to pursue a career as an independent jazz and hip-hop artist[7](https://manhattan.institute/person/coleman-hughes) • [8](https://1776unites.org/author/colemancruzhughes/) |
| 2019 testimony | Witness at the June 19, 2019 House subcommittee hearing on slavery reparations, on a panel that included Danny Glover, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Senator Cory Booker[9](https://www.c-span.org/person/coleman-hughes/120961/) • [6](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/us/coleman-hughes-black-conservative-colorblind.html) |
| Book | *The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America* (2024), Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group[4](https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/05/opinions/black-conservative-race-coleman-hughes) |
| Core argument | Colorblindness, defined as striving to treat people without regard to race in personal life and public policy, with class-based rather than race-based policy[5](https://www.ted.com/speakers/coleman_hughes) • [10](https://www.cmc.edu/news/coleman-hughes-ath-arguments-colorblind-america) |
| Current roles | Contributing writer at the Free Press, contributor at CNN, Substack author, podcast host[3](https://colemanhughes.substack.com/about) • [4](https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/05/opinions/black-conservative-race-coleman-hughes) |
| Former roles | Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and contributing editor of City Journal[7](https://manhattan.institute/person/coleman-hughes) |
| Recognition | Forbes "30 Under 30" Media list, 2021[11](https://www.forbes.com/profile/coleman-hughes/?list=30under30-media) |
## Early life and education
Hughes grew up in [Montclair, New Jersey](https://www.edgepedia.org/montclair-new-jersey), a town he has described as diverse and progressive, and has said that as a child he felt individuals there were judged by their character rather than their race.[10](https://www.cmc.edu/news/coleman-hughes-ath-arguments-colorblind-america) A New Jersey native, Hughes spent a short time studying at the [Juilliard School](https://www.edgepedia.org/juilliard-school) before leaving in hopes of building a career as an independent musician in jazz and hip-hop.[8](https://1776unites.org/author/colemancruzhughes/) Shortly afterward he discovered a passion for philosophy and enrolled at Columbia University, where he completed a B.A. in philosophy.[8](https://1776unites.org/author/colemancruzhughes/) • [7](https://manhattan.institute/person/coleman-hughes)
As a Columbia student, he has recalled feeling uncomfortable during an orientation exercise in which students were asked to discuss how systemic racism had impacted their lives.[10](https://www.cmc.edu/news/coleman-hughes-ath-arguments-colorblind-america) He has pointed to his Montclair upbringing as the beginning of the thinking about race and colorblindness that later shaped his public work.[10](https://www.cmc.edu/news/coleman-hughes-ath-arguments-colorblind-america)
## Career and affiliations
**Institutional ties.** Hughes was formerly a fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal.[7](https://manhattan.institute/person/coleman-hughes) His Forbes 30 Under 30 profile in 2021 described those same roles in the present tense; the Manhattan Institute's own page now uses the past tense.[11](https://www.forbes.com/profile/coleman-hughes/?list=30under30-media) • [7](https://manhattan.institute/person/coleman-hughes)
His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, National Review, Quillette, the Spectator, and City Journal.[3](https://colemanhughes.substack.com/about) He currently describes himself as a contributing writer at the Free Press.[3](https://colemanhughes.substack.com/about) He also runs the Substack newsletter Coleman's Corner and the podcast Conversations with Coleman.[3](https://colemanhughes.substack.com/about) According to his website, as of August 2026 he is a visiting professor at the University of Austin.[1](https://colemanhughes.org/)
## The End of Race Politics and core arguments
*The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America* was published in 2024 by Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group.[4](https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/05/opinions/black-conservative-race-coleman-hughes) Hughes defines racial color blindness as "the idea that we should strive to treat people without regard to race, both in our personal lives and in our public policy."[5](https://www.ted.com/speakers/coleman_hughes) On CNN's site, where an adapted excerpt appeared on February 5, 2024, he frames the argument partly through his own identity, writing that he is what would be called "half-Black, half-Hispanic" or, simply, "Black."[4](https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/05/opinions/black-conservative-race-coleman-hughes)
**Policy substance.** Hughes argues that colorblind public policy should address disadvantage through class and socioeconomics rather than race, because socioeconomics is a better proxy for disadvantage.[10](https://www.cmc.edu/news/coleman-hughes-ath-arguments-colorblind-america) In a C-SPAN *After Words* segment aired February 5, 2024, he argued that the United States should move toward a colorblind approach to politics and race.[9](https://www.c-span.org/person/coleman-hughes/120961/)
## Public interventions and media presence
**The 2019 reparations hearing.** In June 2019, Hughes testified before the U.S. House [Judiciary](https://www.edgepedia.org/judiciary) subcommittee at Congress's first hearing on slavery reparations.[6](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/us/coleman-hughes-black-conservative-colorblind.html) • [7](https://manhattan.institute/person/coleman-hughes) The New York Times reports that Democrats invited [Ta-Nehisi Coates](https://www.edgepedia.org/ta-nehisi-coates), who had revived the reparations issue in [The Atlantic](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-atlantic), and the actor Danny Glover, while Republicans turned to a then little-known 23-year-old philosophy major at Columbia: Hughes.[6](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/us/coleman-hughes-black-conservative-colorblind.html) C-SPAN's record of the hearing lists the panel as including Danny Glover, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ), and others, and identifies Hughes's first C-SPAN appearance as a columnist and author for Quillette.[9](https://www.c-span.org/person/coleman-hughes/120961/)
In his testimony, Hughes called the failure to pay reparations after the Civil War "one of the greatest injustices ever perpetrated," while arguing that reparations should not be paid now. "There's a difference between acknowledging history and allowing history to distract us from the problems we face today," he said.[6](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/us/coleman-hughes-black-conservative-colorblind.html) He published "My Testimony on Reparations" in [Quillette](https://www.edgepedia.org/quillette) on June 20, 2019, one day after the hearing.[12](https://quillette.com/author/coleman-cruz-hughes/)
**Quillette essays.** Hughes's Quillette byline spans 2018 to 2024. It includes "Reparations and Ta-Nehisi Coates's Pyrrhic Victory" (March 17, 2019), a direct written engagement with Coates's reparations framework, "The Case for Black Optimism" (September 28, 2019), "Do COVID-19 Racial Disparities Matter?" (April 13, 2020), and, most recently in that archive, Quillette Podcast #234, "Coleman Hughes on Progressive 'Neo-Racism'" (March 28, 2024).[12](https://quillette.com/author/coleman-cruz-hughes/)
**Podcast and broadcast.** Hughes created Conversations with Coleman to host what TED's speaker page calls radically honest discussions of pressing social and political questions.[5](https://www.ted.com/speakers/coleman_hughes) Forbes reports that the podcast has tackled topics such as reparations for slavery and the origins of morality, with guests including [Steven Pinker](https://www.edgepedia.org/steven-pinker) and [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://www.edgepedia.org/neil-degrasse-tyson).[11](https://www.forbes.com/profile/coleman-hughes/?list=30under30-media) His broadcast appearances include [Real Time with Bill Maher](https://www.edgepedia.org/real-time-with-bill-maher) and Making Sense with Sam Harris,[5](https://www.ted.com/speakers/coleman_hughes) as well as The Rubin Report and The Glenn Show.[7](https://manhattan.institute/person/coleman-hughes) The C-SPAN Video Library lists four videos featuring Hughes, including a June 18, 2020 discussion on race, riots, and policing with Jamil Jivani and Rafael Mangual.[9](https://www.c-span.org/person/coleman-hughes/120961/) His 2021 TED talk on colorblindness, two years after the hearing, drew controversy and cemented his role in the American race debate, according to a Claremont McKenna College report on a talk he gave there.[10](https://www.cmc.edu/news/coleman-hughes-ath-arguments-colorblind-america)
## What has changed since 2023
The period after late 2023 brought a cluster of new platforms and projects. The book appeared in early 2024, with the CNN adapted excerpt and the C-SPAN *After Words* discussion both airing on February 5, 2024.[4](https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/05/opinions/black-conservative-race-coleman-hughes) • [9](https://www.c-span.org/person/coleman-hughes/120961/) The New York Times published a long-form profile of Hughes on February 1, 2024, framing him as a young Black conservative who grew up with, and rejects, D.E.I.[6](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/us/coleman-hughes-black-conservative-colorblind.html) In March 2024 he appeared on Quillette's podcast discussing what the episode titled progressive "neo-racism."[12](https://quillette.com/author/coleman-cruz-hughes/) His current bylines sit with the Free Press and CNN rather than the Manhattan Institute, whose page now lists his fellowship in the past tense,[3](https://colemanhughes.substack.com/about) • [4](https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/05/opinions/black-conservative-race-coleman-hughes) • [7](https://manhattan.institute/person/coleman-hughes) and his website adds a visiting professorship at the University of Austin as of August 2026.[1](https://colemanhughes.org/)
## Position among contemporaries
The best-documented contrast is with Ta-Nehisi Coates, the writer who had revived the reparations issue in The Atlantic.[6](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/us/coleman-hughes-black-conservative-colorblind.html) The 2019 hearing placed the two on the same panel with opposite institutional backing: Coates invited by Democrats, Hughes put forward by Republicans.[6](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/us/coleman-hughes-black-conservative-colorblind.html) Hughes had already engaged Coates's framework in print three months earlier, in the Quillette essay "Reparations and Ta-Nehisi Coates's Pyrrhic Victory."[12](https://quillette.com/author/coleman-cruz-hughes/) The substantive difference visible in these sources is over race-conscious remedy: Hughes testified that the post-Civil War failure to pay reparations was a grave injustice while opposing payment now,[6](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/us/coleman-hughes-black-conservative-colorblind.html) and his book argues for policy that treats people without regard to race and targets disadvantage through class and socioeconomics instead.[5](https://www.ted.com/speakers/coleman_hughes) • [10](https://www.cmc.edu/news/coleman-hughes-ath-arguments-colorblind-america)
## References
1. [About, Coleman's Corner (official site)](https://colemanhughes.org/)
2. [Coleman Hughes, Penguin Random House author record](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/authors/2243862/coleman-hughes/)
3. [About, Coleman's Corner (Substack)](https://colemanhughes.substack.com/about)
4. [The making of a Black conservative, CNN (February 5, 2024)](https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/05/opinions/black-conservative-race-coleman-hughes)
5. [Coleman Hughes, Speaker, TED](https://www.ted.com/speakers/coleman_hughes)
6. [The Young Black Conservative Who Grew Up With, and Rejects, D.E.I., The New York Times (February 1, 2024)](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/01/us/coleman-hughes-black-conservative-colorblind.html)
7. [Coleman Hughes, Manhattan Institute](https://manhattan.institute/person/coleman-hughes)
8. [Coleman Cruz Hughes, 1776Unites](https://1776unites.org/author/colemancruzhughes/)
9. [Coleman Hughes, C-SPAN.org](https://www.c-span.org/person/coleman-hughes/120961/)
10. [Coleman Hughes at the Ath: Arguments for a colorblind America, Claremont McKenna College](https://www.cmc.edu/news/coleman-hughes-ath-arguments-colorblind-america)
11. [Coleman Hughes, Forbes 30 Under 30, Media (2021)](https://www.forbes.com/profile/coleman-hughes/?list=30under30-media)
12. [Coleman Hughes, Articles and Essays, Quillette](https://quillette.com/author/coleman-cruz-hughes/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Broadcasting and journalism › Periodicals and publishing › Journalism › Journalists (biographies and roles) › Columnists and opinion journalists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license