Many white Americans tend to think that everyone else is “cultural” or “ethnic.” They view themselves as just “average Americans” or “normal.” This is especially the case the more racially segregated one’s life is, because one’s own culture determines the norm and is thereby preferred in the public square, in local institutions and schools, and among peer networks. In such contexts, it’s not hard for people to blindly take for granted the racial character and particularity of their own social formation. They rarely have to think about it.
