African American

part of a series of reactions to the elections in The New Yorker?

In order to limit the possibility of this untenable change, and restore whiteness to its former status as a marker of national identity, a number of white Americans are sacrificing themselves. They have begun to do things they clearly don’t really want to be doing, and, to do so, they are (1) abandoning their sense of human dignity and (2) risking the appearance of cowardice.

And another observation she made years ago that the negro was seen as a counter point - a figure to contrast oneself against, "AT least I'm not black" , to be white and free was desired. It'll take more than several generations to shake this off.