What's so absurd about how this conversation is unfolding is that our white males on the teevee have never had any problem with the identity politics that they associate with American Whiteness - the identity politics of white ethnics - but get freaked when a member of a non-approved (nonwhite) group achieves some prominence. None of these guys have any problems with an Irish-American touting his Irish tribal identity or an Italian-American doing the same, but the slightest suggestion of that coming from anyone nonwhite makes them discover a new concern for racism. You know, racism against downtrodden white people.
