Is “expanding definition of whiteness” a real thing?

[FEMA Camp Administrator]

TheReckoning, you bring up some interesting examples. These findings may simply be meaningless in a real world context, or they may point to the unwinding of the idea of a cohesive American identity.

In the case of Arab-Americans, I don't think that the impact of 9/11 can be understated. I remember an interview where a Lebanese-American described finding out after the terrorist attacks that he "wasn't white". For Hispanics it might relate to their substantial size (of such heft that it could make efforts at forced assimilation difficult in practical if not political terms), as well as the attention that size (and the implied cultural changes) brings. In both cases, the ideal of becoming a "default American" (read: white) has been tarnished, and there are socio-political boons to be had by being a discrete community.