ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the meaning of the term "American," and the way in which whiteness has become equated with "American-ness" in the United States. Discriminatory practices, such as racial profiling and media stereotyping affect the day-to-day experiences of many African Americans. These practices raise questions about the meaning of American identity and American citizenship. Contemporary scholarship on double-consciousness, such as the essays found in the anthology Lure and Loathing, concentrate on black identity and what it means to be black in America. However, most offer a myopic view of double-consciousness that limits its scope to its psychological effects, constraining one to its symptoms and not its cause. The experience of double-consciousness is also characterized by avoidance, which is the act or practice of shunning, withdrawing, or refraining from claiming American-ness or American identity. The chapter demonstrates how, through "white sight," blackness is held constant, making the differences drawn between blacks and whites appear natural and uncomplicated.
