Ethnicity-based race theories presuppose whiteness as the unmarked norm, now eroding.

Evidence

In sum, the logic of assimilation, the default to whiteness — whether conscious or unconscious— is an inherent part of ethnicity theories of race (Jung 2009). As U.S. society transitions from the substantial and largely unquestioned white majorities of the past, to an increasingly majorityminority demographic pattern, the normalization of whiteness that has been an assumed constant of ethnicitybased theories of race may be eroding. — Michael Omi, Howard Winant, Racial Formation in the United States, 58

Categorization

• DEFINE: Specifies what ‘the default to whiteness’ means within ethnicity theories — that assimilation theory secretly normalizes whiteness as its endpoint.
• XREF: connects to: Whiteness being the unspoken norm makes naming it feel racist even to racialised minorities. — Luke de Noronha, The conviviality of the overpoliced,…, 60