White race-national identity requires transcendental grounding because race cannot otherwise claim ontological status.

Evidence

The “we” here that of religious whiteness. Race and nation, for whites only, inextricably intertwined. Starting with a theological transcendentalism underpinning the claims to an ontological status for race (it can sustain itself in no other way than transcendentally), racial belief structures the frames of reference as the theological does: it “commands” belief, exactly. — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1525

Categorization

• XREF: The claim that race-as-privilege needs transcendent grounding because it can’t sustain itself otherwise — relevant to how threatened groups sacralize their standing. — connects to: Race claims an ontological status that can only be sustained transcendentally, like religious belief — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race: Reflections on…, 1525; Multiracial democracy and white Christian nationhood are logically incompatible in the US — Philip S. Gorski and Samuel L. Perry, The Flag and the Cross: White Christian…, 49

Broader Connections

• Race claims an ontological status that can only be sustained transcendentally, like religious belief #corroborates (0.93) — David Theo Goldberg, The Threat of Race, 1525