I'll give an example.
My cousin is married to a white man. Not just a white man, but a white man in the army.
The sense of power and legitimacy her family feels whenever they are with him is palpable.
You can just see it. This in spite of that fact that her family is very wealthy and his is not.
Their wealth doesn't give them any security--apart from material possessions.
It doesn't make them feel safe.
His whiteness, his inherent "Americanness", does.