Obviously there are all sorts of factors at play here, but I think globalisation and mass media should definitely be given strong consideration. Looking at the highest institutions of Western society, a white person today would be left with the impression that white people's moral worth is determined by their commitment and dedication to non-racism and anti-racism. The most evil people are the "racists" and the more that you do to distance yourself from those racists and from anything that could ever possibly be considered racist, the better person you are. You have an example for what is considered good and what is considered bad. Consequently, the well socialised white citizen aims to conform to this moral standard - in the previous generations this meant being "colour blind" and with more recent generations it means seeing colour everywhere and "dismantling racist constructs".

It is very important to note that no effort has been made to define the precise parameters of the racist issue. There is no clear-cut, reliable and immutable list of what is and is not considered unacceptable conduct. Instead, the vagueness of the issue is used tactically and polemically against certain parts of the population and the political class. In these circumstances, white people will always feel like they are walking on eggshells when they discuss race. Eventually and over time, this attitude is internalised and becomes influential in the population's way of thinking. At the same time, white people are also the only ones who are scrutinised for the racist issue - no other group is subject to the same polemical attacks and scrutiny. Consequently, other American populations do not develop the same concerns, but to the contrary, become convinced in the value of polemicising against and scrutinising whites in these terms not only for the practical value of doing so, but also because since this one-sided view is left completely unchallenged, it starts to appear true.

I think that last bit is perhaps the worst aspect of recent American discourse on race. We live in a globalised world during the information age, so this issue is no longer geographically confined. The moral reputation of white people has been, in effect, tarred in the eyes of the entire planet. Thanks to the internet, it is possible to speak to people living in the remotest parts of the globe, people who are otherwise completely apolitical and disconnected from what is going on in the Western world, but who earnestly believed that when it comes to racism white people are all basically exaggerated caricatures of the KKK. Western institutions have so strongly tarred the reputation of the Western world that their only claim to power and legitimacy today - both domestically and internationally - can be boiled down to trying to make Western society less racist, which seems to have replaced every other concern of government as an issue of priority.