--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: American culture quite naturally provides…" description: "\"“American culture quite naturally provides these ideological supports to those it favors and elects as fellow participants in the social and psychologi..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e5/robert-kegan-23287_american-culture_american-culture-quite-naturally-provide_3102599.jpg" --- # American culture quite naturally provides these… ![“American culture quite naturally provides these ideological supports to those it favors and elects as fellow participants in the social and psychological institutions which regulate its established arrangements. Essentially, these favored persons have been middle-class white men. A middle-class…” quote by Robert Kegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e5/robert-kegan-23287_american-culture_american-culture-quite-naturally-provide_3102599.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e5/robert-kegan-23287_american-culture_american-culture-quite-naturally-provide_3102599.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e5/robert-kegan-23287_american-culture_american-culture-quite-naturally-provide_3102599.jpg) > ““American culture quite naturally provides these ideological supports to those it favors and elects as fellow participants in the social and psychological institutions which regulate its established arrangements. Essentially, these favored persons have been middle-class white men. A middle-class white man's evolution out of embeddedness in the interpersonal is not a moving spectacle in our culture precisely because there is no spectacle - you cannot watch it (unless you look closely at a given individual over time". It will stand out in the private relations of the person's immediate network but it does not stand out as figure on the cultural ground precisely because it is embedded in the tacit ideology of the culture. This is one reason the tacit ideology is so powerful and insidious for those it excludes: it cannot be seen; it is not held up for examination. What may be the most important consequence of the upheavals of the last fifteen years - largely through the attention these upheavals brought to the arrangements between blacks and whites (the 'civil rights' movement'), men and women (the 'women's movement'), and the government and the governed (the 'anti-war movement') is that the ideological nature of American life was made explicit. (Evolutionarily, if I were to apply my scheme to the culture at large, I should have to say the upheavals of the sixties and early seventies represented the transitional angst of the emergences out of 'institutional' embeddedness; of course, from the point of view of the old world not yet left behind, this same upheaval must look like a collapse of our basic institutions, which is just what popular analyses says.) For persons excluded from the tacit culture of ideology to make this move, it is necessary for them to construct their own ideological support which will necessarily stand out. Whether the ideology is feminism or black power or gay rights, it will have common features which serve the absolutely crucial function of supporting the evolution of meaning. It holds and recognizes the group-extensiveness of the new differentiation ('black pride,' 'I am woman') and protects against reabsorption into the old embeddedness (whether by moratoria from intimate relations with men, say, or turning to women - one's comrades - for intimate relations; or the adoption of a strident language which can be as much an effort to hold off an old self as it is an address to others).”” [Robert Kegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kegan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The dominant cultural ideology invisibly favors middle‑class white men, making its power hard to see for those excluded; social upheavals expose these hidden structures, prompting marginalized groups to create visible alternative ideologies. **In simple terms:** Main culture hides power, upheavals reveal it, minorities must build new visible ideologies. Key Takeaway Recognize hidden biases and support inclusive narratives. Themes power culture identity social change inequality Mood reflective critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - academic analysis - policy reform - community organizing - education - media representation Key Concepts tacit ideology social upheaval identity formation Questions to Reflect On - How do we make invisible biases visible? - What steps can marginalized groups take to reshape cultural narratives? A Different Perspective These hidden structures can be entrenched and resistant to change despite awareness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-culture/) [American life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-life/) [Black power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-power/) [Black pride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-pride/) [Civil Right](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-right/) [Civil rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civil-rights/) [Fifteen years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fifteen-years/) [Gay rights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gay-rights/) [Ideology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideology/) [Left behind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/left-behind/) [Men and women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-and-women/) [Old self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-self/) [Old world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/old-world/) [Point of view](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/point-of-view/) ## Related quotes > [I come from an era of black pride, black power, my father riding around listening to James Brown singing, 'Say it loud: I'm black…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlamagne-tha-god/i-come-from-an-era-of-black-pride-black-power-my-father-riding-around/) [Charlamagne tha God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlamagne-tha-god/) > [“The Black Panther Party was a revolutionary political organization. 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Essentially, these favored persons have been middle-class white men. A middle-class white man's evolution out of embeddedness in the interpersonal is not a moving spectacle in our culture precisely because there is no spectacle - you cannot watch it (unless you look closely at a given individual over time\". It will stand out in the private relations of the person's immediate network but it does not stand out as figure on the cultural ground precisely because it is embedded in the tacit ideology of the culture. This is one reason the tacit ideology is so powerful and insidious for those it excludes: it cannot be seen; it is not held up for examination. What may be the most important consequence of the upheavals of the last fifteen years - largely through the attention these upheavals brought to the arrangements between blacks and whites (the 'civil rights' movement'), men and women (the 'women's movement'), and the government and the governed (the 'anti-war movement') is that the ideological nature of American life was made explicit. (Evolutionarily, if I were to apply my scheme to the culture at large, I should have to say the upheavals of the sixties and early seventies represented the transitional angst of the emergences out of 'institutional' embeddedness; of course, from the point of view of the old world not yet left behind, this same upheaval must look like a collapse of our basic institutions, which is just what popular analyses says.) For persons excluded from the tacit culture of ideology to make this move, it is necessary for them to construct their own ideological support which will necessarily stand out. Whether the ideology is feminism or black power or gay rights, it will have common features which serve the absolutely crucial function of supporting the evolution of meaning. It holds and recognizes the group-extensiveness of the new differentiation ('black pride,' 'I am woman') and protects against reabsorption into the old embeddedness (whether by moratoria from intimate relations with men, say, or turning to women - one's comrades - for intimate relations; or the adoption of a strident language which can be as much an effort to hold off an old self as it is an address to others).”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert Kegan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kegan/american-culture-quite-naturally-provides-these-ideological-supports/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "American culture" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kegan/american-culture-quite-naturally-provides-these-ideological-supports/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e5/robert-kegan-23287_american-culture_american-culture-quite-naturally-provide_3102599.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e5/robert-kegan-23287_american-culture_american-culture-quite-naturally-provide_3102599.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8e5/robert-kegan-23287_american-culture_american-culture-quite-naturally-provide_3102599.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“American culture quite naturally provides these ideological supports to those it favors and elects as fellow…” — Robert Kegan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Robert Kegan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-kegan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“American culture quite naturally provides these...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kegan/american-culture-quite-naturally-provides-these-ideological-supports/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-kegan/american-culture-quite-naturally-provides-these-ideological-supports/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```