I think you're vastly underestimating the importance of whiteness in American society. It's a currency that has real value. An example of this is the central park Karen last year, she deliberately played the white damsel in distress in her 911 call and said she was being attacked by a black guy, because she knows it has currency. A couple of years back there was a twitter thread of white people talking about all the things cops let them get away with when they were younger, it was absolutely incredible. Things that would land 99.9% of black youth in jail without question, and maybe get some of them killed. Drunk driving, marijuana use, assault, theft, etc.
Another example, why is Trump so popular across the spectrum of white society? Poor whites, middle class whites, rich whites. Trump has no discernible policy that ties all these groups together, *except* immigration. And they're willing to sacrifice every other value, whether thats respect for military, respect for police, democracy, religion, whatever. as long as Trump stands up for their most important value, being white.