Lack of melanin is not the same as whiteness. Whiteness is not biological. It is socially constructed. Once upon a time Itialians and Irish were not considered white. What was considered white among "hispanic" peoples is quite inconsistant. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Hispanic_and_Latino_Americans Recently liberals have been happily calling Russians "orcs" even though they are also fair skinned.

Whiteness is a super-structural phenomenon to contrast people that are "colored". The differentiation gives preferential treatment to "white" people over "colored" people. To eliminate whiteness is to eliminate white supremecy. You can have cultural ties to English, Irish, German, or American culture without being "white".

During the start of European colonization of Africa, Asia, and the Americas, the mythology of white supremacy and the burden for white people to "civilize" these people is the justification for colonization. White supremecy was created to justify colonization, genocide, and slavery. All of these allowed colonizing nations to believe that they are justified to exploit the non white peoples for wealth. These attitudes carried over into capitalism and also used to exploit people of color for greater profits. The white proletariat were exploited but not to the extent of the colored proletariat.

It is up to radicals to push back against the inertia of history. If we don't work to destroy whiteness, white supremacy will continue. We have to acknowledge the wealth stolen for generations, psychological harm inflicted for generations, and if one is understood as white, distance themselves from their whiteness. Destroying whiteness destroys coloredness. Only then can people just be people.