"American" is an identity, too. It's just another word for "white". Whenever politicians, people in the media, whoever, use this term, you can substitute it with "white people" and the context doesn't change.

White Americans have a generic identity. They don't have to identify themselves, because their identity is openly described as that of people in general, or "Americans".

"...the successful annihilation of organized crime's subculture in America would rock the 'legitimate' world's foundation, which would ultimately force fundamental social changes and redistributions of wealth and power in this country. Meyer Lansky's dream was to bond the two worlds together so that one could not survive without the other." - Dan E. Moldea