It means he wasn't as critical as other peers. Diaz was the black sheep out of the group along with other minorities “Icabod,” “Athena,” and another “writer of color… {he} didn’t know it.” Diaz analyzed his peers every day. It didn't take long to notice that professional Caucasians turned out to be better than minorities around the world and their own peers. It is alluded to in the text that "white peers' stories were when crime or drugs were presented" and they thought negatively about it, causing them to "shut her down" when she tried to confront them with their fear. White people feel like they have no wrong with their race. It is stated that "race was the problem of scholars of color, not of the white class." In other words, Caucasians felt that minorities had internal conflicts that needed to be dealt with on their own, so they had nothing to do with “their” internal conflicts. It wasn't their problem; Caucasians grew up with privileges that minorities never had. Keep in mind that “acting white” but “too white".”