Why does the author believe that her mother failed to adequately address the subject of Native American alcoholism in the memory she shares from her childhood? How does belief relate to the author's overall thesis about race and education?

Readers should recall that the author wishes her mother would have provided historical context to her assessment that Native American communities had been ravaged by alcoholism. She notes that she was not told about white settlers introducing alcohol to Native Americans to make them more compliant, or about the long history of oppression in which these settlers murdered, kidnapped, and introduced disease into Native communities. This is part of a larger point regarding education in which Irving expresses the belief that it is vital for young people to learn about race and racism and that teachers create a multicultural learning environment in the classroom.

How does the author believe that her WASP background affected her ability to understand and address racial justice issues? What is it about WASP culture that prohibited this honest reckoning until the author was well into adulthood?