Secondly, I couldn't answer their questions about Americans because I couldn't see American culture from a distance. It's an uncomfortable position in which to be. For example, if I'm not in a management position where I have discretionary time and can spend several hours out of the office at lunch, then I feel I'm in a less powerful position. If I'm illiterate in a literate world, I'm in a nondominant position. Indeed, each one of us has at one time or another experienced being in the nondominant culture.
Nondominant groups know more about the dominant group because they have to know more to survive.
The dominant group has a huge blind spot when it comes to this, and is really at a disadvantage. Everyone, as Rowe notes, is dominant in some situations and nondominant in others. In the nursing profession, women are the dominant culture. In the firefighting profession, men are the dominant culture. You may be a minority in the United States, but being a native English speaker puts you in a dominant culture position.