to change. The goal of mainstream politicians of both parties should be to drive a wedge
between the viciousness of white supremacy and people who are basically decent but
tired of what they see as “political correctness” that ignores the very considerable
challenges faced by working-class whites while directing them to feel sorry for a whole
range of other groups.
The first step is to avoid writing off all Trump voters. “I know these Trump voters,”
wrote Ben Richards, who works for the YMCA in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “Most of them
are not racists or bigots or sexists or xenophobic. They simply wanted someone to fight
for them, or at least appear to. These Trump voters were disgusted by his outlandish
behavior and his derogatory comments.” Indeed, 20% of Trump voters had an
unfavorable opinion of him, and 17% of Trump voters approved of the job Obama was
doing at the end of his term.^149
These issues are complicated. One class migrant wrote to me:
Your article brought me to tears.... I was raised in a blue-collar, religious, racist,
nationalistic home. I am now a flaming liberal with a master’s and a high-paying
corporate job.... Your article deeply articulated the view of my family in a way they
never could. I don’t believe they are hateful, or racist, or stupid. They’re mostly afraid.
Afraid of the brown skin people. Afraid of the day they can’t live in their own home any
more. Afraid of global economics. Afraid of those who dare claim their God is not real.
Afraid of sexually empowered women. Afraid of the scientific utterances they can’t
understand related to climate change, so they just reject it outright. Fear manifests in
many ways, but it’s the same root.... I’ve also concluded that we liberals own 99% of
the responsibility for Trump’s election. It’s easy to dismiss him as a con man and
enumerate Hillary’s huge list of qualifications. But she could never connect with my
WWC [white working-class] family, and Trump can. I don’t blame him or his voters one
bit—he’s just a con man who saw an opening, and they’re just supporting someone who
gives them a voice—we’re the ones who failed. And we need to own that.
His feelings are complex and are shared by many of the flood of class migrants who have
written to me. He acknowledges racism but doesn’t believe his family members are bad
people.
His message is an important one: what his family needs is not a lecture about racism but a
conversation about fear. “Telling people they’re racist, sexist, and xenophobic is going to
get you exactly nowhere,” said Alana Conner of Stanford. “It’s such a threatening
message. One of the things we know from social psychology is when people feel
- Is the Working Class Just Racist?