Ignoring and belittling the white working class is not a constructive move vis-à-vis people
of color. I suggest a different approach: one that condemns racism and builds an
interracial coalition for economic justice. If you don’t like how a family member behaves,
the best approach is to assume that you need to establish a different relationship with
them that brings out their better self. Typically that requires you to be your better self,
too.
Less anxiety has been expressed on the gender front. This is ironic, given that women just
suffered an historic setback. But sometimes an insistent focus on gender is not the best
way to help women. Remedying the relationship between the PME and working-class
whites will stop misogyny from being seen as a delicious poke-in-the-eye of the powerful.
I remain hopeful. Reckless alpha-male posturing, I suspect, will work about as well as it
usually does: fine in the short term but poorly in the long term. Meanwhile, we need to
begin the process of healing the rift between white elites and white workers so that class
conflict no longer dominates and distorts our politics. We need to begin now.
Conclusion