Hillbilly Elegy

foreign-born and another 19 percent said
they were unsure—which means that a
majority of white conservatives aren’t
certain that Obama is even an American.
I regularly hear from acquaintances or
distant family members that Obama has
ties to Islamic extremists, or is a traitor,
or was born in some far-flung corner of
the world.
Many of my new friends blame
racism for this perception of the
president. But the president feels like an
alien to many Middletonians for reasons
that have nothing to do with skin color.
Recall that not a single one of my high
school classmates attended an Ivy
League school. Barack Obama attended