We all now know that Trump’s rise has been fueled by the alienation and anger of the country’s white working class. He speaks about the causes of the anxiety and pain of the white working class, but he describes the causes almost entirely in economic terms. Surveys, polls and other research confirm that racial identity and anxiety are at the heart of support for Trump. Vance touches on this sideways, when speaking about the almost pathological suspicion his hillbillies have for Barack Obama. The white working class has always derived some of its status because there was a minority underclass below it.

Source: Washington Post August 18, 2016 23:26 UTC