1/ Donald Trump constantly insults many in his own voter base: By acting as if "defeating COVID" is what he did, and what anyone can do if they're strong enough, he insults all those who have died, including tens of thousands who voted for him, by suggesting they were weak...
2/ ...By mocking Joe Biden for going to a state school in Delaware for college, during the debate, he insulted millions of people who didn't go to college at all, let alone an Ivy institution, and again--most of his base is in this camp...
3/ And by mocking Hunter Biden for his past drug problem he insulted the 20m who struggle with addiction and substance abuse disorders, the 1/2m who've died of overdoses in the past 20 years, the families destroyed by opioids--again, MANY in his base and towns he carried...
4/ And yet, his base remains. Why? Read Isabel Wilkerson's brilliant book Caste, and you will know. These folks will sacrifice health & financial well being for the sake of their whiteness in a caste system. It allows them to feel superior to others, no matter their pain...
5/ They settle for what DuBois called the psychological wage of whiteness over real material well being, because in this culture, caste trumps (No pun intended) class. The failure of the traditional class-centric left to understand this is why the left constantly loses...
6/ They think appealing to working class white folks' economic interests will work, without upending their caste mentality and thinking--that they can talk around race and just appeal to "bread and butter" economic anxieties, etc. That's bullshit. And whiteness is why...
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
