The Guardian nails it: White working class votes for white supremacists. Period.

[AverageOldGuy]

Excellent Guardian essay. Here's the crux of the essay.

https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/ng-interactive/2026/jun/21/american-racial-anxiety-white-working-class-rights

The assumption that economic angst drives political loyalties for the white lower classes inaccurately assumes that they are chiefly interested in economics as the reward for their vote. In reality, access to power over other racial groups is their preferred political currency. When presented with proposals of a multiracial democracy, and in instances when governments were seen as responsive to Black social movements, working and poor whites have repeatedly supported politicians that champion successive tax cuts for the rich, slashed spending marked for low- and modest-income Americans, and authorized anti-Black and anti-immigrant policies that exclusively benefit the wealthiest white Americans.

Of course, LBJ said it in fewer words.

"If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him somebody to look down on, and he'll empty his pockets for you."

I was born (1944) and reared in a rural, crossroads, cotton-picking village in SW MS. I escaped at age 18 and never looked back. I have 14 cousins, all living in MS and LA, 4 of them are Democrats the rest are Republicans -- college-educated, financially successful but to hear them talk, it sounds like the words I heard in MS in the 1950's . . . their children and grandchildren attend lily-white " segregation academies." they do not refer to Black people as "Black," instead, it's "n####r" just as it was 60-70 or more years ago . . . and they are for Trump all the way.

[dalton99a]

1. Kick

[Mister Ed]

2. Thank you for posting this. It's the plain truth. n/t

[NoMoreRepugs]

3. The American Civil War NEVER ENDED.

[Ocelot II]

4. Yup.

"No amount of persuasion will move those who have chosen to maintain control and violence over putting food on the table when the point of their trade-off is keeping others from putting food on theirs."

[hlthe2b]

5. White Working Class includes a lot of others now--given the devastating economy-- so...

I'd bet there are a lot of non-racist liberal/progressives that are getting lumped into that category nowadays. Stereotypes have some truth in them, no doubt, but they also tend to capture those not deserving. When you want to expand the independent (and Reagan-Democrat) vote away from R's, Conservatives, MAGA, I think that is worth taking into consideration.

[yardwork]

44. It's a long article, worth the read.

I think the author makes a strong case.

There's a schism in thinking about this among Democrats. At one extreme we have the opinion expressed by Bernie Sanders and others that the white (and white-adjacent) working class is worried about the economy and feels left behind.

The author of this column asks a good question: if it's about economic oppression, then why haven't Black working class voters abandoned the Democratic Party like their white counterparts did?

I think the author is correct. It's about racism. Southern Democrats left the party after the Civil Rights Acts were passed in the 1960s. Whites watch Fox News because the racist messages appeal to them. Whites support Trump despite all his failures because he's doing the one thing they really care about: he's attacking non-whites.

[sop]

6. In a sense, "access to power over other racial groups" is still viewed by lower class whites as an economic advantage.

This was the primary concern of lower class whites decades ago, when non-white minorities (and women) were finally given access to jobs, education and other rights previously thought to belong exclusively to white males. Lower class whites rightly believed they would be economically disadvantaged by racial equality, probably because many of them realized they lacked the necessary tools to compete in an equal world.

[dalton99a]

11. +1

[malaise]

7. Great OP

Rec

[ck4829]

8. "I may get screwed over, but the Other, the 'They', they get screwed over even more."

[Doodley]

9. I'm white working class. I am not MAGA! I am not racist! Please stop stereotyping.

[sop]

13. You're right. It would be more accurate to add the modifier "some" before "white working class."

Some might argue "most" would be more appropriate.

[Kid Berwyn]

22. I live in a "working class" neighborhood in metro Detroit.

Whatever their skin tone or ethnicity, most all of my neighbors are good people.

[Auggie]

32. +1

[yardwork]

45. Geez. Nobody is stereotyping.

The fact is that a strong majority of white working class voters still support Trump even though he's done nothing to help them.

We all know that doesn't mean all white working class voters.

[yardwork]

46. Geez. Nobody is stereotyping.

The fact is that a strong majority of white working class voters still support Trump even though he's done nothing to help them.

We all know that doesn't mean all white working class voters.

[Keepthesoulalive]

49. We cannot discuss race without someone being offended

Racism is a cancer that is destroying our country. We need to talk about it honestly because Trump is the president because of it. It is not personal,I’m sure you are a good person but I see so many white people try to shut down any discussion because it makes them uncomfortable. Black people are under attack and 64 percent of white men who voted think that’s ok. Let’s not discuss all of those issues that don’t concern us let’s talk about economics which is another form of soft racism . Modifiers won’t fix what ails America but honesty and myth busting might.

[Dr. T]

51. I'm white working-class male and I

have no desire to have power over anyone. I am superior to no one and no one is superior to me 'cept maybe my girlfriend.

[ABC123Easy]

10. Spot on

Great post, thank you!

[FakeNoose]

12. Bill Clinton had a chance to change this when he was in the White House

The so-called "white working class" were just starting to abandon the Democratic Party back in the mid-90s. I believe Clinton could have stopped it if he had done a few things differently. He should have supported the labor unions when he had the chance. Increasing the minimum wage, installing universal healthcare, supporting public education and other pro-labor and pro-working-class initiatives would have gone a long way to retain those Dem voters.

Instead he killed welfare, gave in to the banks at every chance and he allowed CEOs to have special access because they were campaign donors. Clinton did things that we criticize Chump for now, but this was over 30 years ago!

Bill did good things too, but the white working class voters started leaving the Party on his watch.

[NBachers]

27. I can remember a picture of Clinton & Gore with a credit-card type card that would be your access card to Universal

Health Care. It was one of the cornerstone proposals of his first administration, and he ran on it in the run-up to the 1992 election. The Maggots-of-the-day dubbed it Hillarycare, and it was ultimately defeated in Congress.

You'll find plenty of information here:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Bill+Clinton+and+Al+Gore+promote+Universal+Health+Care+card&atb=v466-1&ia=web

[comradebillyboy]

38. Yeah, Clinton's eight years of peace and prosperity

was the cause of all the Democratic Party's problems. /s

[Keepthesoulalive]

39. The majority of white people have voted republican since LBJ

The republicans offer nothing to make Americans lives better but working class whites still vote for them. Affirmative action, DEI, Trans, immigrants and you know the rest. Oklahoma had a chance to increase the minimum wage and they said nope. The reason we are screwed as a country is because hate sells better than progress.

[DFW]

40. They started leaving way before Bill Clinion

When LBJ was president, and pushed through the Civil Rights Act of 1965, he said that he has lost the South for the Democrats, thinking it was for a generation. It turns out it was longer than that, but he was right. Nixon exploited it ruthlessly, and the Republicans never looked back. It took guts to do what LBJ did. That and Vietnam practically snatched the white house away from Hubert Humphrey. But the Civil Rights Act was still the right thing to do.

[yardwork]

47. Read the essay linked in the OP.

[Fiendish Thingy]

14. While often true, it's not a universal, absolute truth

Especially this year, when Trump induced, widespread suffering has crossed all regional, racial and partisan boundaries, we will likely see a not-insignificant number of working class white voters voting for Dems in the midterms.

[TygrBright]

15. Worth reading, and here's the money shot...

"...they reward the white lower classes not with any economic relief but with an invitation to self-deputize in a draconian police state..."

Keeping us powerless, feeling impotent and 'less than' in cultural terms, is key to triggering the emotional response that prioritizes a sense of entitlement and power over the reality of actual economic and social well-being.

While plenty of working class white voters know this, recognize it, and counter it at the ballot box, "plenty" is still not a majority in our demographic. Stoking the culture wars is cheap and effective for the oligarchs.

sadly,
Bright

[kimbutgar]

16. When I hear him say make Americkkka great again it's really make racism great again!

[mopinko]

17. great read.

yeah, they hated affirmative action, even when it mostly benefited their wives, at a time when families started needing 2 incomes to survive.

[KS Toronado]

18. I worked in Greenville MS back in 1989 when Boeing had a plant there

lot of white people used the "n" word, I associated with people who didn't. What really surprised me about
the blacks in MS is how so many of them used the "n" word also. Didn't see that back in Wichita KS.

[rogue emissary]

19. Really wish more on DU would understand this reality.

We keep seeing post about Democrats not reaching the white working class. This is the reason they're not responding. Democrats aren't offering them the prize that they truly seek from their vote. They want racial power and they don't mind if they have to suffer as long as the black, other, gay, and immigrants suffers more.

[haele]

50. It's a shallow combination of ownership within class identity and fear of unknown competition

Americans have a more narrow class identity than most other nations, based on our work (or lack of) rather than actual culture. An American sees their personal value in their job and in their ability to own something, rather than in their personal nature or talents.
Most Americans, especially White "as almost middle class" are pretty comfortable - even when they complain - with their local class hierarchy and find "fairness" in that hierarchy when they measure their self worth and assess themselves against other groups in their general class.

Americans in general don't tend to care about "those others" that live "over yonder", Americans tend to be uncurious and selfish, they know very little about the culture or lives of "the others" other than what the media shows them,, and they resent having to change their personal activities and preferences to level a playing field and share opportunities with strangers who might have a better way of doing a job they consider theirs by right.

Especially sharing with those they self-justify looking down on.
There's always a provincial prejudice. The difference between the outright bigot and a person who prefers certain cultures over others is in the strength they cling to their comfortable, childish hierarchies and the almost paralyzing fear of stepping outside of expectations and being required to either compete (without shortcuts or cheating) or cooperate for resources.
And yes, I'm American.
But I have few problems metaphorically looking in my ethical mirror and seeing what my actions say about me. I
'm still broadly curious in my old age and don't shy away from problems that don't immediately affect me even as I watch many of my fellow Americans turn away from a variety of options and hunker down/double down on "This is the way it's supposed to be" results based attitudes whenever their lives start becoming difficult or complex.

And in my experience, if someone doesn't want to admit they have to grow up and stop expecting people to smooth out the road in front of them, they are going to cling to their personal childish and selfish attitudes even harder.

[Redleg]

20. And these beliefs and preferences are very difficult to counter, even with the "right messaging"

Tell me again, main stream media, how Democrats need to be able to speak to these people.

[Squaredeal]

21. The story of the white sharecropper poisoning his black sharecropper neighbor's mule come to mind.

As his son related years later, upon he and his father seeing his neighbor farming by hand and realizing that his son knew his dad had poisoned the mule said, “Son, I just couldn’t have have people seeing a black man better off than me.”

[Joinfortmill]

25. Jeezus. Humans need a reboot.

[SamuelAdams]

23. Republicans understand this.

Look at their campaign ads and rhetoric going back decades. Welfare queens and Willie Horton were only the most infamous ones. They are always showing dark-skinned people benefiting from welfare programs and using them to scare white people.

[Joinfortmill]

24. dumb, dumber, dumbest

[zanana1]

26. I think they need somebody to look down on.

Minorities and us.

[BeneteauBum]

28. Sounds like the older part of my family....MAGATs all

Fortunately, my kids do not support this administration. They are wonderfully intelligent and support equality. They also expect our politicians to address America’s issues without bias, not enrich themselves.

Peace ☮️

[agingdem]

29. This is a "duh" headline..white working class vote their hate for "the other"...

and white working class vote for white supremacists because they are desperately trying to hold on to a whites-only/daddy knows best/christian/restricted United States that no longer exists.

[Redleg]

30. Not really "duh" since we aren't used to seeing this from the media, at least in the U.S.

I will give the Guardian credit for this.

[agingdem]

35. The Guardian is British paper...our papers/MSM are so terrified of MAGA

retribution they paint white hate-fueled racist voters voting for white hate-fueled racist candidates as something we should understand and tolerate…

[Solly Mack]

31. ...

no shit

[multigraincracker]

33. Worked in an auto plant just West of Detroit.

It was like working at the United Nations. We were all paid pretty much the same. Most folks got along pretty well, not all but most.

I see the day when many of those bigots will have tan grandchildren with nice wavy hair. Gonna be one big happy family. Someday.

[gulliver]

34. We need to go back to colorblind (if we still can)

Seeing what has happened with race in this country makes me understand better what happens with anorexics. They look in the mirror, and they see an overweight person. They see a thin person, and they think it's an overweight person. They see an overweight person, and they think it's an overweight person.

You tell then they look thin, and it's not good for them. They hear someone lying to them...

[Blasphemer]

36. Yes, this is central to understanding the American project and why it has failed. nt

[duckworth969]

37. "Mississippi Burning"

Hackman in “Mississippi Burning” gives a short soliloquy that lays that out about his own daddy.

I highly recommend that movie. Great writing and acting.

[Redleg]

43. A great movie- I doubt it would be made today, given the kow-towing to Trump

Hackman and Dafoe made it look so easy. A masterclass.

[Fil1957]

41. It's because of racism we can't have the nice things that folks have in other rich countries.

[biocube]

42. And yet...guys like Graham Platner, Zohran Mamdani, Abdul El Sayed

are picking up white working class voters (especially young men).

I'm not sure what implication is here. Are Dems going to win with finger wagging?

[yardwork]

48. That fact does nothing to refute the point of the OP.

In fact, I'd say that Platner's tattoo and rhetoric signal to his white working class voters that he shares their racist views.