Some claim immigrants, whether legal or not, are taking away Americans jobs and this causes resentment amongst poor white working class.
I would say the real resentment is not for those picking fruit, cleaning toilets and blowing leaves. I would say it is because if they succeed, that makes them feel ten times worse.
The case in point is that a man who could have been born a slave not that long ago rose all the way up to become President. A man not that long ago could have been segregated out from the majority rose to lead “their country”. Their only defense was to roll around in the pigswill of racial hatred and deny that he could even be an American, hence should be thrown back to wherever he came from.
A sense of privilege still prevails, it says “we” are better than “them” , we are the “real Americans”and when the facts point to the reality that they are equal their own perceived failures become more stark. This conflict builds up resentment, fear and eventually hate. It’s an easy emotional mix to fan into full blown racism. It is the same feeling as was prevalent when women rather than serving the tea in the workplace became the leaders, the stereotypes of the business woman were hardly flattering. If you cannot deny their success, mock their looks/sexuality, same goes for race.
Rather than blaming those that have created the situation where jobs are precarious, where reducing labor cost is king, they turn on those taking something away which is not in fact there. It is easier to fight the weak than the powerful, rather than unionizing they swallowed the propaganda of individualism being sufficient, your success [or lack of it] would be your own responsibility. They were run over by the juggernaut of wealth and power instead.
Some have fallen for the idea that if you exclude the maximum number of people, success will be there for the taking, a guaranteed perk of purity. What they forget is this very division of the weak has lead to the crushing of their dreams by the very few that now profit. They even want to elect one of the extraordinary few to make their lot better, or at least be able to abuse and sneer at those they deem to be inferior.
I sympathize with their fears, the world is a harsh place. but when you help make it harsher don’t complain to me, when your petty loathings make it worse, then I will have no sympathy whatsoever.
I am a democratic socialist, and that means we help each other, that means we include all in our dreams for a better world, that means we fight against those who would divide us for personal gain. It’s become an increasingly unpopular stance, as those that have benefited so well from division have sole ownership of the microphone. Blame each other and not those that have created the situation, please continue. Sigh.