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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsD'oh! What We Don't Know About the White Working-Class
http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/doh-what-we-dont-know-about-white-working-class***SNIP
Given my experience, Im suspicious of the clichés about the white working-class -- their biases and conservatism; how they dont vote in their own interests clichés reinforced in much of the literature popular on the left.
One of the strongest biases is that college-educated whites are very different than workin-class whites. A recent survey by the Public Religion Research Council , funded in part by the Nathan Cummings Foundation, shows that on many issues, it is not true. Take one striking example: there is virtually no difference between whites who are working-class and college-educated in identifying with the Tea Party, 10 and 13 percent, respectively. Equal numbers from these two groups identify Fox as a trusted source of news (27% and 28%).
And as Joan Walsh, author of What's Wrong with White People , wrote on Salon , the surveys results "confounds those who believe that white working-class people vote against their own interests. For example, those who receive food stamps in the last two years preferred Obama to Romney 48%-36%.
The study found that "only one in 20 of working-class whites say abortion or same-sex marriage is the most important issue for them. A majority 50% to 45% think an abortion should be legal in all or most cases, including a solid majority of 56% working-class Catholics.
All though the popular thing to do here at DU is to cast mass stereotypes, those stereotypes are usually false. And when I call people on them they usually pipe down or claim I am a repuke. Lol
Le Taz Hot
(22,271 posts)I get SO SICK of this bullshit stereotype that is allowed to go uncensored on DU. And it's the left who is perpetuating it. This is a really good article. I particularly liked the last paragraph:
"All people, including white people. Those of us who care about working across lines of race and faith to create social change must better understand the complexity of the white working-class. They defy stereotype, they often share our aspirations and they have a greater sense that we are all in this together than we might think. "
SpartanDem
(4,533 posts)that this demographic is a lost cause.
byeya
(2,842 posts)unless and until it's job-loss, job-scared time.
In '52 and '56, the white working class abandoned Stevenson for Ike. Another example is Governor Wallace.
In my family, the males were National Maritime Union; IBEW: Longshoremen; Fraternal Order of Police and most were pretty conservative. Most white collar whites are pretty conservative. Where the two classes differ is their difference when it comes to management. As a former union president, I can tell you when management puts the screws to the rank and file, that's when you see solidarity and that's when you, if you're an official, had better have a record of anti-bossism.
So now it's a continuation of job-crunch time and I think the President is better positioned to take advantage of worker's deep concerns whether they - the workers - are organized or not. I think the President has been too tepid in his rhetoric but it looks like he's running a successful campaign and it's his call.