Why do we speak of a "white working class"?

[pecksniff]

When there are also non-whites who do blue-collar jobs? Why speak of the WWC as something distinct from them?

The answer is obvious: A social class is not only a matter of economic function; it is a social entity within which people freely socialize and marry. The black working class lives in different neighborhoods from the WWC, goes to different churches, drinks in different bars, and mostly marries within itself. The WWC and BWC and the Latino working class are different slices of the same layer of the cake. They are not really all that different from each other, their economic interests are the same, but they do perceive differences that matter to them. Which means an electoral or otherwise political pitch to one of them might have to be different in some ways from a pitch to another, to be effective.

Just putting this out here to clarify discussion going forward.

 

[CornusKousa]

When there are also non-whites who do blue-collar jobs? Why speak of the WWC as something distinct from them?

So far as I know only race baiting leftist do this.

 

[Rightguide]

When there are also non-whites who do blue-collar jobs? Why speak of the WWC as something distinct from them?

The answer is obvious: A social class is not only a matter of economic function; it is a social entity within which people freely socialize and marry. The black working class lives in different neighborhoods from the WWC, goes to different churches, drinks in different bars, and mostly marries within itself. The WWC and BWC and the Latino working class are different slices of the same layer of the cake. They are not really all that different from each other, but they do perceive differences that matter to them. Which means an electoral or otherwise political pitch to one of them might have to be different in some ways from a pitch to another, to be effective.

Just putting this out here to clarify discussion going forward.

Outside of the obvious racism on the part of the media, it could be just a reference to the ethnic majority of the working class.

 

[pecksniff]

So far as I know only race baiting leftist do this.

Trump always pitched his pitch to the WWC to the clear exclusion of other workers. And he certainly wasn't the first. See right to work law.

"Right-to-work" laws are derived from legislation forbidding unions from forcing strikes on workers, as well as from legal principles such as "liberty of contract," which as applied here sought to prevent passage of laws regulating workplace conditions.[3]

The term itself was coined by one Vance Muse, a Republican operative who headed an early "right-to-work" group, the "Christian American Association", to replace the term "American Plan" after it became associated with the anti-union violence of the First Red Scare.[4][5] Muse used racist rhetoric when he campaigned for these laws, such as when he said:

"From now on, white women and white men will be forced into organizations with black African apes whom they will have to call ‘brother’ or lose their jobs."[4][5]

Other stuff Vance Muse did: fought against women's suffrage, a child labor amendment, the 8-hour work day and Felix Frankfurter (a Jew) as a Supreme Court justice, while launching the very first steps towards the Southern Strategy.[4][5] His "Christian American Association" was also anti-semitic as well as anti-Catholic.[4][5]

 

[CornusKousa]

Trump always pitched his pitch to the WWC to the clear exclusion of other workers.

Cite???

 

[pecksniff]

Cite???

Everything he said against immigrants, just to start with. Also, just look at the demographic makeup of his rallies. The guy holding a "Blacks for Trump" sign always sticks out like the white crow in the flock.

 

[CornusKousa]

Everything he said against immigrants, just to start with. Also, just look at the demographic makeup of his rallies. The guy holding a "Blacks for Trump" sign always sticks out like the white crow in the flock.

OH so you don't have a single citation of him pitching his pitch "to the WWC to the clear exclusion of other workers." despite your claim that he always did.

Imagine that!!!

We know why you can't cite anything

 

[Plane_Guy]

When there are also non-whites who do blue-collar jobs? Why speak of the WWC as something distinct from them?

The answer is obvious: A social class is not only a matter of economic function; it is a social entity within which people freely socialize and marry. The black working class lives in different neighborhoods from the WWC, goes to different churches, drinks in different bars, and mostly marries within itself. The WWC and BWC and the Latino working class are different slices of the same layer of the cake. They are not really all that different from each other, their economic interests are the same, but they do perceive differences that matter to them. Which means an electoral or otherwise political pitch to one of them might have to be different in some ways from a pitch to another, to be effective.

Just putting this out here to clarify discussion going forward.

In answer to your question: no one talks about a "white working class".

 

[pecksniff]

In answer to your question: no one talks about a "white working class".

The whole of the punditocracy does.

 

[CornusKousa]

The whole of the punditocracy does.

RAW, Salon, AlterLeft and Wonkette =/= the whole of the punditocracy.

 

[pecksniff]

RAW, Salon, AlterLeft and Wonkette =/= the whole of the punditocracy.

I also see "white working class" discussed on centrist and RW outlets.

 

[CornusKousa]

I also see "white working class" discussed on centrist and RW outlets.

Yes, all 3 white nationalist publications and their 13,352 consumers from across the nation.

Nobody else gives a fuck.

We're too busy getting money.

 

[rae121452]

the reason there is a 'white working class' is because they are distinctly different from a black or brown working class. black and brown people receive lower wages in essentially the same jobs. also, jobs available to the white working class have not been available to black and brown people. it's a very obvious differentiation.

cue rw racist comments:

 

[pecksniff]

the reason there is a 'white working class' is because they are distinctly different from a black or brown working class. black and brown people receive lower wages in essentially the same jobs.

I know that was true for a very long time, but I'm not sure it still is. There are laws against it.

also, jobs available to the white working class have not been available to black and brown people.

That, I'm sure, is still true. Again, there are laws against it -- but they're much harder to enforce than those against pay discrimination. You have a stack of applications, you interview some candidates, you happen to hire the white ones -- who can prove you turned down the others for that reason? The laws are probably enforced to some extent WRT white-collar jobs, but not below that level.

 

[WillJ8787]

When there are also non-whites who do blue-collar jobs? Why speak of the WWC as something distinct from them?

The answer is obvious: A social class is not only a matter of economic function; it is a social entity within which people freely socialize and marry. The black working class lives in different neighborhoods from the WWC, goes to different churches, drinks in different bars, and mostly marries within itself. The WWC and BWC and the Latino working class are different slices of the same layer of the cake. They are not really all that different from each other, their economic interests are the same, but they do perceive differences that matter to them. Which means an electoral or otherwise political pitch to one of them might have to be different in some ways from a pitch to another, to be effective.

Just putting this out here to clarify discussion going forward.

"White working class" is a social construct, it's origins are firmly in the systemically racist past coined by racist as a way to differentiate between "desirable" and "undesirable" groups of folks.

The construct of terms like "colored", "Paddy", "Daygo" and many others are inventions of the white ruling class and it encompasses just about all the derogatory terms used today....many of which have been co-opted by various other groups.

 

[CornusKousa]

the reason there is a 'white working class' is because they are distinctly different from a black or brown working class. black and brown people receive lower wages in essentially the same jobs. also, jobs available to the white working class have not been available to black and brown people. it's a very obvious differentiation.

cue rw racist comments:

The only racist comment here is your obvious race baiting and lies.

I know that was true for a very long time, but I'm not sure it still is. There are laws against it.



That, I'm sure, is still true. Again, there are laws against it -- but they're much harder to enforce than those against pay discrimination. You have a stack of applications, you interview some candidates, you happen to hire the white ones -- who can prove you turned down the others for that reason? The laws are probably enforced to some extent WRT white-collar jobs, but not below that level.

Of course your fellow race baiter agrees.....too bad neither of you can show any evidence to support your claims.

 

[CornusKousa]

"White working class" is a social construct, it's origins are firmly in the systemically racist past coined by racist as a way to differentiate between "desirable" and "undesirable" groups of folks.

The construct of terms like "colored", "Paddy", "Daygo" and many others are inventions of the white ruling class and it encompasses just about all the derogatory terms used today....many of which have been co-opted by various other groups.

What "white ruling class"......it's not 1830 anymore.

 

[WillJ8787]

What "white ruling class"......it's not 1830 anymore.

I know you don't know because you didn't attend an institution of higher learning so your intellectual skills are limited.

You can take a course in history and also critical race theory and you understand pretty quickly America's true history.

 

[CornusKousa]

I know you don't know because you didn't attend an institution of higher learning so your intellectual skills are limited.

Oh I guess U Texas, California and Minnesota don't count and neither does Stanford.

You can take a course in history and also critical race theory and you understand pretty quickly America's true history.

Well versed in history, racist trash theory is racist trash and crash n' burn.....

Ad hom is not an argument son.

Seems you were projecting a bit with sentence one, weren't you???

Again, there is no "white ruling class"....it's not 1830 anymore.

 

[WillJ8787]

Oh I guess U Texas, California and Minnesota don't count and neither does Stanford.





Well versed in history, racist trash theory is racist trash and crash n' burn.....

Ad hom is not an argument son.

Seems you were projecting a bit with sentence one, weren't you???

Again, there is no "white ruling class"....it's not 1830 anymore.

Gotta love liars...dude, you know we all know here your full of shit.

You didn't attend any of these places and I'm still waiting on the text book name, page number of the references around racism you said you would provide over a year ago.

You think I'm going to forget....you get owned by everyone here.

You would fit into the "know nothing" party of years gone by.

How about posting a source? Maybe every once in a while.

You want to be heard and listened too....get some character!
Real men honer their word and don't lie habitually.

 

[CornusKousa]

Gotta love liars...dude, you know we all know here your full of shit.

Stay mad!! This winter I become Dr.BotanyBauss and there is nothing your foot stamping can do about it.

I'm veteran, minority and I got an endless supply of people happy to pay for me to study my plants for pretty much the rest of my life.

You didn't attend any of these places and I'm still waiting on the text book name, page number of the references around racism you said you would provide over a year ago.

All of them. It was liberalism, not racism...not that you would understand the difference between the two, and I gave you the reference.

You ignored it to claim victory like a 5 year old. That's on you.

You think I'm going to forget....you get owned by everyone here.

You would fit into the "know nothing" party of years gone by.

How about posting a source? Maybe every once in a while.

You want to be heard and listened too....get some character!
Real men honer their word and don't lie habitually.

Holy shit, look at all that projection. honer?? What's that??

 

[pecksniff]

What "white ruling class"......it's not 1830 anymore.

There is still a ruling class, and it's mostly white, though of course most whites are not in it and never were. And it is somewhat broader than "the 1%," but much smaller than the set of people with college degrees.
It is what Michael Lind in The Next American Nation calls the "white overclass."

Michael Lind, a young ex-conservative, has introduced the term “overclass” into our political vocabulary. This word has quickly come into extensive use, and has been very helpful in defining the central problem that America now faces. Lind defines “the white overclass” as “a small group consisting of affluent white executives, professionals, and rentiers, most of them with advanced degrees, who with their dependents amount to no more than a fifth or so of the American population.” He describes this overclass as “the first truly national oligarchy in American history.” His description of that overclass, and of the inequities that enrich it, is brilliant political polemic.

It's not a conspiracy theory -- it's the theory that the people who appear to be running things, actually are. The radical-for-these-days idea is that he's talking about a social class (as defined in the OP), not about C. Wright Mills' "Power Elite." The latter is what Lind calls the "institutional elite" and is much smaller, it consists of the people who head up the big organizations public and private -- any society, however egalitarian, will have an institutional elite -- what is sociologically significant is that most of America's institutional elite are recruited from the white overclass.