The people who believe themselves to be white

First, insofar as race is a social construct (which it is), it’s useful to examine how that construct was built, and how it has two sides (at least). The category of “black people” could not exist without a complementary, equally made-up category of “white people” to stand apart from them. And sure enough, the early history of American racism shows that this is exactly what happened. Poor whites were inducted into the category of whiteness to buy their loyalty to the overall system, as compensation for their poorness, and to set them against the blacks. Second, this construction gave them something beyond economic value: Respect. No matter how poor you might be, at least you were white, and you had that to your credit. Not surprisingly, the notion of respect is behind much of this year’s election year rhetoric and, I think, behind the anger and fear felt by many white conservatives. <a href="https://medium.com/@dylan20/the-people-who-believe-themselves-to-be-white-c385b18d92c2">Website</a>