Is it time for "White Working Class" interest group?

[WeHa]

We don't have a "white working class" group because we no longer have a true middle class. The white working class were the ones with factory jobs, farming jobs, mining etc... All industries that have been decimated by conservative political decisions made by the 1% to do away with labor unions and eventually ship those jobs over seas.

If anything it's rich white people who have sold out their fellow poor whites.

[ocnjgirl]

Originally Posted by brownbagg

because if you support your own white race you are labeled a racist and white supremacy. we are not allowed to support or live within our own group

Whites don't live within their own groups? Since when??? What is considered "support", btw?

[ocnjgirl]

Originally Posted by jpdivola

Yeah, in theory I really don't like race or ethnic based political organizations. I think they are inherently bad for democracy. I think we should have cause based organizations. But, that isn't going to happen anytime soon. Among liberal intellectual circles the phrase "color blind" is a pejorative term and "identity politics"/white privilege is all the rage. Given this reality, it does seem the left should make some accommodation for "working class whites" who may have "racial privilege", but not "class privilege."

Consider the issue of immigration. Liberals have basically endorsed the idea that low skilled immigration is inherently good for the nation. A bigger workforce equals a bigger economy. Most low skilled immigrants legal or illegal work hard and do jobs that Americans won't do. Additionally, those who came illegally are "undocumented immigrants" who are otherwise good and decent people who are the victims of a cruel and unjust broken immigration system. So we should just focus on the small share of "undocumented immigrants" who are criminals and work to integrate the rest.

While all this is certainly true, there is a flip side to this issue. Low skilled immigrants generally live in near poverty and have US born children who struggle in school and generally require extensive social service programs to bring them up to a basic US standard of living. To the extent that immigration increases the share of poor families in the US, it makes it harder to peruse efforts to tack poverty and ensure that everyone has an equal opportunity in our society.

It is a little hypocritical to complain about a White-Hispanic income and education gap and then uncritically support low skilled immigration from Latin America. The reality is low skilled immigration is a mixed bag with pros and cons. Unfortunately, this serious debate isn't being had in this country. Instead we are having a highly polarized debate between demagogues like Donald Trump on the one hand and then liberals who often view the issue in a moral light refuse to acknowledge that they are any practical downsides to low skilled immigration. A more organized "white working class" group could help make these valid points in a positive and constructive manor.

This is laughable, since it's RED as blood corporate entities who actually hire them for their labor. Go check out a DelMonte factory farm and ask the workers for papers, see how many you get.

[jpdivola]

Originally Posted by ocnjgirl

This is laughable, since it's RED as blood corporate entities who actually hire them for their labor. Go check out a DelMonte factory farm and ask the workers for papers, see how many you get.

It is absolutely true that we have this weird alliance between the Chamber of Commerce/Koch Brothers and left leaning activists on the issue of unauthorized immigration right now. Business republicans want an inexpensive labor force, Liberals want low skilled immigration on humanitarian grounds. But, neither of these groups represent the "working class"

There is a major schism emerging between the "establishment" pro-business republicans and the working class on the immigration issue. The big business wing sees lower labor costs, the working class is far more skeptical about the benefits of low skilled immigration and see social costs related to poverty/inequality. The impoverished children of low skilled immigrants aren't going to be attending the private schools and upscale suburban schools the business republican's attends.

Now, it is naïve to pretend that "white working classes" opposition to low skilled immigration isn't magnified by "racial/ethnic bias." Of course it is. But, it is also naïve to pretend that it is all completely blind racism with no functional basis, as many liberal writers like to pretend it is.