Voting With A Middle Finger: Two Views On The White Working Class
There is one truth that has endured through the first two years of Donald Trump's presidency: he has kept the support of the core voters who propelled him to the White House.
This week on Hidden Brain, we explore two competing perspectives on Trump supporters and their motivations.
Joan Williams, a Professor at the University of California Hastings College of the Law, paints a sympathetic picture focused on class divisions and economic pain.
"Since 1970 the wages and economic prospects of this group have absolutely tanked" she says. Williams is the author of the book White Working Class: Overcoming Class Cluelessness in America.
Marisa Abrajano presents a more critical explanation."The issue of immigration is one of the main factors that's driving white voters away from the Democratic party," she explains. Abrajano is a political scientist at the University of California San Diego, and, along with Zoltán Hainal, she's co-author of the book White Backlash: Immigration, Race, and American Politics.
Further reading:
- Everybody Thinks They're Middle-Class by Sam Grobart
- For Most Trump Voters, 'Very Warm' Feelings for Him Endured by Pew Research Center
- Research: How Subtle Class Cues Can Backfire on Your Resume by Lauren Rivera and András Tilcsik
- The Parties on the Eve of the 2016 Election: Two Coalitions, Moving Further Apart by Pew Research Center
Hidden Brain is hosted by Shankar Vedantam and produced by Jennifer Schmidt, Rhaina Cohen, Parth Shah, Thomas Lu, Laura Kwerel, and Camila Vargas Restrepo. Our supervising producer is Tara Boyle. You can also follow us on Twitter @hiddenbrain.