Some thoughts of 77 yr old white male from the south

[Flying Squirrel]

57. I can answer your question...

Racism is the snobbery of the poor. They need someone to look down on, otherwise they are the bottom of the heap. As people get poorer, racism becomes even more important - who wants to be the bottom of the heap? And the rich encourage this, (as well as participate in it of course since the more people you can look down upon, the better you must be) because it gives those who are being impoverished by them a different target to vent their anger/fear/frustration/hatred upon. Also it's a good motivator to get out the vote when you don't have any good reasons for people to vote for you.