General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: LBJ: "If you can convince the lowest white man that he’s better than the best colored man, he ..." [View all]Racism, obviously, remains most firmly entrenched among the "lowest white men" as LBJ put it. People who really have nothing to recommend them- they aren't smart, they aren't educated, they don't have a good job, they aren't well liked, they don't have money, etc. All they have to cling to is "well, at least I'm white." So, their whole self esteem becomes tied to how much value they perceive whiteness as giving them. That gives them an overpowering incentive to disparage minorities and even to try to keep minorities from achieving success. Somebody who is clinging to the prestige of whiteness for their whole self image is going to tend to favor policies that exacerbate racial inequality. If they're desperate enough to widen that gap, they'll even support policies that hurt them as long as they hurt minorities more.
Edit history
![](du4img/smicon-reply-new.gif)