Reply #8: It's called the Southern Strategy.

[political_Dem]

They can always bet that some of the white poor, über-rich and suburbanites will always vote to keep white privilege and supremacy in tact.

The RW creates a Willie Horton type of figure (newly arrived undocumented immigrants, "black criminals" or the "black poor"), applies a few racist dog-whistles attached to such personification ("quotas", "illegals", "welfare queens") and continues to associate these memes with fear and hatred.

And presto! The conservatives have these groups shaking in their boots.

And they do it so easy because they pander to the petty prejudices one group has against those who aren't like them. Sadly, this aspect can be used again and again because there are folks who want to shut the gate and keep it tightly closed so that no others have what the first group has.

It is sad enough that the GOP plays this same game repeatedly. It succeeds because there are a group of citizens in America who are in deep denial about their racism and other petty hatred. Politicians and legislation supporting this particular brand of exclusionism only continues to perpetuate the utter ignorance and self-centered nature of these folks to the point of denial. And if these aspects are attached to virulent extremist groups, that part gets overlooked too as long as measures are passed to keep other groups at bay.

It's a crying shame.