Economy
The Working Class That Wasn't
The most common jobs for workers without college degrees have never been industrial.
A grizzled face, smudged grey with the factory soot. Hands that are calloused from making things—things that Make America Great. This person is, of course, white.
In the popular imagination, this is the portrait of a “working class” American—a figure that political leaders say will benefit from their policies; the same one that props up the myth of bootstrapping—the hardworking, real American who is deserving of help; and the one whose “economic anxieties” are commonly cited to justify the popularity of racist politicians.