...the underlying racist, nativist, misogynist core that was always there.
It is very easy to be "nice" to people who share your skin color, general faith (if not specific denomination), etc. It's easy to preach the values of inclusion, togetherness, community well-being, etc., when only small groups of minorities or immigrants are among you and you can showcase your niceness with those "exceptions".
It's easy to invest in high-quality public education for all the children when all the children are a lot like YOUR children. It's easy to buy in to social programs, housing, public infrastructure, safety nets, health care, etc., when the people benefiting are people like you.
Because you know people like you deserve all those things. They'd do the same thing in your place. They share all those cultural values about hard work and marriage and how to raise children and education and saving for the future and so on.
Extending that to a few "different" people among you initially seems like an extension of the (Lutheran/Presbyterian/Catholic/Episcopal/etc.)-based doctrine of looking after those less fortunate.
Then at some point the balance tips and there are just too many "different" people and you come to realize they don't necessarily make all the same kind of choices or value the same cultural norms you do, and worst of all, they want a seat at the table and a say in dividing up the pie, and suddenly YOUR CHILDREN'S FUTURE IS AT RISK.
And the naked racist asshole within subsumes the nice Midwesterner and you're electing scum like Michele Bachman and Steve King.
sadly,
Bright
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