# The rise of white people... as a demographic **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 12, 2016, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708 "2016-03-12T02:02:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/61 "2016-03-15T00:40:03Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Yes, they do – but they do not have genuine grievances **as** white people the way blacks have genuine grievances as black people. After all, offshoring affects everybody regardless of color, while police brutality does not. **As** white people, they have only the grievance of losing caste and frustrated white privilege, which is genuine, but not legitimate, not a grievance worthy of anyone’s time. It’s a little more complicated than that. What poor white people see is rich white people feeling guilty about past racism, so they make poor white people pay for that through affirmative action, while rich white people keep THEIR old boys club in place. ---
**Author:** ![inscrutable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a88e4f/32.png) [@inscrutable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inscrutable)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/62 "2016-03-15T00:43:14Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Sigh. You’re right: racism is a thing of the past, and there is no institutionalized racism around. As long as you, personally, feel no judgements based on skin color, there is no problem. Certainly, as a white person, there is no conceivable situation in which your whiteness prevents others from viewing you with suspicion or treating you differently than they would someone else. Poor minority/immigrants have come to this Country, and within a generation are engineers/scientists/doctors/business owners/etc. Were they somehow immune to this “institutional racism” you speak of? Or did they just maybe give a damn about their future? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/63 "2016-03-15T00:48:13Z")
> [@inscrutable](#): > > Poor minority/immigrants have come to this Country, and within a generation are engineers/scientists/doctors/business owners/etc. Were they somehow immune to this “institutional racism” you speak of? Or did they just maybe give a damn about their future? 1. Yes, they were. Institutional racism targets classes of people who are identifiable by skin color, speech, dress, and a whole raft of other behaviors. Immigrants usually ping one (skin color) but none of the others. So you can be a black-skinned Kenyan immigrant, and, while you’ll still experience racism, you won’t have the same experience as an American black person. More important, you won’t have that experience while growing up and being formed as a person. 2. Anecdotes aren’t data. Lots of immigrants succeed brilliantly. So do lots of non-white Americans. Lots of immigrants live in grinding poverty. So do lots of white Americans. But yes, sure: any hardworking person can pull themselves up by their bootstraps. Race is all the mind, etc., etc. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/64 "2016-03-15T01:06:10Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > I will say you are wrong on ideology. The Democrats’ ideology is of tolerance. The Republicans’ ideology is of hatred. People are completely committed to voting their ideologies. No, the Republican ideology is one of sacred individualism; the party was just deliberately hijacked by racists 50 years ago, and flagrant corporatism 20 years after that. > [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > Asians. > > Asian support for Obama increased from 2008 to 2012. Higher percentage of Asians for Obama than Hispanics or women or young people. No one talks about that. More evidence that everything is black and white in American politics. > [@inscrutable](#): > > I didn’t get the memo – what is it that we’re supposed to be doing to the non-whites this year? Murder and disenfranchisement ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/65 "2016-03-15T01:16:06Z")
> [@inscrutable](#): > > …until they grow up and realize that someone has to pay for All The Free Stuff. It’s weird that conservatives throw this at liberals. Liberals are not the ones who cavil at paying for things. Heck, Republicans always complain that Democrats are into tax and spend, right? Tax is paying for the stuff. > [@](#): > > When I lived in upstate NY (and a liberal), I was puzzled that $1000 of my annual real estate tax bill was mandated by the County to fund the State’s Medicare. Why are only homeowners on the hook for this? If NY can get away with it, how long before your State does it, and it creeps up to $1200, $1500, $1800… And not just for Medicare??? I do not think your recollection is accurate. Medicare is not financed through property tax, but through the federal payroll tax. You might mean Medicaid. That is a different program. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/66 "2016-03-15T01:50:09Z")
Agreed btw that property tax is poor funding mechanism in general. Not sure how many other states fund Medicaid out of property tax. New Hampshire famous for its limited sales taxes (only on “meals and rooms”) and lack of a state income tax, instead relies on property and business taxes for the lion’s share of state funding, so it does as well, albeit not in an earmarked manner. And not just for Medicaid. Of course not only homeowners pay property taxes. Business owners and landlords do as well and they of course pass that expense through, so renters and consumers pay as well, just not directly. ---
**Author:** ![inscrutable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a88e4f/32.png) [@inscrutable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inscrutable)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/67 "2016-03-15T01:56:39Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Murder and disenfranchisement Murder? I don’t follow Trump’s tweets, so I am not aware of the current statistics. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/68 "2016-03-15T02:20:16Z")
> [@inscrutable](#): > > Murder? > > I don’t follow Trump’s tweets, so I am not aware of the current statistics. Is that intended to be clever? Please expand. I note you don’t question the disenfranchisement. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/69 "2016-03-15T03:03:20Z")
> [@inscrutable](#): > > I obviously don’t understand white people outside of my own generation, but > I disagree that “losing caste and frustrated white privilege” is the issue. See [url=]this thread. Working-class white Americans are dying younger than some other demographic groups, are indeed in many cases killing themselves with drugs and drinking and suicide, **even where they are doing better economically** than comparable nonwhites, and there is no apparent analogous behavior in foreign white-majority countries. If that’s not all about loss of caste, if it’s not all about loss of privilege, if it’s not all about disappointment in what they were raised to expect out of life, not just as Americans but as **white** Americans, then what else could it possibly be?! ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/70 "2016-03-15T03:22:09Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > See [url=]this thread. Working-class white Americans are dying younger than some other demographic groups, are indeed in many cases killing themselves with drugs and drinking and suicide, **even where they are doing better economically** than comparable nonwhites, and there is no apparent analogous behavior in foreign white-majority countries. If that’s not all about loss of caste, if it’s not all about loss of privilege, if it’s not all about disappointment in what they were raised to expect out of life, not just as Americans but as **white** Americans, then what else could it possibly be?! Could just be cultural. Every culture has its pathologies. And most poor whites don’t have great expectations. My mother in law taught in a small Missouri town. When she asked the kids what they wanted to be, the most frequent answer was “I’m gonna work construction!”, or, “I’m going to help my dad run his hardware store!” What would upend all that is if foreigners came in and undercut them on labor costs, or big corporations moved in and instead of hiring locals, brought in foreign labor. Which is why immigration is a thing with this demographic. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/71 "2016-03-15T09:43:06Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > See [url=]this thread. Working-class white Americans are dying younger than some other demographic groups, are indeed in many cases killing themselves with drugs and drinking and suicide, **even where they are doing better economically** than comparable nonwhites, and there is no apparent analogous behavior in foreign white-majority countries. If that’s not all about loss of caste, if it’s not all about loss of privilege, if it’s not all about disappointment in what they were raised to expect out of life, not just as Americans but as **white** Americans, then what else could it possibly be?! A psychologist, or sociologist, could probably phrase this better, but it might be more about confusion based on the changes than disappointment, or a weaker subculture and support. ---
**Author:** ![inscrutable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a88e4f/32.png) [@inscrutable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inscrutable)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/72 "2016-03-15T11:47:36Z")
> [@j666](#): > > I note you don’t question the disenfranchisement. Didn’t want to open this can of worms: assimilation. ---
**Author:** ![inscrutable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a88e4f/32.png) [@inscrutable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inscrutable)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/73 "2016-03-15T11:48:39Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > See [url=]this thread. Working-class white Americans are dying younger than some other demographic groups, are indeed in many cases killing themselves with drugs and drinking and suicide, **even where they are doing better economically** than comparable nonwhites, and there is no apparent analogous behavior in foreign white-majority countries. If that’s not all about loss of caste, if it’s not all about loss of privilege, if it’s not all about disappointment in what they were raised to expect out of life, not just as Americans but as **white** Americans, then what else could it possibly be?! Maybe they started reading SDMB… ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/74 "2016-03-15T12:14:08Z")
> [@inscrutable](#): > > Didn’t want to open this can of worms: assimilation. Please, feel free to explain your position more clear than with cryptic and obscure responses. ---
**Author:** ![inscrutable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a88e4f/32.png) [@inscrutable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inscrutable)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/75 "2016-03-15T14:32:57Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Please, feel free to explain your position more clear than with cryptic and obscure responses. Pointless – there is no way to integrate reality’s simple, ugly truths into SDMB’s theoretical simulation of life. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/76 "2016-03-15T14:50:39Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Could just be cultural. Every culture has its pathologies. But a culture does not suddenly develop a new pathology for no reason – and whatever is killing off working-class white Americans **is** new. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/77 "2016-03-15T14:51:41Z")
> [@inscrutable](#): > > Pointless – there is no way to integrate reality’s simple, ugly truths into SDMB’s theoretical simulation of life. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/78 "2016-03-15T14:53:50Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > And most poor whites don’t have great expectations. My mother in law taught in a small Missouri town. When she asked the kids what they wanted to be, the most frequent answer was “I’m gonna work construction!”, or, “I’m going to help my dad run his hardware store!” Those **are** great expectations – specifically, the expectation that one can earn enough that way to support a middle-class standard of living; which was possible from the '50s through the '70s, but no longer, and that is what is disappointed. And Dad’s hardware store has probably been driven out of business by Home Depot by now. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/79 "2016-03-15T16:27:13Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > But a culture does not suddenly develop a new pathology for no reason – and whatever is killing off working-class white Americans **is** new. I’m not sure that drinking and playing with guns is new to working class whites. Are whites actually dying faster than they did before, or have they fallen behind because minorities have advanced in terms of qualify of life? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2016, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708/80 "2016-03-15T16:28:25Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Those **are** great expectations – specifically, the expectation that one can earn enough that way to support a middle-class standard of living; which was possible from the '50s through the '70s, but no longer, and that is what is disappointed. And Dad’s hardware store has probably been driven out of business by Home Depot by now. That’s a pretty mild expectation, but we do agree that various factors have made those assumptions a lot less safe than they once were. Globalization, immigration, and automation are changing everything. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-rise-of-white-people-as-a-demographic/748708.md?page=5)