Why draw a distinction between the working class and the white working class?

[Garrett78]

20. And we all know this. A white backlash has been building, as it has throughout US history,...

...in response to any racial progress. As Jamelle Bouie wrote of the unknown number of Obama voters who went for Trump, "Trump gave them a choice between multiracial democracy and white primacy."

So, how does the Democratic Party appeal to that segment of working class whites w/out alienating the base? A Democratic Party base that cares about jobs, wages, labor standards, trade, etc. And votes for Democratic Party candidates, who already speak more about those issues than anything else. Including Clinton.

Now, I don't mean to suggest that there's nothing the Democratic Party can do to produce more Democrats (including, possibly, some who voted for Trump and were influenced by 25+ years of attacks against Clinton). I think there are measures the Democratic Party should take, and one is to stop contributing to the false "working class whites/economic messaging" narrative.

As I've written elsewhere, I think more outreach to rural areas (where there are Democrats, not all of whom are white), particularly in purple/battleground states, is important. That's something Obama did more of than Clinton did. *Note: More outreach is not synonymous with changing the message.

I think Democrats must find a way to engage some of the disengaged. 40% don't vote in presidential elections. 60% don't vote in mid-term elections. Some of that is due to voter suppression but most is not.

I think it's important to talk more (in the media) about the divide and conquer tactics, even if it doesn't win over Trump voters. Meaning, among other things, Democrats go on the air to point out the problem with drawing a distinction between the working class and working class whites. Call out the dog whistling that's behind that distinction, and call out the media (generally) for contributing to it. It's important because persons of color need to know they aren't taken for granted, and because young progressives (some of whom haven't voted before or voted Green) need to know the Democratic Party is well aware of those tactics. Democrats (and potential party members) need to know the Democratic Party isn't going to abandon them in favor of some misguided attempt to appeal to the targets of dog whistling.

Democrats need to promote media literacy and critical thinking in schools and elsewhere (while also calling out the media for promoting false equivalencies). The number of people subscribing to patently false beliefs has gone well beyond the danger zone.

Democrats need to talk openly and often about voter suppression, as well as the unconstitutionality of racialized gerrymandering.

And Democrats, as a whole, do need to talk more about the undue influence of multinational corporations. Money's influence on election results has been vastly overstated, but there's no doubt Big Money (Big Pharma, Big Ag, Big Prisons, the weapons industry, etc.) influences policy. Also, elected officials should be forbidden from pushing legislation they would profit from (something members of both parties are guilty of, such as Harry Reid profiting off of Nevada land deals made possible via legislation).