JuanPa@jpbrammer

So I'm a Mexican American from a poor, rural (mostly white) town in Oklahoma. Missing from this debate? How poor whites see themselves.

Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:51:47

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799686559901454336

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:51:47

JuanPa@jpbrammer

If you're wondering how poor, exploited white people could vote for a dude with a golden elevator who will fuck them over, here's how.

Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:52:37

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799686769457381377

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:52:37

JuanPa@jpbrammer

They don't see themselves as poor. They don't base their identity on it. They see themselves as "temporarily embarrassed millionaires."

Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:53:21

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799686953528594432

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:53:21

JuanPa@jpbrammer

The stigma against poverty is incredibly strong. It is shameful to be poor, to not have the comforts of the middle class. So they pretend--

Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:53:52

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799687083677741056

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:53:52

JuanPa@jpbrammer

That they aren't poor. They are willing to lie to make it seem like they aren't poor. They purchase things to make it seem like they're not.

Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:54:30

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799687242914660352

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:54:30

JuanPa@jpbrammer

In my town, wealth wasn't associated with greed, but with hard work and inherent goodness. You are blessed if you have material wealth.

Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:54:54

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799687343959580672

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:54:54

JuanPa@jpbrammer

When they see Trump, they don't see an extortionist who is rich because of the very conditions that keep their own communities in poverty.

Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:55:35

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799687514676228096

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:55:35

JuanPa@jpbrammer

They see someone who worked hard and was justly rewarded with wealth. Most men, especially, think they too could be Trump were it not for

Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:56:18

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799687693294673920

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:56:18

JuanPa@jpbrammer

the unfair obstacles put in their way. White men who don't consider themselves successful enough have so many excuses for their "failures."

Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:57:11

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799687917807501312

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:57:11

JuanPa@jpbrammer

The idea that immigrants are the reason they are poor and not wealthy like Trump is so appealing. It takes all the shame and blame away.

Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:57:41

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799688041677946884

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:57:41

JuanPa@jpbrammer

And here we have a man who, they think, "tells it like it is" and is willing to name the things stealing prosperity out of their hands.

Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:58:28

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799688241293078528

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:58:28

JuanPa@jpbrammer

If these people saw themselves as an exploited class of people, if American culture didn't stigmatize poverty so much, it might be different

Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:59:12

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799688425913786368

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:59:12

JuanPa@jpbrammer

But America has so entangled wealth with goodness and poverty with moral deficiency that they can't build that identity. They won't.

Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:59:50

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799688583015763969

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 18:59:50

JuanPa@jpbrammer

Trump is rich, and so according to American criteria, he is also: 1. Wise 2. Fair 3. Moral 4. Deserving 5. Strong 6. Clever He *has* to be.

Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:00:53

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799688847789608960

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:00:53

JuanPa@jpbrammer

Capitalism and the American Dream teach that poverty is a temporary state that can be transcended with hard work and cleverness.

Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:03:18

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799689455900573696

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:03:18

JuanPa@jpbrammer

To fail to transcend poverty, and to admit you are poor, is to admit you are neither hardworking or clever. It's cultural brainwashing.

Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:03:58

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799689622724997120

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:03:58

JuanPa@jpbrammer

So if an exploited class of people don't want to admit they're exploited and they blame themselves for their oppression, what manifests?

Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:04:37

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799689785656967169

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:04:37

JuanPa@jpbrammer

Xenophobia. Hatred of anyone who is "different," queer people, people of color. These people are eroding the "goodness" of America.

Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:05:07

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799689913688059905

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:05:07

JuanPa@jpbrammer

And if they would just stop ruining America, then the perfect design of America could work again and deliver prosperity.

Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:05:36

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799690035457101824

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:05:36

JuanPa@jpbrammer

I'm telling you, as someone who has spent almost his entire life in this environment, that if you think cities are a "bubble..." Good God.

Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:06:28

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799690254345269248

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:06:28

JuanPa@jpbrammer

But the reality is, of course, that these people are indeed exploited and they are victims, even while they victimize others. Victimize us.

Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:07:01

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799690391620460544

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:07:01

JuanPa@jpbrammer

How you balance those realities, and what conclusions you reach to improve the lives of both, well, I'm not smart enough to have the answer.

Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:07:31

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799690519190310912

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:07:31

JuanPa@jpbrammer

Still, we need to understand the identity working class white people have built for themselves, one diametrically opposed to, well, reality.

Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:08:54

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799690865488920576

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:08:54

JuanPa@jpbrammer

Because Trump won't make them rich. Even if he deports all the brown people. It won't bring them what they're hoping for.

Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:09:26

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https://twitter.com/jpbrammer/status/799690999568089088

— JuanPa (@jpbrammer)Fri, Nov 18 2016 19:09:26