LBJ capsulized it best to a young Bill Moyers in 1964:

"I'll tell you what it comes down to. If you can convince the lowest white man he's better than the best colored man, he won't notice you're picking his pocket. Hell, give him someone to look down on and he'll empty his pockets for you."

In 2008 and 2012, we elected one of the best 'colored' men. In 2016, we 'elected' one of the lowest white men imaginable! And many Trump voters were of above-average income, but I guess they still think and act like 'poor whites; who will DIE rather than give up the phantom and counter-productive 'wages of whiteness'.