I have no specific affinity for the white working class and have very little exposure to them.
But my brown family doesn't want their community to change.
They own guns and drive pick ups.
They survive on fracking, logging, and mining.
They don't want to learn how to code.

My brown family doesn't read in their spare time and they're guilty of casual prejudice and homophobia, out of ignorance rather than malice.
They believe in traditional gender roles and attend church weekly.
My brown family opposes almost any immigration from Latin America.

My brown family has been devastated by opioids - both prescription and cartel-supplied.
My brown family is outraged by the crime epidemic perpetrated by our brown community members, and speak about it often and honestly. So do the brown families in our community.

So while I lean left, I've been somewhat radicalized over the last four years by incessant attacks on that white working class I have so little exposure to because I recognize that the disdain is for everything my brown family stands for, and all that shields us is skin color.

When I watch WWII documentaries, it strikes me how warped our national narrative has become.
These communities sent their sons to die in wars that had nothing to do with them.
Now we abandon their sons to opioids and despair, denigrate their claim to have any identity.

We accuse them of holding unearned privilege. Deny the incredible sacrifices they made.
The narrative is familiar to me because it's been weaponized against my brown family.
That won't be fixed by committing the same wrong in reverse.
I want progress - not retribution.