It’s long past time we give working class people the credit that they deserve by openly and honestly discussing what the invention and perpetuation of whiteness and patriarchy have done to us as individuals and as a society.

Bacon’s Rebellion was a coordinated uprising by a diverse group of working class settlers against the rule of the elites in the Virginia Colony in the late 17th century, and it set in motion a distinct pattern of American politics that continues to this day.

Until we collectively understand and deal with that, we’ll continue to be stuck in an ongoing loop where we, the people, as Heather McGhee says, can’t have nice things.  

For far too long, we’ve ignored what black and brown leaders and community members have been telling us. We cannot promote a race neutral narrative and expect that economic conditions will improve for any but a select few.  Economic inequity and racial inequity are fundamentally and purposefully linked.