This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
CNN: Both wrote about the complicated realities underlying the notion of the “forgotten” white working class. What does the attack on the United States Capitol tell us about the dangers of this stereotype?
Instead of becoming the dominant conversation, the insurrection has taken the history of successful progressive organization out of our political discussions, once again centering this toxic white supremacist identity and ideology. This is dangerous not only because the insurrection was physically dangerous for people on the Capitol. It also lessens attention to the reality that it would not be so difficult to reproduce what happened in Georgia in progressive communities across the South and in the red states in general.
This type of coverage means that we end exactly where we started, with the idea that this moment was given to us by poor whites from the countryside. These stories erase the complicity of upper-middle-class whites and reveal the tendency to turn up their noses at any nuanced portrait of the complicated issues of race, class and power that are really at stake here.
The monolithic and narrative redneck narrative sucks the life from work, from organizational spaces and even from the imagination of progressive people in the Appalachians. Sophisticated magazines speak of experts claiming that bad things are happening to our democracy because pockets of “white trash” people across the country are behaving in an anti-social way. This is simply not the case.
Hampton: Another really big danger is when whites say, “This is not who we are.” It is who we are. It has always been who we are. Elizabeth speaks in her book about the cheap stereotypes of the Scottish-Irish tradition in the Appalachians, designed to satisfy an “incredibly unhistorical … explorer …” fetish of the bourgeoisie. One of the dangers of these myths is that they allow the more gentle White toxicity to feel better about itself. This narrative, as she writes, “frees the white observer from the fatigue of thinking critically about race”.
When you talk about who makes a profit, you also have to think about how this country glorifies work – particularly the heavy physical work done by white men. We are the only country that thinks it is legal to work 60 hours a week, especially if you are white. This is culturally inserted. Meanwhile, the bourgeoisie put on the mask of the working class. I just want to point out that January 6th was a Wednesday. I don’t know anyone who could take a Wednesday off work to fly to Washington for an insurrection!
Many people on Capitol wore very expensive camouflage clothing. Parked on the National Mall were many shiny pickup trucks that had never seen dirt.
This masking is very dangerous and worries me, because it wipes out the people who really do most of the work in this country, while focusing on a very narrow and heteronormative view of masculinity. This makes it very easy for all good-hearted liberals to disregard rural spaces and say, “Well, that’s where meat comes from; I don’t eat meat.” I think that economic interests are linked to this heteronormative sense of the old school of masculinity, and that more capitalism equals profit.
Catte: The tendency to blame rural places arises because Appalachia is not really powerful. A state like West Virginia has only five votes in the electoral college. The fact is that Appalachia and other rural places tell a story that capitalism is very fond of: that some people are willing to die for their work. We have always had this pseudo-patriotic notion of sacrifice. He served in the military and now we extend it to the police and first aid. But there is also a brutal story going on in rural areas, especially with an extractive economy.
About two years ago, there was a resurgence in the Appalachians of a particularly aggressive form of black lung disease. Reporters interviewed people who were suffering and asked, “Knowing what you know now, would you still be working in a coal mine?” They wanted people to say yes. And people often said yes because that job gave them the chance to support their families. What they never ask these individuals is, “If you could live in a world where coal did not exist, would you like to live in that world?”
In this country, it seems that we have a morbid need to find examples of people who happily sacrifice themselves for work. And, of course, the most valued lives in this country are those of white men. The magic of the meeting of these two forces creates a very powerful story.
Hampton: Part of how you create this unity is unifying an activist, a voting force that is greater than the plurality of white supremacists active in this country. We need to increase the participation of the vast majority of the country’s population who, according to research, do not agree with what happened on Capitol Hill.
In practical terms, we need to make sure that the census is counted correctly and that progressive rural organizations are funded and guaranteed access. In terms of emancipation, we need to approve voting projects at the national and state levels. We need to pay less attention to the complaints of white supremacists and instead dispel myths that these complaints have no basis in reality.
Catte: The idea that we can push a button and be unified is absolutely ridiculous. This job is difficult. We need a reorientation of perspective that helps us to see through the expeditious narratives that are so often sold to us. We need people with large platforms to listen more actively and examine energy systems. Consider what workers are trying to say to you versus what bosses are trying to say to you.