Working America is widely known for its work in white, working-class communities, often in the suburbs and exurbs of swing states. In recent years, we have engaged working-class communities of color as well—on issues and in elections. In a political environment in which proponents of ugly rhetoric and race baiting are encouraging division, we wanted to know whether there was an opportunity to bridge the interests of the diverse communities where we do our work around a common agenda.
Over a one-week span in mid-April, we held 834 face-to-face conversations: 474 with mostly white, working-class people in the suburbs of Pittsburgh and 360 with mostly black, working-class people in Philadelphia. We asked about the issues that mattered to them, the impact of the economic downturn over the past seven to eight years on their lives, where they placed the blame for any economic damage they suffered and whom they were likely to support in the upcoming election.
As in Working America’s previous inquiry on the Donald Trump phenomenon and the impact of right-wing rhetoric, we focused on likely voters with household incomes below $75,000. More than half were women. And, as was true earlier in the year, we discovered a complex landscape, rife with confusion and contradictions. However, our conversations also revealed that, when it comes to economic issues, there is substantial consensus on three fronts:
- Working people are far more concerned about good jobs and a fair economy than they are about any other issues.
- There is a widely shared belief that politicians and government, followed by Wall Street and corporate interests, bear the brunt of the blame for the ills of the economy and the country
- More than two-thirds agree that there is an ongoing effort by corporate-backed politicians to pit working people against one another across fault lines, and solid majorities of both black and white communities believe that working people should stick together to combat that negative influence instead of blaming each other
While there is no simple narrative, there are some significant insights that show where we can begin a conversation that bridges the interests of most working-class people, regardless of their race or which neighborhood they call home.