This isn’t a new thing either. After the Civil War, poor newly freed black people starting joining up with poor white people to demand better wages. They started to become an actual threat to The Powers That Be. (Read: Wealthy White Men.)

The reaction? The wealthy white men stoked racism (which was already there) and encouraged it to grow. This splintered the white-black alliance and hobbled their quest for more rights. Instead of a united front against the people actually making their lives miserable, poor white people attacked black people and black people had to defend themselves against poor white mobs.