Wilson argued that the fragmentation of the middle and working class along racial lines leaves them powerless to support policies that benefit their class interests. During times of anxiety, he noted, individuals are susceptible to simplistic explanations for difficult circumstances. This often involves blaming the minority poor. Wilson argued that middle, working, and lower class Americans have many commonalities that are generally overlooked due to the politics of race that pervades public dialogue in this country. These include the importance of work, family, law enforcement, civic involvement, and self-sufficiency.
Views also converge across race regarding such issues as drug and crime policies.
In spite of substantial within-class similarities, the racial divide remains. To bridge this divide, Wilson proposes identifying common goals toward which middle and working-class Americans from both races can work. Social psychological research, he noted, demonstrates that people positively change their attitudes and behaviors toward one another when they believe they need one another to achieve some goal. He argued that we need to modify our social change strategies to rely on cooperation instead competition. The current primacy of competition between races and ethnic groups hurts the working and middle classes by preventing them from addressing the real causes of their economic difficulties.