Fact checking

In 2016, two books Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance and Strangers in their Own Land by Arlie Hochschild were said to “explain” the election results. Many pundits have revisited Vance’s book since his nomination as the Republican candidate for Vice President, looking for clues to his current views. The website Mayday has just published a piece I wrote about the Afterward Hochschild attached to the paperback edition of her book, which clarifies that the deep story of her white interview subjects in Louisiana was not supported by facts. Unfortunately, this clarification came a year after the 2016 election, and it seems possible that many people were misled by Hochschild’s sympathetic portrayal of the emotions of her subjects. They feel that they have fallen behind blacks, but by every measure—wealth, education, health, income— whites in Louisiana are more fortunate than blacks. Mayday