On September 30, I’ll be publishing a “white bonus” analysis of JD Vance with the good folks at Reckon.
I have been deeply unsettled by major media’s willingness to repeat the myth that JD Vance comes from rural poverty. Like me, he was really a suburban Rust Belt kid with a sick mom and abusive childhood. And, also like me, he got a lot of help from the fact that he was white.
I chart out my own advances in The White Bonus, tying my personal history to the social, economic, and political advantages that this country gave—or let private industry give—to whites.
Now I’m using that same method to take a look at JD Vance.
In the piece, I:
- Track down a racist covenant on the Vance family home in Ohio archives, document how racism in the steel industry helped Vance’s grandfather be financially stable, and tie them to Vance’s inheritance from his grandmother (which put him, at age 21, in the top one-third of American wealth transfers);
- Run the numbers on racism in publishing, Vance’s book sales — 2.1 million to date, 600k of which is since his VP nomination — and the royalties we know he’s received;
- Chart out Vance’s $4.3 million (minimum) in reported personal assets after venture capitalist Peter Thiel opened doors to Silicon Valley—and ushered Vance into an industry that’s 55% white, compared to 35% of Silicon Valley;
- Compare Thiel’s $15.4 million donation to Vance to his other donations: 95% of Thiel’s political donations go to white candidates—and those white candidates averaged triple the support Thiel gave to Black candidates.
Voters have a right to understand who they are being asked to consider for office—and our national media has faltered, badly, in sharing an accurate portrait of JD Vance.
When we let candidates lie to voters about their background, we are setting ourselves—and our democracy—up to be conned.
When we let ourselves believe that a white kid with a dysfunctional family is facing the same oppression as a Black kid—dysfunctional family or no—we make it nearly impossible for our democracy to address the problems either kid faces.
I hope you’ll read, and share, the story. I’ll be posting about it on Instagram and Twitter/X, and would love your help in spreading the word.
