While reports are surfacing that Palin told a group of African-Americans that she did not have to hire black people, working-class white women often understand their own experience in terms of racial hostility. They perceive an underclass that they believe receives benefits denied to them and a thriving economy in the developing world that siphons off well-paying blue-collar jobs.
种族也是一个因素。尽管有报道揭露佩林曾对一群非洲裔美国人说她并不是必须要雇佣黑人，工人阶级白人女性在种族敌视上常常理解她们自身的经历。她们认为有一个底层阶级获得了她们所无法获得的利益，并且发展中国家蓬勃发展的经济夺去了工资很高的蓝领阶层的工作。