In a recent commencement address to the 2016 class of Howard University, President Obama insisted that the United States "is a better place today" than when he graduated from college more than 30 years ago. This is unarguably true. But I think some white men, particularly of the ilk supporting Trump, think that their identity group is worse off as a whole -- that it was indeed better to be a straight white man in the 1910s or 1950s. This is, of course, objectively absurd from an economic perspective but as Matt Bruenig has written, many white men feel that gender and racial hierarchies provide them with a social benefit. Social caste is all about relative ranking. And for a number of those white men, any notion of equality for women or minorities is plainly a demotion over the past.
-- Sally Kohn, "Trump maxing out his 'man card'"
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