The average reactionary will indignantly deny he’s a racist. He gets along fine with black people, he will tell you. He may even have a black friend or two. He just hates the bad ones: the lazy ones who lounge in the hammock of dependency, pick his pocket, and scream about being the victims of discrimination. He’s the victim here! He’s a hard working real American, but does he get any credit for it? No! The government just takes the little money he has and gives lazy people who don’t deserve it cuts in line through massive affirmative action programs. Then they riot and loot when they can’t get their way! That’s what he just can’t stand.
Now, multiply this profile by about a hundred million, and imagine trying to sell what amounts to a supercharged version of affirmative action to the electorate. Try telling this guy he has white privilege, and should feel guilty for it. He’s more likely to use his cherished Second Amendment rights on you than to agree with you.