Reagan declared, “Let’s make America great again,” and the majority of white America got in line. The consolidation of a new age, in which a certain conservative economic and political philosophy would dominate the imagination of the country for decades, was fast coming to seem like common sense. Small government, marked by the dismantling of the so-called welfare state, deregulation, privatization, being tough on crime, tax cuts for the wealthy, and a strong military were features of this view. The culture wars gave it all added fuel. Meanwhile, the modest gains of the black middle class and
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