I saw little evidence that the white steelworkers I followed at Rexnord were any more racist than college-educated professionals on the East Coast. In fact, they lived far more racially integrated lives than the lawyers, investment bankers, and journalists I knew. They labored side by side with blacks and Asians on the assembly lines. They bowled together on Tuesday nights. They went to casinos and Colts games and on fishing trips together. I counted at least two interracial romances on the factory floor. About 40 percent of the workers in the factory were black, according to estimates of
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