Yes, I was at a racism/classism workshop, and this was discussed from the viewpoint of the blue-collar workers' experience. There were a lot of close friends in the south, across the "barriers," and the racism was played up by mill owners to avoid union solidarity.

I can see how music and shared hard times may well have been some of the key ingredients in the glue that was stronger than the pull of racism. And it is one reason I insist that real people relating on real things tend to step past "barriers" just as quick as they can find a way to do it. *G*

~Susan