it's really all about displaced rage and the need to look down on SOMEONE when times are hard. in this case, it's looking down on LAZY POORS LOOKING FOR HANDOUTS, which, thanks to the fact that many minorities are poor, often appears as racism (or is indeed actual racism).
american exceptionalism causes the strange refusal by the lower classes to accept that THEY ARE THE ONES BEING SHAT UPON. instead of raging against the shitters, they prefer to pretend that they themselves are in some sort of shitting position, although, as we've seen, it's getting harder to ignore the stench