Except that "economic struggle" is often used as a cover for racist attitudes.
I'd be interested in your further thoughts on this statement because I don't understand it. I see economic struggle and racism as two different things, that I guess can overlap, but "often used as a cover"? I don't understand what you mean.
As for the article, thanks for the link, I find it's similar to what's been said about the show since it returned - people who hated everything about it before it even started continued to do so (often without even watching it, or watching it selectively), and people who had some positive memory of its first incarnation liked the idea, and continued to like it.
This article shows a clear bias toward the former - never liked it, never would - with its odd references and edited-to-make-a-point examples. When was the show ever "kitschy"? When was it celebrated for uplifting the views of real America, because I remember it more then, and now, as baring them. And yeah, it's a white working class family, but there were always characters on the show who did not fit that description, more so in the reboot.
There was an episode when Roseanne and other members of the family were fearful of their Muslim neighbours, but by the end of the half hour, they had got to know them and Roseanne herself was actively advocating for one of them, giving a serious dressing down to a racist character that held the views that she had realized (on the show at least) were unfounded, unfair and just wrong.
Similarly, there was reference to illegals, and no it did not refer to all immigrants, it referred to illegal immigrants. The people who are undocumented and working for less money than those Americans - immigrants among them - who work legally and must be paid fairly. It was about a man who spent his life working honourably - often in partnership with a black coworker and long time friend, a recurring character from the original show - and was losing jobs because other people were undercutting him by paying lower wages to illegal immigrants who sadly are desperate enough for work that they will do it for less than fair pay.
In the end I think ABC did the right thing, and I think the swiftness and decisiveness of their actions, based not just on this one tweet but a history of issues with Roseanne the person not the character, and on what we now know was a growing discomfort among cast and crew, is an important example for others, and a positive sign for the future. It was never said or implied that these illegals were the problem - it was the people who took advantage of their desperation and used it to undercut their competition.
That being said, the divisiveness that this show has created, with everyone in their corners so firm in their beliefs that they only see what they want to see and disregard what they don't want to hear, which mirrors America today, is terrifying.
