Discussing social class is so incendiary in America specifically because Americans have convinced themselves for a long time that they only have economic classe

Discussing social class is so incendiary in America specifically because Americans have convinced themselves for a long time that they only have economic classes and no social classes. Discussing social class therefore became a taboo, as it breaches the polite fiction that America is a classless society. I call it a polite fiction because if you pay attention there are tons of ways that Americans find a way to separate social class from economic class (e.g. “money can’t buy taste” as a way to dismiss someone as being low class and rich). Of course, like any way to divide up people there is ample opportunity for harmful and mean stereotypes. But I don’t think that alone is why discussing class is so explosive in America.