Malik blogs:
I think the analogy of the house negro and the field negro is better applied to the relationship between poor Black folks and poor white folks than to the relationship between poor Black folks and “Black conservatives”. Poor white folks are the ultimate house negros. They are only marginally better off than poor Black folks (the “overwhelming advantage” is a well-maintained illusion), but because they inhabit the same psychological house as their rich white masters, and get a few extra favors, they wholly identify with their masters. Think about it.
I think this is just another packaging of the old game of pit the have-not-much against the have-even-less in the hope that nobody will notice the have-too-much-but-still-want-more. There are more such packagings than there are Milton Bradley versions of parcheesi. Sadly, the game usually works.