In his essay (America is plagued by experts without expertise, 21 April), Michael Massing casts me as a carrier of the epidemic. Massing, who must be an expert in who is inexpert, includes me among the know-littles because of some thoughts I offered on a television show. The thoughts were about the psyche of white working-class resentment in the United States – and, specifically, about how people in that social milieu often deplore what they decry as identity politics while also craving identity politics for themselves. While I am inexpert in many things, I ventured those particular thoughts after writing a book on the subject. The book, The True American, is a substantial investigation of the white anger that I was speaking of on TV, its origins, and its consequences. If Mr Massing wants to condemn my lack of expertise, he should try my Indian cooking. But until he has spent as much time as I have sitting face to face with people who hate me, trying to understand why for the sake of my country’s future, tell him to find another expertise besides identifying non-experts.

Anand Giridharadas

Brooklyn, New York, USA

• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com

• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters