I agree with your larger point but it's silly to blame "academia" rather than larger cultural characteristics of American culture. Many of the articles I have read about the white lower middle class is they do not view themselves objectively from a class point of view so much as they feel an emotional affinity with their racial or gender group.  Frequently, they don't see themselves as poor even when they actually are. Rather they view themselves as temporarily "down on their luck" and look up to the rich (Trump-like figures) as role models even though in reality they have almost no chance of emulating them, their lifestyles or wealth especially in the absence of an education. The white lower middle class men (especially) seem to view educated women (like Hillary Clinton or professional women) with disdain. 
Class isn't as cogent in America not because of elitism in academia (which of course exists) but rather because Americans eschew class comparisons and the very idea of equality.