All errors are not on one side.    Outright resentment of higher levels of education is not unusual in any society.    
The purges of Stalin and Mao took outo the educated professionals first.    
An educated black man could only be protrayed with a bone in his nose by at least some of those who's 'real' lives include high levels of bigotry.  (please note, I'm not saying race was a factor for all Obama haters, maybe they just didn't like him being so smart and uppity.)

We would not have a United States of America without the leadership of elite men, (wealthy and educated), men who understood the challenges, the gifts, the weaknesses of those wtih elite power worldwide.  Jefferson would be the poster boy for the 'elite' although he was hardly alone as a cornerstone of the developing political movement in the American colonies.     Elite can also be a very positive attribute.    

I like your comments, just a caution against stereotyping character types, including the elite.