White Trash: Race and Class in America

White Trash: Race and Class in America

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They were human waste, trash -- at best, compost to support worthier people. Poor whites had formed a kind of slave class in the early years of the colonies, before Africans largely displaced them.

They weren't even considered much use. Their children were malnourished and sick. Today we would call them stunted, kept from full physical and intellectual growth by lack of food. The idea of being "equal" to such people was unthinkable to middle class and landowning colonists. In an economy based on farming, they thought of poor whites and blacks as livestock. But while you could selectively breed good horses to produce thoroughbreds, you couldn't breed a thoroughbred out of a sick donkey.

A "gentleman of breeding" was innately superior to most people, and such gentlemen sought wives from "good families" to ensure the continued superiority of future generations. Women of all classes and races were considered breeders, whose duty was to produce as many children as possible. Black women would breed more slaves. Poor whites would breed more pioneers, to drive Aboriginal people further west and clear the land for the real masters and their numerous superior children. The Founding Fathers believed in class and race divisions as sincerely as anyone.

Equally sincerely, they believed their own class had been bred to rule; "democracy" was a dirty word. Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the American colonies' Declaration of Independence, supported a vague ideal of "yeomen" farmers, free whites who would support their families on their own land, fight the wars of the ruling class, but never challenge their rulers. The reality, of course, was a handful of great landowners employing a landless class of poor whites, and not a yeoman in sight. The great 18th century criticism of slavery was that it undercut poor whites' willingness to do the same work done by slaves.

The concept of inbred superiority and inferiority persisted through the 19th century, through waves of immigration, a civil war, expansion to the Pacific and rapid technological change. Democracy only seemed to prove the concept: And inbred superiority is clearly at the heart of American and Canadian dynastic politics: Southern slave owners faced their own "white trash" problem when they seceded from the Union to protect their "peculiar institution.

The Confederate government even offered a tax break for first-time slave purchasers, to give poor whites a stake in the struggle. Unsurprisingly, many American whites were early adopters of Darwinian evolution, which they saw as survival of the fittest. They also liked the idea of the Anglo-Saxons as the fittest of them all, destined to rule over everyone else. Educated whites therefore welcomed the idea of eugenics, the idea of breeding the best and brightest.

News travels fast

Supreme Court liked the idea, and eugenics laws remained on the books in the U. The Depression in some ways saved the poor whites of the south. Once saved, though, they rejected the idea of Big Government. The New Deal brought in projects like the Tennessee Valley Authority, which provided thousands of jobs and rural electrification. They continued to vote for entertaining demagogues like Huey Long, but at least they were entering the mainstream as something more than hillbillies.

A key weakness of Isenberg's book is that she fails to explain how poor whites made the transition from the Depression to a postwar America in which they became a major political and economic factor. Perhaps the war itself, and continuing postwar prosperity, sustained poor whites, exposing them to more education and opportunities than their parents had ever seen.

Whatever the reasons, their success was clear.

White trash : race and class in America

They had political clout, supporting segregationist governors and migrating from the Democrats to Nixon's Republicans after Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. They also migrated from the south and midwest to California and the southwest. Their entertainers, from Elvis to Dolly Parton on down, were international stars.

So did authors like Harper Lee. As Isenberg notes, poor whites were able "to refashion the redneck and embrace white trash as an authentic heritage. Then came Sarah Palin, and now Donald Trump. But these were all exceptions.

Most poor whites settled for regular blue-collar jobs. When the economy became stagnant in the s, they saw their real incomes stagnate also -- assuming their jobs didn't move to Mexico or China. They found themselves competing for jobs with black people. The title is misleading as it's not just about white people.

And it isn't so much about what life was like for poor people, it's about attitudes of the middle class and upper class toward working class and poor people. You will not like the book if you don't like history and are content with the simple American history 'stories' learned in the elementary school years. Given the election A thorough social history of class in America, starting with the European settlers up to the present day.

Given the election results it is very timely and sheds some light on the "whys" and "how did this happen.

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Dec 29, Tawnya rated it did not like it. This book is written by people who have never lived outside a suburb. I couldn't make it past the first condescending chapter. Jan 24, Pat rated it liked it Shelves: Enlightening, and ultimately depressing, history and background of the foundations of class and society 's haves and have nots from the earliest days of the founding of the US.

From the slaves and indentured servants from early colonial days to the English aristocracy's belief that the vast spaces in North America would be the appropriate dumping ground for England's poor and criminals, who would also provide an expendable resource to clear and settle the wilderness. Sep 24, Amy rated it liked it. Nov 16, Alessandra marked it as to-read Shelves: An interesting collection of essays about the cultural construct of "white trash" and the disdain that society holds for people placed in that category, largely stemming from the fact that "white trash" defies concepts of racial norms and boundaries by overriding them with the realities of class and economic struggle in the U.

There were several points made throughout the book that I found to be particularly interesting An interesting collection of essays about the cultural construct of "white trash" and the disdain that society holds for people placed in that category, largely stemming from the fact that "white trash" defies concepts of racial norms and boundaries by overriding them with the realities of class and economic struggle in the U.

There were several points made throughout the book that I found to be particularly interesting and important: Oct 22, EinsteinShrugged rated it liked it Shelves: Sometimes I think books like this take a relatively simple subject and set about making it as complicated as possible.

'White Trash': A Chronicle of Deaths Foretold

This collection of essays on White Trash is no different does exactly that in a lot of ways but, still, it's pretty fun reading if you genuinely enjoy the White Trash culture. The essays cover everything from White Trash economics to how it has influenced the world of mainstream pornography.

Some of the essays are pretty dense and read like the university level term papers they a Sometimes I think books like this take a relatively simple subject and set about making it as complicated as possible. Some of the essays are pretty dense and read like the university level term papers they are.

Others have a lot more humanity and definitely redeem the collection overall. Probably the most high brow book I've ever read about low brow people. Jun 29, Will Shetterly rated it liked it. I wanted to love this book, because my obsessions are class and race. There are great bits here, and if you're interested in the subject, it's worth reading, but most of the writers seem like academics who are more interested in racial theory than class reality.

If the subject interests you--and it should--read Jim Goad's Redneck Manifesto too. Alice Berry rated it really liked it Aug 10, MSingh rated it it was amazing Sep 15, Vera rated it really liked it Dec 03, Maureen Marshall rated it really liked it Aug 02, Heather rated it it was amazing Apr 18, Lobna rated it liked it Jan 18, Jessica Scott rated it really liked it Jul 23, Josh rated it liked it Jan 25, Jared rated it liked it Nov 16, Mercedes Hazard rated it it was amazing Jul 18, Zach Tingley rated it really liked it Jan 14, Warren Ables rated it liked it Apr 04, Jack rated it really liked it Jan 05, Jenn rated it really liked it Feb 12, Lauren rated it really liked it Jun 11, Daniel rated it it was amazing Sep 05, Marc Bryant rated it liked it Jan 02, There are no discussion topics on this book yet.

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