Introduction

In White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America, Nancy Isenberg documents the historical and contemporary disdain of the upper and middle classes in America for the white poor and the resultant staying power of a class hierarchy. Isenberg, an award-winning historian, uses her expertise to contribute this non-fictional work to the academic literature on social class. Originally published in 2016, the book became a New York Times bestseller and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the Anthony Lukas Book Prize for Nonfiction, and the John Kenneth Galbraith Award for PEN America.

All quotations and references in this guide are from the 2017 Penguin Books paperback edition.

Content warning: Several derogatory terms for the white underclass, such as white trash, are included in the guide, as Isenberg chronicles the discriminatory attitudes towards poor white people.

Summary

Challenging the traditional narrative of early settlers coming to America solely for religious freedom, Isenberg explains that America was initially a place to send the unwanted of England. More specifically, the upper classes sought to expel the poor of London, called waste people, to the “wasteland” of America. Repeatedly, Isenberg emphasizes the identification of types of people with types of land. The poor were consigned to swampy, sandy, and otherwise problematic lands. In the Americas, these poor immigrants, many of whom were indentured servants, worked under difficult conditions. Many were worked to death, as the upper classes considered them expendable. Later in American history, the poor would be expelled to the frontier and other areas that the wealthy deemed undesirable.

Although American ideals such as equality of opportunity are touted, there is an entrenched class structure in the US. Isenberg cites Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, and Benjamin Franklin, the author of Poor Richard’s Almanack, as proof of bias against the very poor. Jefferson hoped for a natural aristocracy that positioned the most talented people in power. Even though he wanted poor white boys to have an opportunity to demonstrate talent, he assumed that most members of this class were rubbish. Franklin asserted the existence of a bottom layer of people, a mean sort, who should not be included in politics and were not industrious. In early America, those without land could not vote or hold office. They did not have rights. As the country expanded westward, the settlers on the frontier came from this white underclass. Most were squatters and described negatively as dirty, lazy, and violent. Andrew Jackson, who was the first President from the west, embodied some of these stereotypes. He was beloved among the white underclass because of that image. However, he did nothing to further the interests of the poor. Isenberg explains that Americans too often settle for a democracy of manners in which leaders act like the poor but do not seek to help this class.

When the issue of slavery divided the nation and led to the Civil War, the relationship between racism and classism became exposed. Both sides in the Civil War used insulting terms to refer to the white working class. However, the Northern leaders embraced the derogatory term “mudsills” for its working class and celebrated mudsill democracy. At that time, the white underclass came to be associated with rural areas in the South. In the aftermath of the Civil War, Northerners were shocked at the impoverishment of the South’s white poor residents. While there was some hope of helping this class improve initially, such hopes were abandoned when the Southern gentry returned to power in the aftermath of Reconstruction. Any poor white person who tried to raise issues of class and racial justice was vilified.

By the beginning of the 20th century, there was widespread belief in the inheritance of intelligence and other positive traits. Figures such as President Theodore Roosevelt recommended that the wealthier classes breed and the “undesirables,” namely the poor, be sterilized for the good of society. Class was believed to be an inherited status. When the Great Depression hit in 1929, it exposed the exploitation of Black people and white poor people in the South. The Roosevelt Administration attempted to help the rural poor of the South but was often stymied in those efforts by wealthy Southern administrators and politicians. For example, farm workers were exempted from the Social Security program. There were some attempts to change the stereotypical views of poor white people at that time, but they attained limited success. After World War II, icons such as Elvis Presley emerged from the white lower class onto the scene of popular culture and won over fans. However, even those who made it out of that class never truly escaped their roots and association with the negative stereotypes. Political leaders such as Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ), who came from a lower-income family in Texas, were not accepted into the Washington elite despite their efforts to eradicate poverty and further civil rights.

The negative stereotypes of poor, Southern white people were reinforced in popular culture. While books and journals earlier contained negative images of this group, television shows and movies in the 1960s and beyond amplified the stereotype through their popular reach. Late in the 20th century, those in this class attempted to celebrate their identity and embrace their culture. However, persistent hostility against them continued. Women in particular found it difficult to culturally identify with the stereotype, which was often masculine and violent. President Bill Clinton, who defied the stereotype with his lack of racism and Ivy League educational credentials, won popular support, but his political enemies never stopped referring to his rural and impoverished past. In contrast, Sarah Palin, John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 presidential election, embraced the negative stereotype with which she was depicted. In a sense, she gave Hollywood and the news media permission to mock white poor people. A rash of programs came out after her campaign that revived the negative stereotypes.

These negative stereotypes matter. Whenever efforts are made to help improve the economic circumstances of this group, certain members of the upper and middle classes continue to reference the negative stereotype of the lazy, racist, and ignorant poor to squash those efforts. This class is believed to be undeserving of help. Its members are viewed as culturally different from the mainstream, depicted as a breed apart, and laws and economics cause them to live on the periphery, out of sight of the wealthy. Yet, this class continues to exist and always has in American history. Isenberg tells the story of this class and questions why there has not been a demand for class justice.