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1-Page Summary of White Trash

Overview

Nancy Isenberg’s book, White Trash, explores the history of class in America through the role and plight of poor whites. She starts by reviewing how the founders believed that all men are created equal, but she then shows how this was never true for poor whites. Her careful research reveals that they have been marginalized throughout American history.

The class system in the US was created by indentured servants. These were people who came to America but had no land rights, and therefore no power. Many of them were criminals, vagrants, or orphans. This is contrary to the myth that Americans are self-made men and women who have always been free from oppression.

Throughout history, poor whites have been looked down upon. Despite the government’s efforts to help them, many middle- and upper-class Americans still look at poor whites as a base stratum of society. Many famous people from humble beginnings—such as Elvis Presley and Bill Clinton—have achieved great success in life despite their backgrounds, but they are not immune to being labeled “white trash.”

Key Takeaways

The American dream is the idea that anyone can become successful in America. Although many middle-class Americans believe this, it’s not true for everyone. There are poor people who live in America, and some of them immigrated here from other countries. The middle class doesn’t understand how hard life is for working-class and poor people because they’re sheltered from those realities. Some colonial thinkers believed that class conflicts would be resolved on their own, so they rarely mentioned problems with social classes.

Racial differences are often used to make poor whites feel superior.

The class system in America is related to its earliest laws surrounding land use. In the past, people who were poor and white were thought of as a lower breed. They had certain physical characteristics that separated them from other classes of people.

Politicians have presented an image of a common man to lower-class voters. This has enabled them to communicate with those voters more effectively and gain their support.

The eugenics movement popularized the idea of sterilizing people who were considered less intelligent.

Stereotypes about poor whites are perpetuated in popular culture and lead to bias against this group. Government efforts to help the poor whites have been met with opposition.

Key Takeaway 1: The ideology of the American dream leads many middle-class Americans to assume that only immigrants and racial and ethnic minorities are poor in America.

The United States has a reputation of being a land of opportunity and freedom. However, class barriers prevent people from achieving success and status without the help of others. The ruling class intentionally reinforces these barriers to keep them in power.

Immigrants’ experiences in the United States demonstrate that the “American dream” is an illusion. For example, Atul Singh, who moved to America from India and then wound up broke and without health insurance. Americans are becoming more aware of these hardships because they’re being shared on a broader scale through media coverage.

For many people in the United States, poverty is a reality. According to data from the US Census Bureau, 47 million Americans are living below the poverty line. A large percentage of this population is white. In fact, according to 2013 US Census figures, 18.9 million whites are poor—8 million more than those who identify as black and 5 million more than Latinos. However, despite these statistics that show a high number of poor whites in America, there’s an ongoing misconception that most poor people live below the poverty line because they’re non-white. For example, a New York Times article on funding cuts to government food programs published in 2013 featured photos of black and Latino people affected by this decision even though many poor whites also receive food aid and other forms of government assistance. This is just one example of how media has been complicit in hiding the existence of white poverty.