Poor White

In the United States, Poor White (or Poor Whites of the South for clarity) is the historical classification for an American sociocultural group, of European descent, with origins in the Southern United States and in Appalachia. They first emerged as a social caste in the Antebellum South, consisting of white, agrarian, economically disadvantaged laborers or squatters usually possessing neither land nor slaves. In certain contemporary contexts the term is still used to pertain to their descendants; regardless of present economic status. While similar to other White Americans in ancestry, the Poor White differ notably in regard to their history and culture.

Identity

Throughout American history the Poor White have regularly been identified in differentiating terms; the majority of which are often considered disparaging. They have been known as rednecks (especially in modern context), hillbillies in Appalachia, crackers in Georgia, and poor white trash. In the past the very use of the term, "Poor White," by the white Southern elite, who considered it an oxymoron, was to distance themselves from elements of society they viewed as "undesirable," "lesser" or "antisocial." It denoted a separation, reflective of a social hierarchy, with "poor" used to demonstrate a low position, while "white" was used to subjugate rather than to classify. Yet author Wayne Flynt in his book, Dixie's Forgotten People: The South's Poor Whites, argues that "one difficulty in defining poor whites stems from the diverse ways in which the phrase has been used. It has been applied to economic and social classes as well to cultural and ethical values." While other regions of the United States have white people who are poor this does not refer to the Poor White in the same usage as it does in the South. In context the Poor White refer to a distinct sociocultural group who come from families with a history of multi-generational poverty and cultural divergence.

Poor White (novel)

Poor White is an American novel by Sherwood Anderson, published in 1920.

Plot introduction

It is the story of an inventor, Hugh McVey, who rises from poverty on the bank of the Mississippi River. The novel shows the influence of industrialism on the rural heartland of America.

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