Poor White

Poor White is a sociocultural classification used to describe economically disadvantaged Whites in the English-speaking world, especially White Americans with low incomes. In the United States, Poor White is the historical classification for an American sociocultural group, of generally Western and/or Northern European descent, with many being in the Southern United States and Appalachia regions. They were first classified as a social caste in the Antebellum South, consisting of white, agrarian, economically disadvantaged laborers or squatters, who usually owned neither land nor slaves. In the British Commonwealth, the term was historically used to describe lower-class whites, notably in the context of the "poor white problem" in South Africa. The term has also been occasionally used in a British context since the second half of the 20th century to distinguish poor white Britons from lower-class Black and Asians in Britain. Throughout American history the Poor Whites have regularly been referred to by various terms; the majority of which are often considered disparaging. They have been known as "rednecks" (especially in modern context), "hillbillies" in Appalachia, "crackers" in Texas, Georgia, and Florida, "Hoosier" in St. Louis, Missouri, and "poor white trash". In the past, the use of the term "Poor White" by the white Southern elite 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. Author Wayne Flynt in his book, Dixie's Forgotten People: The South's Poor Whites (2004), 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 as to cultural and ethical values." While other regions of the United States have white people who are poor, this does not have the same meaning as the Poor White in the South.