White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg

White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America by Nancy Isenberg
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I'm not sure what I expected from this book, and I felt it started off rather iffy (the portrayals of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine seemed a bit off, although I probably don't know enough to refute any claims), but in the end I'm very glad I read this.

All in all a fascinating look at the history of a marginalized but large sector of society. At a certain point the author points out how only a very small minority of whites in the South had anything to do with slavery, and in fact most whites (poor whites) were hurt by slavery due to lost jobs and marginalization. And yet, they were convinced to fight and die for the upper class's institution of slavery (there was conscription for the confederate states, but slaveholders were exempt). When the war was lost, these same slaveholders told the poor whites their lot was the Northerners' fault. It's hard not to draw parallels with scores of lower class whites being told untruths by their political leaders today, although I might be projecting.

Some of my notes:
At first GA was a non-slave state (under Oglethorpe)
The poor in VA had to wear badges, showing they were poor
Liberia was the first country to have universal suffrage (for men)
300,000 white southerners fought for the union (is this true??)
Racist appeals helped Dixiecrats appeal to poor whites
When a real "white trash" person was used for a scene in the movie Wild River, there was outcry, and scene had to be reshot with "respectable unemployed"


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