White Trash - Nancy Isenberg

White Trash

By Nancy Isenberg

  • Release Date: 2016-06-21
  • Genre: U.S. History
4 Score: 4 (From 179 Ratings)

Book Synopsis

The New York Times bestseller
A New York Times Notable and Critics’ Top Book of 2016
Longlisted for the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction
One of NPR's 10 Best Books Of 2016 Faced Tough Topics Head On
NPR's Book Concierge Guide To 2016’s Great Reads
San Francisco Chronicle's Best of 2016: 100 recommended books
A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2016
Globe & Mail 100 Best of 2016

Formidable and truth-dealing . . . necessary. The New York Times

“This eye-opening investigation into our country’s entrenched social hierarchy is acutely relevant.” O Magazine

In her groundbreaking  bestselling history of the class system in America, Nancy Isenberg upends history as we know it by taking on our comforting myths about equality and uncovering the crucial legacy of the ever-present, always embarrassing—if occasionally entertaining—poor white trash.

 
“When you turn an election into a three-ring circus, there’s always a chance that the dancing bear will win,” says Isenberg of the political climate surrounding Sarah Palin. And we recognize how right she is today. Yet the voters who boosted Trump all the way to the White House have been a permanent part of our American fabric, argues Isenberg.

The wretched and landless poor have existed from the time of the earliest British colonial settlement to today's hillbillies. They were alternately known as “waste people,” “offals,” “rubbish,” “lazy lubbers,” and “crackers.” By the 1850s, the downtrodden included so-called “clay eaters” and “sandhillers,” known for prematurely aged children distinguished by their yellowish skin, ragged clothing, and listless minds.
 
Surveying political rhetoric and policy, popular literature and scientific theories over four hundred years, Isenberg upends assumptions about America’s supposedly class-free society––where liberty and hard work were meant to ensure real social mobility. Poor whites were central to the rise of the Republican Party in the early nineteenth century, and the Civil War itself was fought over class issues nearly as much as it was fought over slavery. Reconstruction pitted poor white trash against newly freed slaves, which factored in the rise of eugenics–-a widely popular movement embraced by Theodore Roosevelt that targeted poor whites for sterilization. These poor were at the heart of New Deal reforms and LBJ’s Great Society; they haunt us in reality TV shows like Here Comes Honey Boo Boo and Duck Dynasty. Marginalized as a class, white trash have always been at or near the center of major political debates over the character of the American identity.
 
We acknowledge racial injustice as an ugly stain on our nation’s history. With Isenberg’s landmark book, we will have to face the truth about the enduring, malevolent nature of class as well.

Tags in U.S. History : White Trash Nancy Isenberg ebook , White Trash Nancy Isenberg epub , White Trash Nancy Isenberg AUDIOBOOK , White Trash by Nancy Isenberg ePub (.epub) , White Trash book review , U.S. History

Latest Impressions

  • Jaw dropping Racism

    1
    By Liber Diurnus
    And that’s just from the “About the Book”. I’ve never heard such a litany of insults leveled at any race of people. They were known for their “listless minds”?! Who wants to read a book like this? BTW I’m Hispanic and I’ve never been “haunted” by anything in Duck Dynasty. NPR recommended this book? Is this what they are trying to make sound normal?
  • A Very Bad Book

    2
    By TopSkier
    This is a really bad book. Halfway through, I'm not yet sure what it's about. It's definitely not about the untold history of class in America, as the title implies. The (only) thesis of the book seems to be that there has always been a white underclass in America. That's it. There's a chapter about the founding of the country, explaining that there was a large white underclass. There's a chapter about the Revolution, explaining that there was still a large white underclass. There's a chapter about Thomas Jefferson (sort of), explaining that during his times there was a large white underclass. And one about Andrew Jackson, explaining. . . .you guessed it. There was a large white underclass at the time of the Civil War. That's where I am now. The author doesn't tell us a whole lot about the white underclass, other than listing all the bad names people have used to describe it. There are no numbers, no sociological analysis. There is no description of any other class in America, either. The book is horribly written. Sentences don't make sense. Paragraphs don't make sense. Here's an example: "Alabama's Hundley was never as famous as the Connecticut-born Stowe, but he was not a typical southerner, either." What? Whether Hundley was famous has nothing to do with whether he was a "typical" southerner or any other kind of southerner. He could have been from Antarctica and been famous or not famous. The author goes off on tangent after tangent, displaying her knowledge of American history without tying any of it together. I can only guess the book is popular because of the election of Donald Trump, which makes people focus on rural white Americans. There might be a lot to say about the history of rural white America. For that matter there might be a lot to say about the history of class in America. But this book doesn't say any of it. I actually doubt that many readers have suffered through all the way to the end.
  • Great history

    5
    By Food at
    Everything you wanted to know about poverty in America that they would not teach you in school. I feel that those who left negative reviews did read the book but we're in some way hurt or ashamed by it, which is ridiculous ...hey, wave your white trash flag high, the point of the book is that it's not your fault! The government put you where you are beginning in the British system that created their aristocracy. If you are good people, if you are not haters, then hold your head high, this book actually comes to your defense.
  • Missing The Point

    5
    By Not Lookin' Back
    Several reviews here seem to be from people this book is written about...under-educated, frustrated/self-conscious white people. They refuse to see that the people they're voting for are passing laws detrimental to them or not funding their communities to ensure a solid education for their children. God & Guns are not going to help them and they're in an endless cycle of diminishing returns. So, they have nothing else to do but hate brown skinned people and have contempt for multi-cultural urbanites. Sad.
  • Curious

    5
    By ChrisYesYesYes
    I'm just curious: seems that lots of people are leaving reviews, having never purchased (much less read) the book. I haven't either, so let's see if this shows up in the reviews!
  • Well written

    4
    By Buzy'sTiger
    The conversation this country needs to have won't happen until we know what is being heard. This book is a good start.
  • WHITE TRASH

    1
    By HarleyNiteRider
    This racist remark, "White Trash", and is an inappropriate book title, just like any other racist remark would be, is, in any modern, flourishing society. This book is an attention getting racist remark, literally from cover to cover, that has no business being in the world in the first place.
  • Enjoying the message so far

    5
    By Geoffjeezy
    Heard about the book on an npr interview and quickly wanted to support. I think whats important is that no one person owns the narrative ,and that there are multiple ways to view history in america. I think you share an interesting perspective.
  • Book on point

    5
    By Carbonbreath
    People should stop being sensitive to truth. And falsifying their rate never reading the book. Class based society is manipulation: wealthy, political abusers to control outcomes. British hands are very dirty- giving 'race' a definition and value during 16th century. And yet poor whites truly believe someone is taking something from them who's none-white forgetting prior to 'race' "the poor" stood the same. This book should be read and appreciated.