Summary Of White Trash By Nancy G. Isenberg

Nancy G. Isenberg is an American historian, and the T. Harry Williams Professor of history at Louisiana State University. She graduated from Rutgers University, and University of Wisconsin. One of her other most famous works is Fallen Founder: The Life of Aron Burr which won the Oklahoma Book Award for best book in nonfiction.
White Trash: The 400 Year Untold History of Class in America The reason for Isenberg to write this book is too show the truth behind the myths about equality in what we call the United States the land of opportunity. She is uncovering the critical legacy of today’s poor white trash. Isenberg looks at hundred years’ worth of political rhetoric and policy, political literature, and scientific theories to show her assumptions
about how America is supposed to be a class free society that where there is liberty, and if you work hard there should be social flexibility.
See America has this idea that “all men are created equal” or at least that is what our founding fathers think.
However, America has for years been showing a different type of what they call equality. For many years class has been around starting with colonial settlers were either enterprising business man or that they were devout Christians fleeing from religious prosecution. Turns out that the majority were economically out casted or they were social burdens that the English were happy to get rid of them. The ones who became indentured servants were the criminals, beggars, and orphans who had no land-owning rights. This shows that people like politicians, landowners, or wealthy families have always occupied a higher stat than a servant who owed no land or no power. People have this thing where even though we have had good gains such as Franklin Delano Roosevelt created the New Deal, and other governmental programs to help the poor the middle class and upper class are still disapproving of the poor class seeing it from a civic perspective. The humiliation of what it means to be “white trash’ in America remains
solid.
It all starts with the ideology that we call the “American dream”. Isenberg shows that that the ideology of the “American dream’ leads the middle class to think that only immigrants, and minorities are poor, but there are others who are poor. The “American dream” is clearly an illusion. Let me use the immigrants, and refugees that come to America in hopes of a better more successful life. Whereas, they come to the United streets to only wind up broke, and without health insurance. Before achieving the “American dream” one must achieve the American nightmare” I think any immigrant could tell us that. The book mentioned about the Census Bureau in 2015 had reported 47 million people were below the poverty line. Also, most of the poor people were white. In 2013, it was reported 18.9 million whites were poor. Yet America is prejudice thinking that poor people are nonwhite. Even when government funding was being cut it was seen that only the black, and Hispanics people were affected when also many poor whites were receiving government or food assistance. This is all how the media has done such a good job at hiding the reality of the poor white people.
Another key point Isenberg touched on was how racial difference is subjugated to make poor whites feel superior.
Such as, Beacons Rebellion that happened in 1676 there was an uprising of dissatisfied servants and slaves in Virginia which made leaders of colonies realize that their own power could be in jeopardy. If the blacks and whites under class could gain strength and unite against them formerly they would be powerless. In exchange, so that this would not happen landowners gave poor whites greater benefits then slaves to give them a sense of superiority over blacks. This would then prevent harmony with them based on class. People like John Adams though it was human nature to seek distinction from others, and this is what has lead the poor whites to think they are superior than other groups, and create white racial
privilege.
There is a lot that I learned reading “white trash” just like Isenberg there are other educators who want to change these attitudes. The way I see it is if people could learn how racism is created, and how the white supremacy has been interpreted, then they will be able to realize that it could also be demolished for the good of everyone in America. I enjoyed reading this book I think we can all learn from it is that all races have their poor peoples, and that we need to stop looking at it as just the minorities being affected. I found it surprising how a lot of the racial divide, and white supremacy has been created to prevent others from gaining power. This is supposed to be an “American dream”, but after reading this book it is merely an illusion. If we as educators can realize what has been happening over the 400 years then we can put an end to this for our future generations to have a better life. I do not think that it has changed over the years if anything I would say that it has been worse. America continues to create “white supremacy” and “white privilege”. I think I could use this in my research of police brutality, and how the media portrays “white privilege”.