White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America
Regular price
$17.67 USD
Regular price
$29.46 USD
Sale price
$17.67 USD
Unit price
per
You save $11.79 USD (40%)
In stock — Ships within 1–2 business days
Format
Print Book
Currently viewing
Paperback
$17.67 USD
$29.46 USD
Secure CheckoutYour data is protected
Fast U.S. ShippingShips within 1–2 business days
Authentic Titles100% Genuine Books
Book Overview The New York Times Bestseller, with a new preface from the author "This estimable book rides into the summer doldrums like rural electrif...
The New York Times Bestseller, with a new preface from the author
"This estimable book rides into the summer doldrums like rural electrification. . . . It deals in the truths that matter."--Dwight Garner, The New York Times
"This eye-opening investigation into our country's entrenched social hierarchy is acutely relevant."--O, The Oprah Magazine
"White Trash will change the way we think about our past and present."
--T. J. Stiles, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Custer's Trials
In her groundbreaking bestselling history of the class system in America, Nancy Isenberg, co-author of The Problem of Democracy, takes on our comforting myths about equality, 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 that put Trump in 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.
Book Details Format: Paperback | Pages: 496 | Language: English | Publisher: PENGUIN GROUP | ISBN: 0143129678
FormatPaperback
Pages496
LanguageEnglish
ISBN0143129678
EAN9780143129677
PublisherPENGUIN GROUP
Publication Date2017-04-04
EditionReprint
AccessoriesNo Accessory
ConditionNew
Product TypeQUALITY PAPERBACK BOOKS
Weight0.95 Pounds
Length8.3 Inches
Width5.4 Inches
Height1.2 Inches
Shipping & Returns Fast, reliable shipping and easy returns on eligible items.
Most orders ship within 1–2 business days with fast, reliable U.S. delivery.
Eligible items can be returned within 30 days in line with our store return policy.
Why shop with AlbakiReads
Fresh Inventory from Major Publishers
Sourced through trusted book distributors, with fresh titles added regularly.
Secure Checkout
Your payment information is encrypted and protected every step of the way.
Fast U.S. Shipping
Most orders ship within 1–2 business days.
Books for Every Kind of Reader
From page-turners to timeless classics—find your next favorite read.
