The Poor White (or Poor Whites of the South for clarity) are an American sociocultural group, of European descent, having origins in the Southern United States and Appalachia. They first emerged as a social caste in the Antebellum South, consisting of white, agrarian, economically disadvantaged laborers or squatters often possessing neither land nor slaves. In contemporary context the term is still used to pertain to their descendants; regardless of present economic status. While similar to other White Americans in ancestry, the Poor White differ notably in regards to their history and culture.
Famous quotes containing the words poor and/or white:
“If some beggar steals a bridle
hell be hung by a man whos stolen a horse.
Theres no surer justice in the world than that
which makes the rich thief hang the poor one.”
—Peire Cardenal (c. 11801272)
“The seagulls wings shall dip and pivot him,
Shedding white rings of tumult, building high
Over the chained bay waters Liberty
Then, with inviolate curve, forsake our eyes”
—Hart Crane (18991932)