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:
“Old Mother Hubbard
Went to the cupboard
To get her poor dog a bone:
But when she got there
The cupboard was bare,
And so the poor dog had none.”
—Sarah Catherine Martin (17681826)
“On her white breast a sparkling cross she wore,
Which Jews might kiss, and infidels adore.”
—Alexander Pope (16881744)