White Trash Study Guide

Summarize each persons or groups view on the white lower class or how they related to it.

Richard Hakluyt (elder)

Richard Hakluyt (younger)

John Winthrop

Thomas Morton

John Locke

William Byrd

James Oglethorpe

Benjamin Franklin

Thomas Paine

Thomas Jefferson

Andrew Jackson

Hinton Helper

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Jefferson Davis

James Hammond

Abraham Lincoln

Andrew Johnson

W. E. B. Du Bois

Teddy Roosevelt

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Franklin D. Roosevelt
 Rexford G. Tugwell

Howard Odum

James Agee

Jonathan Daniels

Elvis Presley

Lyndon B. Johnson

Richard Nixon

Orval Faubus

Jimmy Carter

Ronald Reagan

Jim Bakker/Tammy Faye

Dolly Parton

Bill Clinton

Sarah Palin

Thomas Sowell

Different terms for the white lower class: origin, meaning, usage, significance, differences for other
terms

White trash

Waste people

Tillers

Cracker

Squatter

Mudsill
 Redneck

Hillbilly

Clay-eater

Trailer trash

Throughout the book, Isenberg notes the language of people using animal metaphors or the language of
breeding to describe their thoughts about race. Note the times when this is used. Do you think that
Isenberg is correct in identifying these as significant?

Isenberg often compares the treatment of the white lower class to that of black people of any class.
Make a T-chart to compare. You can also add outside knowledge of the historical treatment of either
side.

At the end of the book, Isenberg suggests that the white trash has become somewhat more
fashionable in recent years, or at least more accepted. List some of the TV shows, movies, or other
media that she uses to illustrate this point. Do you think that this new visibility is about acceptance or an
upper class looking down on them for entertainment?

Isenberg notes that criticism of the white lower class often carried hints, or outright endorsement of,
eugenics. List the times and people for did this. Is there a way to criticize the lower class without
resorting to eugenics-style arguments?