poor white

noun

, Usually Disparaging and Offensive.

1. a member of a class of white people, especially of the southern U.S., having low social status and little or no money, property, or education. white trash.

poor White

noun

1. offensive.
   1. a poverty-stricken and underprivileged White person, esp in the southern US and South Africa
   2. ( as modifier )

      poor White trash

Word History and Origins

Origin of poor white¹

An Americanism dating back to 1810–20

Example Sentences

Starting in the 1930s, the federal government sorted neighborhoods in 239 cities and deemed redlined areas — typically home to Black people, Jews, immigrants, and poor white people — unfit for mortgage lending.

From Salon

In addition to the error in setting, Steinbeck’s book made it seem as if the only people who were affected by the Dust Bowl were poor white farmers.

From Salon

He writes, “The problem in American politics isn’t that poor white people vote against interests, so much as it is that poor people don’t have anyone to express their interests.”

From Salon

When enslaved Black people made crops cheap, poor white farmers suffered because they couldn’t compete; white supremacists push the myth that the success of Black people and immigrants are responsible for white poverty.

From Salon

Organizer Ross Morales Rocketto discussed how many working-class and poor white men found the GOP candidate’s restoring masculinity approach appealing.

From Salon