4 ms·

This is a heady conversation, that's simply categorizing a group of people by race. The only thing that this group has in common are economic status and the col

This is a heady conversation, that's simply categorizing a group of people by race. The only thing that this group has in common are economic status and the color of their skin. They toss in college degree to sound scientific but it's such a large swath of communities and cultures that to organize everyone by being white is literally what everyone is trying to avoid. It's needlessly being racist in the guise of science. Organizing poor Americans by the color of their skin is like categorizing houses by the color that they're painted. It doesn't have to do with anything.

jsmith0295 10y ago
It does in the sense that they tend to live in different communities with different cultures.
benjohnson 10y ago
Poor white people have an interesting issue - society tells them that they're have especially failed (for lack of a better term) as they have white privilege.
- ajamesm 10y ago
  "white privilege" is the relative advantage conferred by appearing white or having white heritage. Nobody (certainly not society at large) thinks that white people have a birthright to success. actually, lots of people subscribe to the delusion that gov't programs for minorities are so overcorrecting that being born black is now a meal ticket. Insane.
Eric_WVGG 10y ago
If you define "white" as "the level of melatonin in a person's skin" or some mishmash of ancestry, sure, being white isn't helpful to describe a group. This article isn't about that. It's about a culture (that is bound by tradition and heredity of which one sign is low melatonin) predicated on the philosophy that all one needs to succeed is a strong work ethic. In a lower-class minority culture, you're taught that success is possible, but needs to be fought for. In lower-class white culture, success is transforming into a stolen birthright.
twblalock 10y ago
There is a major difference between poor white people and poor non-white people in America. The poor non-whites have been discriminated against. That discrimination hurt them, and it helped the whites who did not have to compete against them for jobs and government resources.

jsmith0295 10y ago

It does in the sense that they tend to live in different communities with different cultures.

benjohnson 10y ago

Poor white people have an interesting issue - society tells them that they're have especially failed (for lack of a better term) as they have white privilege.

ajamesm 10y ago
"white privilege" is the relative advantage conferred by appearing white or having white heritage. Nobody (certainly not society at large) thinks that white people have a birthright to success. actually, lots of people subscribe to the delusion that gov't programs for minorities are so overcorrecting that being born black is now a meal ticket. Insane.

Eric_WVGG 10y ago

If you define "white" as "the level of melatonin in a person's skin" or some mishmash of ancestry, sure, being white isn't helpful to describe a group. This article isn't about that. It's about a culture (that is bound by tradition and heredity of which one sign is low melatonin) predicated on the philosophy that all one needs to succeed is a strong work ethic. In a lower-class minority culture, you're taught that success is possible, but needs to be fought for. In lower-class white culture, success is transforming into a stolen birthright.

twblalock 10y ago

There is a major difference between poor white people and poor non-white people in America. The poor non-whites have been discriminated against. That discrimination hurt them, and it helped the whites who did not have to compete against them for jobs and government resources.