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I'm not sure they do anymore, but elite colleges and elite prep schools used to have a hillbilly quota. In this sense they are biased against poor whites, and t

I'm not sure they do anymore, but elite colleges and elite prep schools used to have a hillbilly quota. In this sense they are biased against poor whites, and they know it, so they provide(d) an "affirmative action" program for some of them. My father was born and raised in a town of about 1000 in Montana and received full-ride scholarships to Philips Andover and Princeton, which he believed were mostly due to this quota. He turned both down because he was into football, and eventually received a full-ride scholarship to play college football.

hugh3 16y ago
I doubt they do any more. America's "elite" seem to have lost all respect for America's poor whites; they're "rednecks" and "white trash" who live in "trailers" or "McMansions" and shop at Wal-Mart and watch NASCAR and blah blah stereotype stereotype. If you're a poor non-white you're a victim of society, but if you're poor and white you're an ignorant hick. Poor whites are pretty much the only group upon whom it is socially acceptable to look down, nowadays.
- dgabriel 16y ago
  That is not an accurate characterization of how the institutions themselves see poor whites. You may find some outspoken idiot students who hold these beliefs, but you'll find outspoken idiots who think lots of foolish things.
- starkfist 16y ago
  I don't believe America's "elite" really ever had any "respect" for poor whites, per se. My family has a Scandinavian background and I went to a college which emphasized this cultural history, so we had to take a history classes about things like the plight of Norwegian immigrants in the 1860s. The elite english corporatists who employed poor scandinavian whites to build railroads and whatnot mostly viewed them as stupid but hard working laborers who chewed tobacco, drank too much and spoke a hilarious sing-song germanic language. I actually think this stereotype still exists a bit in places where there are still vestiges of WASP culture. When I lived in Boston my employers, who were local Brahmins always called me "hard working" which was a euphemism for "stupid, but gets the job done." (In contrast, they called their Harvard educated employees "clever") When it comes to receiving the hillbilly quota scholarship, my grandparents happened to be poor and living in the middle of nowhere but also had advanced degrees in mathematics and religion and were employed as schoolteachers.
- credo 16y ago
  This seems to be a fairly popular view among people who see "reverse racism" in America, however I think it is mistaken to assume that poor blacks have it easy and that the so-called "elite" only look down upon poor whites. Btw several powerful establishment figures seem to think of "rednecks" as far more important than the so-called "elite". Sarah Palin and mother politicians use Redneck jokes to endear themselves and identify themselves with their core constituencies. It is hard to imagine someone like Obama or Deval or some other mainstream black politician use n-word jokes for political benefit or to describe themselves.
  - anamax 16y ago
    > I think it is mistaken to assume that poor blacks have it easy Good for you, but no one is assuming that.

hugh3 16y ago

I doubt they do any more. America's "elite" seem to have lost all respect for America's poor whites; they're "rednecks" and "white trash" who live in "trailers" or "McMansions" and shop at Wal-Mart and watch NASCAR and blah blah stereotype stereotype. If you're a poor non-white you're a victim of society, but if you're poor and white you're an ignorant hick. Poor whites are pretty much the only group upon whom it is socially acceptable to look down, nowadays.

dgabriel 16y ago
That is not an accurate characterization of how the institutions themselves see poor whites. You may find some outspoken idiot students who hold these beliefs, but you'll find outspoken idiots who think lots of foolish things.
starkfist 16y ago
I don't believe America's "elite" really ever had any "respect" for poor whites, per se. My family has a Scandinavian background and I went to a college which emphasized this cultural history, so we had to take a history classes about things like the plight of Norwegian immigrants in the 1860s. The elite english corporatists who employed poor scandinavian whites to build railroads and whatnot mostly viewed them as stupid but hard working laborers who chewed tobacco, drank too much and spoke a hilarious sing-song germanic language. I actually think this stereotype still exists a bit in places where there are still vestiges of WASP culture. When I lived in Boston my employers, who were local Brahmins always called me "hard working" which was a euphemism for "stupid, but gets the job done." (In contrast, they called their Harvard educated employees "clever") When it comes to receiving the hillbilly quota scholarship, my grandparents happened to be poor and living in the middle of nowhere but also had advanced degrees in mathematics and religion and were employed as schoolteachers.
credo 16y ago
This seems to be a fairly popular view among people who see "reverse racism" in America, however I think it is mistaken to assume that poor blacks have it easy and that the so-called "elite" only look down upon poor whites. Btw several powerful establishment figures seem to think of "rednecks" as far more important than the so-called "elite". Sarah Palin and mother politicians use Redneck jokes to endear themselves and identify themselves with their core constituencies. It is hard to imagine someone like Obama or Deval or some other mainstream black politician use n-word jokes for political benefit or to describe themselves.
- anamax 16y ago
  > I think it is mistaken to assume that poor blacks have it easy Good for you, but no one is assuming that.