Don't poor White people experience just as much racism & discrimination as any minority group in America?

Question

I personally think that poor White people might experience the most racism/discrimination of any group in the United States. That's because they don't have any groups to help them. Minorities have their own leaders, interest groups, & affirmative action to help them. Poor White people don't have anything to help them, & they're looked down on by both more successful White people, & by minorities. Poor Black & Hispanic Americans are seen as the victims of institutional racism. While most of American society views poor White Americans as white-trash.

Answer 1

It is class discrimination, and yes it exists. But, a poor white male will not be viewed as a thieve on first impression, where a Black person, or another minority group member may be.

A poor white person will still experience some privilege that a minority non-white person will not experience. And there are groups out there for everybody, where a white person may be more readily accepted, that is why there are special groups for minorities.

Answer 2

No! You can move out of the conditions of your poverty, but you can't move out of the color of your skin. Whites, no matter how poor, uneducated or grungily dressed, will ever be subjected to the uniform level of suspicion by those who don't know them, as are minorities. You can take any poor white person, put them in new clothes, walk them into any upscale garment or jewelry store like those found in New York, and they will afforded a level of respect no minority doctor or lawyer will receive in the same establishment.

Shingoshi Dao

I am enclosing a message I received from Chunga's Revenge. I leave it for the author of this question and the community to answer if it is correct.

Message: I think you misunderstood the question, which was about whether or not "Poor white people experience just as much racism & discrimination as any minority group in America". Not about dressing a poor white man up in fancy clothes to see if he will be treated different!
That really has no relevance to the question.
Though I see you point, maybe.

Message: You said "Racism is the general and systemic devaluation of one race by another. And since whites don't experience this, neither can any subset of whites experience it, no matter how poor they are".
What are you talking about? "Whites don't experience racism brought on by other races"??

Trying to introduce an area of observation not contained in the original question is irrelevant. The place in question was America. There is no other race in the United States having social dominance, besides whites. Minorities simply don't have the sociopolitical and economic power

Answer 3

Poor white people don't experience racism, but they do experience discrimination through classism. I don't think you'll find many groups that only care about the poor people that are white, but there are many that are concerned about class discrimination and the poor in general (check out this site for few: http://faireconomy.org/links/index.html). I've read several journal articles that argue that historically, the concept of racial categories has been used to reinforce class divisions, leaving little to no united effort to challenge class inequality on a structural level - thus protecting the power of a society's elite. Critical theories on class are influenced by Marxist theory and his analysis of the superstructure of the society. I can't think of any author names, but if you have access to any scholarly journal databases like JSTOR or even use Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.com) and search for articles on classism or even poverty, you should be able to find plenty.

Answer 4

I'm not American, but this is an issue here too. It is about economics, not race, as has been said, but whatever the reason, the treatment is the same. The suicide rate among young white males living in poverty is significant. The whole cult of "white privilege' has turned everyone into targeting white people because it's all white people's "fault." It is a problem when anyone is being ignored, and I truly believe that poor white people are now being left behind; I think what you say regarding having nowhere to go is one of the primary reasons for this problem. Great question.

Answer 5

Some may experience a form of discrimination, but cannot experience racism. I've often found that this is the group whom is most racist because they believe every other ethnic group is keeping them from success. Often times regardless of the ethnic group, education in impoverished areas is to blame because poor education will not help you further your situation from poor to a higher income. There are plenty of non profit groups that are out there to help everyone, not just minorities. Minorities are only magnified by the media...minority groups make up a smaller portion of the U.S. population

Answer 6

Yes they do. I don't think most people really get a chance to see much 'white-trash', but I do. Here in Southern Mississippi, there are plenty of chances to see poor white people. They are looked down upon just as much, if not more, than any minority. If you think that poor whites have it better than anybody else, come down here and see the truth for yourself.

Answer 7

I agree with what you are saying. It is sad that we as a society don't deal with poverty without segregation. It is sad that we break ourselves up into groups and only help our group. A hand reached out should reach out to all, no matter the ethnicity or religion. Societies will always break into groups, clans, religions, provinces, counties, etc. This makes it easier to govern, etc., but until we see the worth and value in each person, no matter their circumstance, and help them in ways, that they can see you appreciate their value and worth, and help them contribute to lift themselves up out of poverty without degrading them and discriminating because of ethnicity. This will take groups joining together and bringing all poor people including Whites, and leaving the groups ego out of it. Going into different neighborhoods with a plan of some kind. Maybe governments would be more generous in funding ( people against poverty) instead of Black,Asian,etc. against poverty.

Answer 8

Yes, you are right. Class oppression is the real issue in our society, but it gets disguised as race. Americans do not want to think about social class as an issue.

Answer 9

no because they're still white either rich or poor.

Answer 10

I think your answers will vary depending on the race of the person answering, or just how in touch with reality that person is.
In the core of the city where I live we have a very large homeless population. The majority of the people I see on the streets are mainly White, followed by Native American, then African American, then Asian. They basically dig through garbage dumpsters, collect bottles for recycling, and the odd time ask for hand outs. Most people walking down the street on their way to and from work pay the homeless no mind. Some even tell them off.
I work as a commercial property manager, and I've gotten to know most of the destitute, homeless, drug addicts, prostitutes etc around the area. Our properties are located in the heart of downtown. Some of them can actually be pretty decent people, but over the years I've had a few strange encounters with those who are just looking for trouble.
Homeless people are people. There's good and bad homeless/street people, the same as there's good and bad people with homes.
I think when you're down and out, living out of a garbage can, or shooting drugs in the alley, the colour of ones skin is really irrelevant for the most part. The majority of the homeless/poor are ignored by the working class.
Where I live we have several multi million dollar homeless shelters, that look like huge fancy hotels. It's basically a dorm set up inside. This only helps maybe 5% of my cities homeless. The city I live in has population of just over 1 million, so it's no NYC, but we have an estimated 20,000 homeless wandering our streets, of which around 80% are white.
Now when it comes down to the working poor, or people in need of social assistance/welfare, now maybe race could play a determining factor in whether one race will receive better care over another. I've seen it go both ways. I've seen people that are white get turned away by certain government agencies, or not receive aid as easily as a person of colour. I've also seen the exact opposite happen as well.
Maybe if you lived in a small town with of a population of a couple thousand, and there were 2 homeless people of different races, perhaps some redneck might give some spare change to the lighter skinned fellow.
So I think it all depends on where you are, population etc.

Edit - I think 'shingoshidao' missed the question, which was about whether or not "Poor white people experience just as much racism & discrimination as any minority group in America". Not about dressing a poor white man up in fancy clothes to see if he will be treated different!
That really has no relevance to the question.

Edit - Shingoshi Dao - In your last edit, you just said "Racism is the general and systemic devaluation of one race by another. And since whites don't experience this, neither can any subset of whites experience it, no matter how poor they are".
What the heck are you talking about? "Whites don't experience racism brought on by other races"?? That is not true. I lived in South Korea for several years. I am white. I experienced racism every day I was there in one form or another! Here in Canada and the USA the homeless white person experiences racism from other white people, as well as all races, and they ARE looked at as white trash. Many whites feel, "he's white, he had the same opportunities in life as me, but he's a hobo". When white people see a homeless non-white person, quite often the consensus is, "poor fella, he never had the opportunities I had as a white man, he's a victim of society".
Again, you are misunderstanding the askers question, which is whether or not poor white people experience just as much racism as any minority group in America!
I see homeless white people on the streets every day, and neither whites nor visible minorities alike can even look them directly in the eye out of disgust.
But yet I see plenty of white and visible minority groups working, coexisting together, doing lunch together, and going about their daily routines. Sure, a certain amount of racism exists in that world too. But racism seems to be much more prevalent amongst and against the poor white, than it does towards the working class visible minority. And that has nothing to do with the question, I just thought I should point that out to you.
I agree totally with the askers last two sentences of his question.

Edit - Shingoshi, You made reference to "my illusion of the world"? That's funny. How about your illusion of the question??
You just said in your last edit,"My answer was based on the fact that the question placed white people in the context of being victims of racism. The fact that poverty was included as a description of a particular subset of white people is irrelevant".
>You seem to have contradicted yourself here. Irrelevant to what?? Let me guess...your own topic for discussion??
It seems to be very relevant to the 'King James' question! Is he as delusional as I am?? The things I've pointed out in my answer are very relevant to the question at hand. Had his question been entirely different, and spun to fit your predilection, then perhaps yours would be too.