He was saying this is the way societies are created.

It was created by a pro-slavery Confederate idealogue, James Hammond, who talked about the structure he was creating. This is the term that was used in the Civil War.

The other thing to think about - one of the other disturbing terms is the term mudsill. SHAPIRO: Does the middle class need the lower classes for more than just a perspective on the self and a distinction - that's who we're not? Does the lower class serve a function in an actual, practical, valuable way? But the problem with that - with the middle class, the upper middle class - we often don't want to acknowledge our own privilege. ISENBERG: Or if your parents work hard, they'll pass on that inheritance to their children. This particularly from a more conservative point of view - the idea that if you work hard, you'll get ahead. We think that equality is something that can be earned. ISENBERG: Well, I think Americans like to believe that they support the idea of equality. SHAPIRO: Why does the middle class need a lower class? Why are these more than just, as they were called, trash people? Why are they an essential part of our Society? So we can't fantasize there was always a stable middle class.

And you have to realize the middle class in this country was not a secure class, really, until the post-World War II era. Each generation creates its new set of stark slurs. ISENBERG: When we look at the 20th century, the group that I focus on are trailer trash. SHAPIRO: Oxford English Dictionary, yeah. ISENBERG: Look that up in the OED, and you'll be quite shocked. Thomas Jefferson and Abigail Adams - their word of choice was rubbish. So that's where we get white trash - this idea of waste. I take it all the way back to the 1500s because the British basically imagined that the New World was a wasteland, and they were going to dump their expendable waste people into the New World. You say that this group has been called many things over the years. SHAPIRO: The phrase white trash brings to mind a lot of things for a lot of people. NANCY ISENBERG: Well, thanks for having me. Nancy Isenberg wrote that line in the opening pages of her latest book, which is provocatively called 'White Trash: The 400-Year Untold Story Of Class In America.' Nancy Isenberg, welcome to the studio. We cling to the comfort of the middle class, forgetting that there can't be a middle class without a lower. UNIDENTIFIED MAN #2: We do the entertainment, but we work hard for it, you know, so it means more to us when we're able to do that. UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #2: Being able to afford a place to live and enjoy life. There's got to be a light at the end of the tunnel. UNIDENTIFIED MAN #1: I mean, my sleeves only roll up so far (laughter). UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN #1: I think middle class is you can pay your bills comfortably. It's time for The New Middle, our look at what it means to be middle class in America today.

White trash the 400