"One class gets the sugar and the other gets the shit"(Fussell, 25) and in American society the "other" is invariably poverty stricken and powerless. Classism is at the core of the problem. The hatred of the poor is an evil secret of America, hidden by the ingrained myths of "liberty and justice for all." Americans are taught to believe in a classless, equal opportunity society. Yet, the facts of poverty, illiteracy and ignorance are hard to ignore and the reality is that some people have advantages over other people depending on which family they are born into. Therefore, when wealthy people confront the poor a sense of guilt and superiority merge into the reactionary fear that has manifested itself as racism and classism through the centuries. Sut Lovingood, an anti-hero of Southwestern humor may have put it best when he said of the genteel class, "they are powerful feard ove low things, low ways, an' low pepil" (Cook, 8).

The working class white has always been an ideal candidate for this role in society, and mainstream society has revealed their fright. As Jim Goad explains in his Redneck Manifesto, the "redneck" stereotype is especially fitting because it fills all the scapegoat requirements: biological differences --inbred, less intelligent, unattractive; geographic and regional

The development of poor white stereotypes center around literature, comics, movies and television. These stereotypes are easily created and accepted because the culture of working class whites exists within its own set of values and practices. These values are separate from, not subsets of, mainstream American society. Within the media section of the site, I will focus on mainstream society's creation and use of a dichotomous relationship between "white trash" and "good country folk"; addressing the use of physical and mental descriptions to fulfill the biological requirement for scapegoating. The next four sections will deal with remaining societal beliefs that are used to "other" this class. Religion and race will address the cultural and moral dissimilarity to the mainstream, while lifestyle and work will address geographic and economic variance.