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Might be a badly worded question but here it is. I've wondered this. I've lived in Ireland and the US. It seems that in the US, the poor are mostly minorities. Here in Ireland though, the poor ethnic Irish seem to be "Irish travellers" who had a different genetic ancestry than the average middle class Irish.
I'm not trying to suggest it's genetics that cause poverty but I wonder, wasn't 95% of society in the middle ages poor? If we trace a poor white English, Irish, or Spanish person, weren't their forefathers just as poor as the forefathers of a middle class person?
Excuse the assumptions, I don't mean to come across as racist and I don't know much about history. It's something I've wondered.
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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In the USA it's really not 'minorities' that are poor, it's specifically Blacks that are poor, in some areas Hispanics also are poor. Asians are actually quite a bit more affluent than Whites. There are regions where White poverty is very significant, especially the rural South into Appalachia. My mom was White and born in rural Kentucky and grew up without electricity, indoor plumbing, and attended single room schools with dirt floors. This was in the 1940s and 1950s.
As to the question of whether rich and poor share common ancestors... I think all people have both noble and peasant ancestors and life attainment comes down more to individual choices and random time and chance. My father dropped out of school in 8th grade but myself of 4 of 5 siblings have a bachelor's degree. In my own family I see people with common ancestors moving into the upper middle class or down into lower class.
There are LOTS of poor whites in the US, they just don't get the media attention. In fact, the poorest of the poor are white. These are people in Appalachia many of whom don't even have running water.
Many minorities, especially Blacks have some European admixture. In some Blacks (myself included) it can be quite significant. A lot of Whites, especially those in the south have Black ancestry. Many Hispanics often have more than just Native and Spanish blood. Mexicans in particular often have German, French and even Italian ancestry. Many believe that the majority of Cubans and Puerto Ricans have some Black ancestry, even if they may not look like it.
The US is so mixed that many of us probably have something from several backgrounds. I think the only people who really know for that they have no (recent) admixture are those whose families came relatively recently, such as through Ellis in the 20th century as they likely know everyone who's been in their family tree since then.
]In the USA it's really not 'minorities' that are poor, it's specifically Blacks that are poor,[/b] in some areas Hispanics also are poor. Asians are actually quite a bit more affluent than Whites. There are regions where White poverty is very significant, especially the rural South into Appalachia. My mom was White and born in rural Kentucky and grew up without electricity, indoor plumbing, and attended single room schools with dirt floors. This was in the 1940s and 1950s.
As to the question of whether rich and poor share common ancestors... I think all people have both noble and peasant ancestors and life attainment comes down more to individual choices and random time and chance. My father dropped out of school in 8th grade but myself of 4 of 5 siblings have a bachelor's degree. In my own family I see people with common ancestors moving into the upper middle class or down into lower class.
If you're in an area where Blacks are the largest minority, it's easy to believe this. In areas where Hispanics are the largest minority such as Southern California, they often appear to be the poorest or at least equally as poor. Even Asians have an underclass where they are numerous. San Francisco and Oakland are examples of this.
There are LOTS of poor whites in the US, they just don't get the media attention. In fact, the poorest of the poor are white. These are people in Appalachia many of whom don't even have running water.
Many minorities, especially Blacks have some European admixture. In some Blacks (myself included) it can be quite significant. A lot of Whites, especially those in the south have Black ancestry. Many Hispanics often have more than just Native and Spanish blood. Mexicans in particular often have German, French and even Italian ancestry. Many believe that the majority of Cubans and Puerto Ricans have some Black ancestry, even if they may not look like it.
The US is so mixed that many of us probably have something from several backgrounds. I think the only people who really know for that they have no (recent) admixture are those whose families came relatively recently, such as through Ellis in the 20th century as they likely know everyone who's been in their family tree since then.
Puerto Rico and Cuba are very mullato nations, just like the Dominican Republic. That's not popular opinion, that's fact.
Puerto Rico and Cuba are very mullato nations, just like the Dominican Republic. That's not popular opinion, that's fact.
Just repeating what I've heard. Most Cubans and Puerto Ricans I've seen here on the west coast, and that number isn't very high, look more like the Mexicans here.
In the USA it's really not 'minorities' that are poor, it's specifically Blacks that are poor, in some areas Hispanics also are poor. Asians are actually quite a bit more affluent than Whites. There are regions where White poverty is very significant, especially the rural South into Appalachia. My mom was White and born in rural Kentucky and grew up without electricity, indoor plumbing, and attended single room schools with dirt floors. This was in the 1940s and 1950s.
As to the question of whether rich and poor share common ancestors... I think all people have both noble and peasant ancestors and life attainment comes down more to individual choices and random time and chance. My father dropped out of school in 8th grade but myself of 4 of 5 siblings have a bachelor's degree. In my own family I see people with common ancestors moving into the upper middle class or down into lower class.
Good point. Appalachia was populated mainly by Scots-Irish settlers, who had been removed from their land in Scotland, and sent to live in Ireland. That didn't work out for them, so they emigrated en masse to the US, and found that the best land was already taken, so they went to Appalachia, and fought the Cherokees for the land. Many never managed to improve their circumstances. Some migrated from there westward, but still struggled. A few in later generations managed to get university education, and get out of poverty, but there are many still stuck in Appalachia.
Likewise, the Irish immigrants to New England came as indentured servants, and struggled for generations to get out of poverty. So until fairly recently, there were no rich Scots-Irish or Irish in the US, to share a genetic lineage with. The successful elements in society were the Anglos, at first, then later--Germanic peoples (some Germans, some Scandinavians, and Dutch descendants).
OP, I don't know how "poor" is defined in Ireland, but I'm sure there must be poor people besides the "travelers". They evolved a separate genetic lineage from the rest of Irish society, but they're not the only poor people.
Poverty does tend to express itself in racial terms to some extent in the US, but before there were people of African descent in the Americas, there were Irish, who filled that slot. They were the slave class originally, and they remained poor for generations, as they struggled to throw off the stigma of having been the servant class. You may enjoy reading, "How the Irish Became White", on the history of the Irish in New England. https://www.amazon.com/Irish-Became-...h+Became+White
Last edited by Ruth4Truth; 10-17-2018 at 10:10 AM..
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