Author and professor, Dr. Nancy Isenberg spoke at both Kent and South Campuses to groups of faculty, staff and students on March 27, 2018. Isenberg spoke about her newest book, White Trash. The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America.

Although marginalized as a class and banished to the hinterlands, so-called “white trash” have actually been at or near the center of major debates over the character of the American identity for a very long time. With the appearance of this landmark book, she shared, we are obliged to face uncomfortable truths about the enduring, malevolent nature of class-based injustice.

The focus of her talk was to delve into the many terms used to describe the marginalized class, throughout the centuries, and to reveal the roots of how these terms originated in the context of history. animal husbandry and terms from nature are evidenced in these many terms, such as, swamp people.

The book became a bestseller as America finds itself struggling with its own identity. Dr. Isenberg left the audience with more questions, and a new understanding of class and its origin in America.