underclass

this term is often used as code for African Americans living in poverty. "It suggests that they are a separate group from other poor people, a class by themselves which is 'below' the rest of us. It connotes hopelessness, desperation and violence, and implies that this group lives by values which are different from ours and is therefore immune to efforts to change their economic circumstances" (Paul Kivel, Uprooting Racism). He points out that African Americans have no monopoly on poverty; there are over twice as many poor whites as poor blacks in the U.S. "Nor is there a special 'culture of poverty' (another racially coded phrase). There are certainly negative effects of poverty, but well-paying jobs, access to decent housing and schooling would mitigate most of these." See also code words, culture of poverty, racism.