She Thought Her Family Was Middle Class, Not Broke In The Richest Country On Earth
In Heartland, author Sarah Smarsh explores what working class looks like in the United States while reflecting upon her own life experiences growing up in the Midwest.
Sarah Smarsh grew up in rural Kansas — the fifth generation to farm the same land, riding tractors where her ancestors road wagons. There was never enough money and prospects were few. She was part of the what has become popularized as the white working class. But back then, she didn't know it.
"I never in a million years thought that I was poor, and I don't think that my family would have used that word either when we were — well, and many are — living that experience," Smarsh told NPR's Lulu Garcia-Navarro in an interview for . "Our sense was: We got enough to eat, and there is a roof keeping the elements off of our
