Protestant elite

White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) is an informal acronym that refers to social group of wealthy and well-connected white Americans of Protestant and predominantly British ancestry, many of whom trace their ancestry to the American colonial period.

Until at least the 1940s, this group dominated American society and culture, and, although it did not control politics, dominated in the leadership of the Whig, Republican, and Democratic parties. They usually were very well placed in major financial, business, legal and academic institutions and had close to a monopoly of elite society due to intermarriage and nepotism. WASPs developed a style of understated quiet leadership.

During the latter half of the twentieth century, outsider ethnic and racial groups grew in influence and WASP dominance weakened. Americans increasingly criticizing the WASP hegemony and disparaging WASPs as the epitome of "the Establishment".

The term WASP is often used as a pejorative to classify their historical dominance over the financial, cultural, academic, and legal institutions of the United States. The term is usually used to distinguish upscale WASPs from ordinary folks of various White ethnic origins by elitists. Sociologists sometimes use the term very broadly to include all Protestant Americans of Northern European or Northwestern European ancestry regardless of their class or power.

Originally, the W in the acronym probably meant "wealthy" rather than "white," as the term WASP has historically referred only to an elite group, not to all people of English descent, though today it is used more broadly.

The term is also used in Australia, New Zealand and Canada for similar elites.

Historically, "Anglo-Saxon" referred to the language of indigenous inhabitants of England before 1066, especially in contrast to Norman French influence after that. Since the 19th century it has been in common use in the English-speaking world, but not in Britain itself (in this context), to refer to Protestants of principally English descent. The "W" and "P" were added in the 1950s to form a witty epithet with an undertone of "" (which means a person who is easily irritated and quick to take offense).

...
Wikipedia