General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"White Trash" or "Redneck", which do you prefer?
4 votes, 1 pass | Time left: Unlimited | |
White Trash | |
2 (50%) |
|
Redneck | |
1 (25%) |
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Other, explain if you wish | |
1 (25%) |
|
I like to vote so I do it every chance I get | |
0 (0%) |
|
1 DU member did not wish to select any of the options provided. | |
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Disclaimer: This is an Internet poll |
HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)as red-necks. According to him, they actually wore red bandanas or something like that around their necks as a protest.
I don't really have any occasion to use either.
NightWatcher
(39,343 posts)As in "if that aint country, I'll kiss your ass"
AND THE NEIGHBORS SAID WE LIVED LIKE HICKS
BUT THEY BRUNG THEIR CARS FOR PA TO FIX
ANYHOW
HE WAS VETERAN-PROUD, TRIED AND TRUE
HE'D FOUGHT TILL HIS HEART WAS BLACK AND BLUE
DIDN'T KNOW HOW HE'D MADE IT THROUGH
THE HARD TIMES
HE BOUGHT OUR HOUSE ON THE G.I. BILL
BUT IT WASN'T WORTH ALL HE HAD TO KILL
TO GIT IT
HE DRANK PEARL IN A CAN AND JACK DANIELS BLACK
CHEWED TOBACCO FROM A MAIL POUCH SACK
HAD AN OLD DOG THAT WAS TRAINED TO ATTACK
SOMETIMES
HE'D GET DRUNK AND MEAN AS A RATTLESNAKE
AND THERE WASN'T TOO MUCH THAT HE WOULD TAKE
FROM A STRANGER
THERE WERE THIRTEEN KIDS AND A BUNCH OF DOGS
A HOUSE FULL OF CHICKENS AND A YARD FULL OF HOGS
I SPENT THE SUMMERTIME CUTTIN' UP LOGS FOR THE WINTER
TRYIN' LIKE THE DEVIL TO FIND THE LORD
WORKIN' LIKE A NR FOR MY ROOM AND BOARD
COAL-BURIN' STOVE, NO NATURAL GAS
IF THAT AIN'T COUNTRY, I'LL KISS YOUR ASS
IF THAT AIN'T COUNTRY, IT'LL HAIRLIP THE POPE
IF THAT AIN'T COUNTRY, IT'S A DAMN GOOD JOKE
I'VE SEEN THE GRAND OLE OPRY, AND I'VE MET JOHNNY CASH
IF THAT AIN'T COUNTRY, I'LL KISS YOUR ASS
Go Vols
(5,902 posts)MAMA SELLS EGGS AT A GROCERY STORE
MY OLDEST SISTER IS A FIRST-RATE WHORE
DAD SAYS SHE CAN'T COME HOME ANYMORE
AND HE MEANS IT
MA JUST SITS AND KEEPS HER SILENCE
SISTER, SHE LEFT 'CAUSE DAD GOT VIOLENT
AND HE KNOWS IT
MAMA SHE'S OLD FAR BEYOND HER TIME
FROM CHOPPING TOBACCO AND I'VE SEEN HER CRYIN'
WHEN BLOOD STARTED FLOWIN' FROM HER CALLOUSED HAND
AND IT HURT ME
SHE'D JUST KEEP WORKIN' TRYIN' TO HELP THE OLD MAN
TO THE END OF ONE ROW AND BACK AGAIN
LIKE ALWAYS
SHE'S BEEN THROUGH HELL SINCE JUNIOR WENT TO JAIL
WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT SHE AIN'T NEVER FAILED
TO GET DOWN ON HER KNEES AND PRAY
BECAUSE SHE LOVES HIM
TOLD ALL THE NEIGHBORS HE WAS OFF IN THE WAR
FIGHTIN' FOR FREEDOM, HE'S GOOD TO THE CORE
AND SHE'S PROUD
NOW OUR PLACE WAS A GRAVEYARD FOR AUTOMOBILES
AT THE END OF THE PORCH THERE WAS FOUR STACKS OF WHEELS
AND TIRES FOR SALE FOR A DOLLAR OR TWO
CASH
THERE WAS FIFTY HOLES IN AN OLD TIN ROOF
ME AND MY FAMILY WE WAS LIVIN' PROOF
THE PEOPLE WHO FORGOT ABOUT POOR WHITE TRASH
AND IF THAT AIN'T COUNTRY, I'LL KISS YOUR ASS
IF THAT AIN'T COUNTRY, IT'LL HAIRLIP THE POPE
IF THAT AIN'T COUNTRY, IT'S A DAMN GOOD JOKE
I'VE SEEN THE GRAND OLE OPRY, AND I'VE MET JOHNNY CASH
IF THAT AIN'T COUNTRY, I'LL KISS YOUR ASS
I'M THINKING TONIGHT OF MY BLUE EYES
CONCERNING THE GREAT SPECKLED BIRD
I DIDN'T KNOW GOD MADE HONKY-TONK ANGELS
AND WENT BACK TO THE WILD SIDE OF LIFE
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)Bluerthanblue
(13,669 posts)and it doesn't offend me.
get the red out
(13,468 posts)Yep, that's me!
cali
(114,904 posts)this. The phrase "white trash" makes me want to puke.
HappyMe
(20,277 posts)Both tend to be used as insults.
Bandit
(21,475 posts)Why didn't you ask about Black Trash as well?
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)I don't know what the hell you are talking about.
I don't use 'redneck' or 'white trash'. Ever.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)HappyMe
(20,277 posts)Fumesucker
(45,851 posts):
Bandit
(21,475 posts)HappyMe
(20,277 posts)zazen
(2,978 posts)On the surface, the racist implication from the way it's linguistically framed is/was that whites were inherently superior to blacks, and thus had to be distinguished between acceptable whites and non-acceptable whites, implying that blacks do not deserve such a distinction.
However, among the very paternalistic racists with whom I grew up in coastal NC, the usage of the term white trash (which was a moral more than an economic judgment--"trashy" is different than "common" connoted an admission that there were clearly some blacks better than some whites. Now, that's still racist, and probably more insidious, but in changing attitudes I think it's important to realize that some whites are attached to them because they really feel on some level that they're doing the right thing--that they're being _elitist_ and meritocratic, not racist. The coastal NC whites I knew proudly knew "good" blacks (the whole Booker T Washington be a credit to your race thing) and would praise them to the skies as opposed to that "white trash," who were all the more trashy because, being white, they had less of an excuse. That's even more insidiously racist--but, hey, that's how it works/ed.
Of course I don't agree with any of this crap, but I think it's important for non-Southerners to realize the code of the old Southern gentry to better deal with it.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Put your amusement in the insulter's face, very few of them have the slightest clue what to do then.
I read "white trash" on DU quite often when it's obviously used to be insulting..
Well, I resemble that remark, my home actually does have wheels under it.
slackmaster
(60,567 posts)Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)slackmaster
(60,567 posts)flamingdem
(39,321 posts)Redneck implies country, gun rack, dead dear hanging in yard, beer
White trash implies poverty, limited education, and is a little offensive for this reason
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)My, that was a hilarious typo..
flamingdem
(39,321 posts)get to hang in my yard
retread
(3,763 posts)dead dear hanging in yard also!!
flamingdem
(39,321 posts)!
but seriously did you ever have a dead deer hanging up in your yard, did the homeowners association complain?
mia
(8,362 posts)The last time I saw deer hanging from trees (actually telephone poles) was in New Jersey. Hunterdon County was full of deer back In the 60's. They would run into the back yards for safety during hunting season and bound across country roads right in front of the cars.
I've only heard "redneck" used as term of derision.
RandiFan1290
(6,242 posts)Enrique
(27,461 posts)Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)retread
(3,763 posts)that harr blocking the sun!
LuvNewcastle
(16,856 posts)I think of a redneck as someone who is bigoted and ignorant and proud of it. Calling someone white trash implies that he has questionable morals. I'd rather be immoral than bigoted.
Tom Ripley
(4,945 posts)brewens
(13,620 posts)RebelOne
(30,947 posts)I resent that term. I live in a mobile home park and every time I hear the term "trailer trash," my blood boils.
brewens
(13,620 posts)the Whole Trailer Park". She runs our custom shirt business and sell a fair number of those.
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)loyalsister
(13,390 posts)"white trash" is racist.
I think "redneck" has less offensive origins, but it seems to have been turned into an insult.
4_TN_TITANS
(2,977 posts)and my wife has both in her family. Rednecks aren't always the sharpest tools in the shed, but are generally honest and quick to lend a hand. I guess you could say simple folk.
White trash are people of no benefit or use to society in general. Like trash, they are discarded by their communities for being useless parasites. Now if we could introduce the term Rich Trash....
HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)and that has more to do with what a rich person does with money than the amount of money they have.
The filthy rich stink with the smell of their greed. Their compassion is made measly by their enjoyment of being in a better place than everyone else.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)I refer to white trash when they are racist and crude. I knew a few growing up in segregated Texas...
cordelia
(2,174 posts)of all the racist cretins I've had to work on projects with over the years in CT, NY, MA, OR, WA, MN, SC, FL, GA, UT, CA, etc.
CTyankee
(63,912 posts)Up here we just don't use that term. "Racist trash" serves just as well as far as I'm concerned...
Edweird
(8,570 posts)Myself, I'm just sort of a trashy Low Life that happens to be from Tennessee. I'm definitely not a Redneck - the last crew from Tennessee I worked with called me 'Yankee', LOL. Of course, they were Hillbillies, so their standards were kinda high in that regard.
lunasun
(21,646 posts)is NOT necessarily white trash that's for sure
but that is my own personal lingo dictionary
Redneck signs/ jokes are they OK here??
like YMBARI:
You believe you got a set of matched luggage if
you have two shopping bags from the same store
or
You think a stock tip is
advice on worming' your hogs.
????
I do think it is nasty and /or classist ,whatever to sell those trick teeth to kids that say "redneck teeth" or Billy Bob teeth and are all brown and broken for Halloween or in machines
that is just nasty and MEAN
AND POOR HEALTHCARE IS NO joKE
pintobean
(18,101 posts)I wonder if anyone alerted on it.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)The difference being that when they are used here most of the time it's as an insult where I'm being humorous in a tongue in cheek way..
To the best of my knowledge I've never seen such either term hidden even when used as an insult.
hay rick
(7,640 posts)It was a Bristol Palin thread. Jury voted 5-1 to leave it. I was with the majority.
libodem
(19,288 posts)Hide the post and move on.
RC
(25,592 posts)cherokeeprogressive
(24,853 posts)Rowdyboy
(22,057 posts)called redneck but never one who appreciated being referred to as "white trash"... The first term is classist, the second racist, both are wrong but second is far worse imho.
bluedigger
(17,087 posts)It's more self aware.
Ganja Ninja
(15,953 posts)Hicks, Rubes, Sod Busters, Stump Jumpers, Ridge Runners, Weed Benders, Swamp Stompers it's an endless list of possibilities.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)libodem
(19,288 posts)I do think it is an interesting topic for discussion. Poor white trash and red necks are a fact of life.
Live and let live.
Call it as you see it.
Judge not, lest Ye be judged?
I don't have a pat answer. Seems like this needs a term paper essay.
Not talking about it and hiding from it doesn't make the answers to this problem any clearer.
Some folks might pick either of those terms as a 'lifestyle', and embrace it.
Is no one else home watching Maury?
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)so i will take redneck for a thousand alex.
underseasurveyor
(6,428 posts)Essentially = White Trash
whathehell
(29,090 posts)It's an ugly term that, for most of the twentieth century
was rarely, if ever used in America outside of the South or/Southwest.
It didn't start coming into the vernacular in the North until the late Eighties,
starting, it seems, with Hate Radio.
I've always thought it was elitist, mean, and deeply Un-American.
Island Blue
(5,819 posts)Those two words are not synonyms.
NewMoonTherian
(883 posts)I guess "redneck" rolls off the tongue better.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Doesn't imply anything other than craziness and/or ignorance, regardless of class. As in "Michele Bachmann's district is full of snowbillies."
snooper2
(30,151 posts)I mean shit, why just ban certain words?
NYC_SKP
(68,644 posts)They are, in fact, racist and are often used to discriminate against or bash based on class, region, and (to be sure) skin color.
It's never funny, it's never "OK".