I am wondering if people are sensitive about the term "white trash". nt

[thereismore]

[Hissyspit]

1. Yes. n/t

[speakclearly]

59. Absolutely

Trailer trash, white trash, cracker, all that stuff is offensive, because it is meant to be offensive. People use those terms in a pejorative fashion. It is meant to insult or demeen or "put someone in their place", when where they are may have nothing to do with what they are or who they are. It is just as offensive as the "N" word. Now, would I pull a knife or a gun because someone "dissed" me? No. But you can be sure I would have something to verbally come back with.

[zabet]

2. It only bothers me when...

someone trashier than me calls me that.

[VP505]

26. That's how

I see it also, LOL.

[Swamp Rat]

31. LOL!

:rofl:

[applegrove]

3. I noticed it being thrown around on the mixed boards by freepers. Either

"white trash" or something that means the same thing. Claiming I lived in a trailorpark was the worst insult thrown at me. When I took it as a compliment I was told I had thick skin. Coming from Canada where we are mostly all in it together (health care we are so proud of) it really stuck out.

It is an American Freeper thing I think. Sure they'll take the votes of the poorest White Americans..but they hate their guts. I hadn't seen that in political discourse before. I had never been on an American mixed freeper/progressive site. It quite surprised me.

[SteveM]

53. Also used derisively by libs who have a hate-on for rural/Southern culture.

[applegrove]

67. I see alot of going after Southerners for the way they think (and spell), not for

where they live. At least on the DU.

[Bluzmann57]

4. Yes. Somewhat.

I have been considered "white trash" in my life because I came from a working class background and drink beer, belong to a Union, play cards, and other things which all us "white trash" types do. But I don't much care anymore. I am what I am. A tax paying American who wants a better life for my children and grandchildren.

[Dora]

5. Yes. In any context. It's as unacceptable as the n-word, IMO.

[Blashyrkh]

42. Are there any insults left?

[Minimus]

55. Is there a need for insults?

[QC]

6. It's both racist and classist.

That doesn't stop it from being quite popular among many so-called progressives, though.

[tabasco]

12. You're right.

Ronald Reagan made it cool to hate the poor.

[IndianaJones]

14. It is an insult for many. Racist? No. nt.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

16. Doesn't it sort of imply...

a lower standard of behaviour for racial minorities?

[QC]

23. That's exactly what it implies.

As if "trashy" is the norm for minorities but remarkable when found in white people.

[gollygee]

29. It implys that the default setting for trash is something other than white

and the default setting of something other than white is trash.

[thereismore]

45. Good point. nt

[IndianaJones]

48. You are correct. nt.

[CTyankee]

73. Funny, isn't it? As racists, the term wouldn't bother me. But it IS classist and that does.

I thinkjust labeling poor people "trailer trash" is a bum rap. But I usually see it as it relates to violent, southern racists, so I don't get so exercised over that usage...

[juajen]

7. Very much. Having come from poverty, even though raised

with good values, I always felt this was directed at the working poor to enable the perpetrators to feel superior. It is wrong to rashly and rancorously categorize people. From poverty, oftentimes great thinkers and doers emerge. Poverty can be a blessing. Unlike Paris Hilton, I do have a favorite passage from the Bible. It is "Judge not, that ye be not judged."

[murielm99]

8. I can think of only one time I ever used it.

I think it shocked my grown children, despite the context.

My daughters and I had just finished reading Kitty Kelley's book about the Bush family. I said to them that the Bush family, despite their wealth, education and veneer, were worse than the people that many around here referred to as rednecks or white trash. I said that they could go to any trailer park in the area and find people with more dignity and class than those trashy Bushes. I told them not to exult too much in their fine educations. I knew some well-educated people who were profoundly ignorant, and they weren't all named Bush.

[thereismore]

30. So true! nt

[William769]

9. Using the term trailer park trash is just as bad.

And that seems perfectly acceptable here. Wrong is wrong, no matter who you try to sugarcoat it.

[lefador]

24. White trash refers to a specific group of people...

... and economic status or social class has nothing to do with it.

For me, "white trash" refers to those people of the caucasian persuasion who have racist tendencies exulting the purity of their race, even though they live off the public tit, they can't read beyond a fifth grade level, haven't wrote anything longer than their signature in 10 years, mangle the English language every time they open their mouths... and without skipping a beat get all freaked out because someone may speak a different language in their vicinity. These are the same people who can't shut the hell up on a public place, have 0 class, are lazy but expect everyone to wait on them. These are the same group of people never say "thanks," and "excuse me" is just not a part of their vocabulary. They take advantage of every second opportunity and benefit of the doubt thrown at them... but god help you if they ever have to do the same for anyone else.

In other words, white trash basically refer to a specific sector of consummate assholes that belong to the white race. They are usually poor, uneducated, crass, and basically behave like overly entitled bastards that have nothing good to contribute to the betterment of the human race.

My better half has to deal with the public, and she uses the term white trash quite often.

They are the people who have never been on time to anything in their entire lives but will scream bloody murder if their prescription is delayed 5 minutes. They are the people who can't tolerate those leaches in the inner city (read, poor black people) but have no problem collecting their welfare checks and have all their meds paid on the public dime. These are the same people who weight 300lbs and use the drive-trough window at the pharmacy to get their weight loss "medicine." These are the people that will pull to the said drive through on a late model escalade and will complain about the few dollars that they have to pay for their kids medicine -normally diabetes stuff, go figure- because it wasn't fully covered by whatever estate run programme that pays for it all.

All in all, calling them "trash" is quite benign. Where I grew up, we refer them to scum... but hey, what do I know. God forbid someone would say something that would offend someone's sensibilities.

[RebelOne]

57. I am really offended by trailer trash.

I live in a mobile home park and I do not consider myself or any of my neighbors as trailer trash. Most of the people who live there are older retired people and couples in transition to buying their first home.

[Debi]

10. I just hate that I am white trash

:P

[sniffa]

11. how about honkey?

[TheBaldyMan]

74. I'm OK with that, as long as it's affectionate. white trash is a bit negative

It's like the UK equivalents, chav, ned, scally among other regional terms and universally negative.

[etherealtruth]

13. Human beings are not "trash"

i am guilty of the occasional elitist attitude ... however, I think its better not to even think in those terms (at least for me).

[lastliberalintexas]

39. That's my biggest problem with it as well

I don't like to hear that any living thing is thought of as trash, refuse, debris. The racist overtone is superfluously evil, since even without the racist overtone I wouldn't like the phrase.

[yardwork]

15. It's offensive.

Nobody is trash. Ok, a couple people I can think of are trash....

[lazer47]

17. I wish you wouldn't talk about my Kin folks on here

[NV Whino]

18. No

Unless it is applied to me.

Jesus Christ, keep it up folks and soon we won't have any insults to hurl at each other.

[William769]

21. Which ones are acceptable and which ones are not? And why?

[NV Whino]

36. In all seriousness

which my original post wasn't, I don't think we can have a black or white, right or wrong approach to this. It is not the words so much as the intent. And even then it would have to be on a case by case basis to decide if it is right or wrong.

[Gormy Cuss]

65. Well, it makes me wince because I was called 'white trash' more than once as a kid.

Being white and living in a low income neighborhood in a large blue collar family that became a single parent family living on AFDC, it had a sting like no other insult. It is both elitist and racist as noted above because it had the very real implication that we weren't good enough to be white.

Would it bother me now? No, but "white trash" and "trailer trash" are elitist insults that I'd love to see disappear from acceptable usage.

[Midlodemocrat]

19. I generally don't think it is an economic or classist term.

To me, stating that someone is white trash has less to do with their financial standing and more to do with their behavior.

The family across the street from me, in a nice, middle class subdivision, is 'white trash'. The teenaged boy sells drugs, the step-dad curses in an amazingly loud voice when working on his truck, the mom had an absolute shit fit when the dad next door to them asked her to have the kids turn the music down because of his newborn twins, and their yard is a disgrace. Full of crap, junk, ick.

She probably makes as much as I do, but she is, in my mind, due to her behavior, white trash.

[sniffa]

22. what you said

there's mucho white trash in the city we Live on - we caLL them "cuLture heroes." it has nothing to do with the sociaL status, but the behavior. aLthough the bi-LeveLs and acid-wash have something to do with it too.

[bicentennial_baby]

32. ...

I'm gonna tell your gf next door that you said that! :rofl:

[Toots]

69. And how often do you refer to any black people as "black trash"?

It is a racist term that means white nigger..Plain and simple...

[poverlay]

20. As far as I'm concerned, it means "Republicans". n/t

[rucky]

25. as opposed to the other kinds of trash?

I prefer Mullethead, personally.

[Sanctified]

27. Nope I grew up White Trash.

I lived in a trailer in a small town, my dad left my mom and I hunted and fished as a kid to supplement our food because we lived off of food stamps.

That shit built character, I have no problem with anyone calling me white trash, it certainly is better than yuppie.

[mariema]

28. I used the term once

A group of very white, very conservative co-workers were talking about a new teacher in the middle school in our small city (pop. 12,000) who was a black man. One of them spoke of him nonchalantly as the “new ni**er teacher”. I was appalled. And said so. One woman piped up with “Well, if I was black I wouldn’t care if someone called me ni**er”. And before I could help myself, I blurted out “Only ignorant, white trash would think that.” Whoa, you shoulda heard them gang up on me. It was worth it.

I'd say they were sensitive about that particular term.

[thereismore]

Yes, I can see how "white trash" may be a necessary term in our language...LOL nt

[Lydia Leftcoast]

33. I don't like it

It refers to people who have been left behind in this society because of poor family backgrounds, lack of educational opportunities, living in a high-unemployment area, or any other circumstances in which it would take super-human effort to break out.

I feel the same way about the use of the term "chav" in the U.K.

[MrSlayer]

34. No. If the shoe fits.

I refer people to Chris Rock's excellent bit called "Niggas vs. Black People". It's not a matter of being poor, it's a matter of being an ignorant asshole regardless of your economic situation. If you're a white, ignorant asshole, you're White Trash.

For example, Rush Limbaugh is white trash.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CACC5VDrj9g (View the bit here)

[ourbluenation]

49. couldn't agree more. n/t

[senseandsensibility]

35. Yes it's wrong to call

human beings trash. Isn't that obvious?

[Lilith Velkor]

37. When they are trying to deny racism still exists, yes. n/t

[in_cog_ni_to]

38. YES, it's rude and so is " trailer trash."

:grr:

[Colobo]

40. Sadly, classicm is not as vilified as racism. I have to admit I'm a classist in recovery.

I've been solid middle class all my life, went to a private school, and over there we kinda learned to dislike and reject the poor. It was an accepted social attitude in that environment, and also in my house when I was growing up.

[Screwfly]

41. The term "white trash" = the N-word

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

62. Just great...

now they don't want us using the "W" word

[InkAddict]

43. Yes, it is offensive.

to me, but I have a lot of issues with derogatory labeling. I was raised by people who were, by their own admission, "perfect." They were certainly not wealthy, certainly not well-educated, nor high born, yet they had an uncanny ability to paste their disdain on virtually anyone that did not meet their extraordinary standards. I did not cause every bad thing to befall me, and my choices were not necessarily bad ones, but when my choices did not result in something for which THEY could have been exalted for their superior parenting or received their just warm fuzzies for such high achievement, I have to use the STOP method to quit "hearing" the tapes of their language that would often be used to rub the salt of their judgments into the life wounds of their children and grandchildren for circumstances that were often way beyond the scope of our personal control...and these labels have the exquisite power to bully and hurt. HUBRIS is a great evil and FUNDIES never understand nor practice, "there but for the grace of God go I." It is the epitame of a narcassistic lack of empathy, and a heinous defense mechanism that is used only to make up for the "lack" in their own lives. I absorbed the bullying of my acceptableness for far too long--no more.

Unitary executive judgements, like labels, are always destructive of peaceful social dynamics, especially so when those judgements usurp the rule of law that provides our freedoms of redress and dissent, of our right to seek success or suffer failure. Seek the truth, consider well the source, and exercise one's freedoms and right to live in peace. Admonish, censure, impeach, and try those that won't!

[thereismore]

44. It all boils down to PRIDE. Pride is rarely if ever justified. nt

[DemBones DemBones]

46. It's like the "n" word -- you don't call other people that name

unless you are trying to start a fight and/or show your ignorance.

[DemGa]

47. I've always seen it as a corollary to the N word

Yeah, I hate the term "white trash."

[SteveM]

58. Some strange wrinkles in this term...

My Grandmother years ago said, when asked what white trash was, they were people in the Klan, without jobs, didn't take care of their families, etc. Probably not true, but it did indicate that there were many poor people in the organization, along with some well-heeled people. Yet, she came from a racist background and was herself racist. It seems as if she were trying to shuffle off the guilt of this or was trying to differentiate herself from those using violence. She was from a Cracker farming background without electricity until the l940s.

As for the terms Cracker, she had no problem as this was useful shorthand for where a person was coming from. (In Florida, Plain Folk was the most innocuous way to describe farmers, mechanics, mill workers, etc., but Cracker lent a little more specificity.)

In Texas, Oil Field Trash is often used by those in that industry, and not usually in a derogatory way (the pay is good). Cedar Choppers is used in Texas to denote those who lived on the edge of cattle and agriculture work, since they cleared land of the ubiquitous juniper/cedar and often utilized the wood for fence posts, furniture, stockades, etc. I believe this is similar to Cracker and is not seen as derogatory except by those looking down on them. That seems to be the key.

If someone were to ask me what my ethnicity was, I answer Cracker.

[Sapere aude]

50. I don't think we should ever call people trash. White or not.

[WinkyDink]

64. Not even Cheney, Bush, Gonzalez, ...?

[Marrah_G]

51. Yes it bothers me

Any racist-classist bullshit bothers me. We are better then that.

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

52. I don't know...

it does sound better than......."Cracker Trash"

[City Lights]

54. George Walker Bush is trash in my book.

Some people are just trash. Skin color and social class have nothing to do with it.

[DeposeTheBoyKing]

72. I said that to my sister - she thinks it'd be a good bumper sticker

"Trash is trash - it doesn't matter what color bag it comes in."

[Codeine]

56. I'm not, but I've always been white trash.

Poor, trailer parks, moving every six months, crappy cars, guns, pickups, horses, dogs; the whole bit. I've avoided all of that as an adult, but that's how I grew up and I'm not ashamed at all.

[debbierlus]

61. Cool

It seems like many of my friends are 'White Trash'...& I meet the criteria too!

[debbierlus]

60. Not me - Didn't you ever read 'White Trash Cooking'

Best cookbook EVER.

I always associated White Trash with kind of salt of the earth people who didn't have much money. But, I can see how other people have different connotations of the word & I would never call someone it.

[WinkyDink]

63. No. E.g., it fits Britney Spears. It's a term of behavior, IMO, and that is neither a

permanent condition nor a strongly-held belief system.

[kineneb]

66. No, since it describes much of my dad's family...

they can be relatively "nice" white trash... Dad lives on a boat with wife #3... but what can you say about a cousin who kills his girlfriend by backing over her in his pickup truck while he was drunk (it is true, and he is in the slammer)...

could possibly even describe me, although my home has the wheels off and is on a concrete foundation... have indoor/outdoor pet chicken, cracks in the car windshield, piles of dead weeds in yard, dead car in driveway...

ok, up-scale white trash- my car is a Hyundai, dead car is Miata...

[retread]

68. I am wondering what you really want to say about the term "white trash." Or is

this just one of those stir up the ant hill posts?

[Madspirit]

70. Ahhh...I don't know

I, on occasion and to the dismay and chagrin of my girlfriend, will use the term. Rarely and only when I feel strongly. It's kind of like blacks using the "n" word. I have white trash in my roots and I feel I was, as an intelligent progressive lesbian, much a victim of my trashy-assed family members. I left home at 15 because of the incredible abuse of my family. Still, unless one can defend oneself as having it in their roots, I would say NO. This is one of those issues. Black people DO use THAT word. With plenty of trash in my family background, I feel I can use "white trash". That doesn't mean I would want to hear it from some snooty person's mouth as they spoke DOWN to someone.
Lee

[TroglodyteScholar]

71. I draw a distinction...

...in my mind between poor white people and white trash. It's got its own connotation for me (can't speak for others), but the phrase "white trash" is definitely unfortunate. Reminds me of the time that my cousin in Mississippi explained to me that not all black people were niggers. I saw a definite flaw in that, even though thinking back it was probably the same distinction I'm drawing with white trash.

I already make a conscious effort not to use the phrase, but it still slips out on occasion. Think I may have actually objected to someone using it a time or two. After responding to this post, I think I'll make a bigger effort.