What does the phrase "White Trash" mean? Is it racist? Against whom?

[Hoof Hearted]

I'll never forget when I was in college this girl who was probably my best friend at the time, she was from a solid middle-class family, she was a practicing feminist and definitely a liberal. Still, one day I told her about something that I had done for someone even more disadvantaged than I was even though I knew they would never know where it came from. I told her about it because we were in a conversation and I wanted her to understand that even people of limited means like myself usually tried very hard to give to others when they could. In other words, I wanted her to understand that those of us without silver spoons tied to our baby books had to rely on each other.

Her response? "How WHITE of you."

I was truly perplexed in every sense of the word. I had never heard that expression before. I think it's mostly because I had an obviously sheltered up-bringing and I'm actually not "white" in the American sense of the word but I do indeed usually "pass" for white. It's very confusing to others. It's just a fact of life for me. I'm sure many who saw me driving by in by truly hideous and sub-standard car assumed I was "white trash".

On the other hand, the first day I drove up in my future (extremely WASP) MIL's driveway in my AMC Gremlin with plexiglass and duct-tape for a back window the first thing she said to my husband was, "She's very pretty, what IS she?". He was baffled and horrified.

In the interest of simplicity I could have omitted my own experience, but I am anxious to hear yours, and what you think.

[proud patriot]

1. Britney Spears and Jerry Springer Fans

:shrug:

[Hoof Hearted]

12. So you're telling me that's who's voing right now or

that's your definition of "white trash"?

I'm such a rube.

[usaftmo]

35. That's mean.

Britney deserves whatever comes her way, and I like to watch Jerry Springer. It's kind of like mixing a soap opera with professional wrestling; seeing how these people get into such problems can definitely be funny. Some of the material is scripted, but that doesn't stop me from liking it.

IMHO, I don't consider Britney or Jerry fans to be white trash. However, as a liberal and active duty military member I'll defend to my death your right to your opinion.
:patriot:

[proud patriot]

72. Thank You

Yeah it was pretty mean .

I guess I meant the people on the Jerry Springer show
more than the people who watch it .

[Hoof Hearted]

2. Wow, I'm amazed at the initial response.

.

[Captain Angry]

9. The initial response of 4 votes? At 2:00AM Eastern on a Sunday morning?

How about you let it ride a little longer before getting too upset.

Anyway, I just try to avoid calling names and using labels.

But I'm strange. I was lucky (sort of). I moved 9 times before I graduated from high school. People are people to me. Everybody starts with a clean slate, and some lose points when they're ignorant.

To give you an idea of the diversity I got to see while I was growing up, I lived in Alabama, North Dakota, and New Mexico as examples.

There is no reason to be so negative towards other humans. If people choose to do things that they enjoy without hurting other people, then that's fine with me. I don't like auto-racing. A bunch of cars going in circles wasting gasoline and polluting. Not my thing at all. Some of my best friends will take a week off of work and go to a race across the country somewhere.

[rwenos]

3. A Literary Explanation

If you've ever read Harper Lee's marvelous novel, "To Kill A Mockingbird," about the small town South in the 1930's, you would get a good explanation of "Poor White Trash." The term referred then, and I think still does refer, to the Bob Ewells of the world. Bob Ewell, a poor white man -- and his daughter Mayella, who made a ridiculous trumped-up rape charge against an African-American man, which resulted ultimately in his death -- were "Poor White Trash."

I'm no sociologist of the American South, but I think the term refers to rural, poor Caucasians, most sharecroppers or other landless and asset-less. The bottom of the economic ladder, in the Caucasian community. The group who have historically felt, in their economic insecurity, that they needed to feel "better" than SOMEONE, and thus fixated on keeping African-Americans down.

These "Poor White Trash" were looked down on by the established Caucasian bourgeoisie as low-life, uneducated, rural, morally-defective.

On edit: This group were loyal members of the Roosevelt coalition, from 1933 until 1980. Then Ronald Reagan told them it was okay they hated everyone with more economic success than they. That made them become Republicans. Welcome to the "New South."

Anyone else have a better working definition?

[emilyg]

6. I like your definition.

Poor White Trash or Trailer Trash.

[Hoof Hearted]

7. I inquire about the modern usage. Incidents can be found in threads on page one.

So Gregory Peck aside, what does it mean NOW?

[rwenos]

10. Still Means the Same, Doesn't It?

Maybe I read too many books, but I think Bob Ewell symbolizes the uneducated, economically-disadvantaged southern white population as well now as he did in the 1960's, when Harper Lee wrote "To Kill A Mockingbird," which she set in the late 1930's in a mythical small Southern town.

The Bob Ewells of the world probably live a little better now than they did then (the Depression being a faded memory), but don't they still (and I'm quoting from memory, not the text) ". . . spend their welfare checks on green whiskey, so that their children cry from hunger"?

The Pubs have conned this group into thinking they are better off being screwed by big corporations, than by the local elitists. And the Pubs have let them pick their own scapegoat, i.e., the "Liberal Democrats."

In short, I think the description and the term still mean the same thing. Maybe the current version smells a little better, with air conditioning and all.

[Breeze54]

28. It means that whomever uses the term, uses it to make themselves feel better about themselves.

Trailer trash is an insult.

Many in New Orleans, "the forgotten and ignored", have been sentenced to live in trailers and * doesn't give a shit!

Apparently, neither do a lot of the "white trash" living in McMansions.

[GreenPartyVoter]

62. Yep. My family lives in a trailer, but we are in no way "trash".

[K Gardner]

16. Yours is a very intelligencia definition and pretty much spot on...

as a daughter of the South I hear "white trash" referred to today more in terms of "redneck" or people who do not seek in any way to improve their plight or remove themselves from their socioeconomic strata, but rather willingly remained blissful in their ignorance. It is also used to describe people who live off of the state, or welfare, when they don't need to. The term is rarely applied to the "working poor" these days, as it was in the past.Even in the South, people are given credit for pulling themselves up by the bootstraps. Also a derogatory term used to describe "loose" women. So I'd offer that the term has evolved over time, but also totally agree that this is exactly how the South became solidly Republican. That and the infusion into the Bible Belt of the Evangelical/Fundamental movement, which only gave the poor whites yet another reason to feel superior, morally and spiritually. (disclaimer: objective reporting here, not personal views!)

[rwenos]

24. "Blissful Ignorance"

You've really put your finger on it. "Poor White Trash" in the sense I was speaking EMBRACES its own lack of sophistication, lack of education, lack of worldliness. For the roots of this willful ignorance, take a look sometime at Richard Hofstader's "Anti-Intellectualism in America," which ties this blissful ignorance to 150 years of Fundamentalist preachers railing against the "Eastern Establishment" Protestant Church. The religious difference was that, in the Bible Belt, the preachers CELEBRATE their lack of academic preparation to preach the Gospel. I heard one say the other day, "We don't need any fancy degrees to preach the Word!" As if that was something to be proud of.

Hofstader comes off a little New York-arrogant today (the book was written in about 1966), but the historical Fundamentalist rebellion against eastern, urban universities, and against the mainstream Protestant clergy, is certainly nothing new. It's as old as the western expansion beyond the Alleghanies.

[Cleita]

51. When I was eight years old and still learning English and

American colloquialisms, the term "white trash" was explained to me by another eight year old friend as white people who live like "negroes", the term used for African/Americans back then. The kid was from a very liberal family whom she no doubt learned her biases from. I guess she meant that they were poor as AA's back then (1940s).

[mitchum]

55. Also, Jeeter Lester's family in Caldwell's "Tobacco Road"...

or Faulkner's Snopes family

[Harper_is_Bush]

4. It's racist if you believe there's a "white race".

In general it's a poke at rednecks that live in trailer parks and have little education.

[Zueda]

14. The first 7 years of my life were in a trailer park...

around the age of 5 is when I first heard the word 'whitetrash'

I had picked up the N-word from some of the older neighborhood kids. One day I blurted it out in front of my dad.
He turned to me all red faced, looking like he was getting ready to pop me in the head, and he said something to the effect of "Only whitetrash talks like that!"

from that point on I associated 'whitetrash' exactly as you described it.

[zalinda]

5. You are confusing two different sayings into one

White trash is usually a put down for a white person who doesn't live up to middle class standards. Meaning: if you live in a shack, don't work, missing teeth, drunk and dirty, smelly, or anything that another white person finds dirty and disgusting. You will also see the term "trailer trash" used in the same way, but a lot of times that will be the term for a woman who is kind of slutty looking.

"How white of you" is a term used as a put down when the other person thinks you have been "uppity". Meaning, you bragged about helping someone, and you think you are better than others. Well, you can see the racial over tones.

zalinda

[Hoof Hearted]

11. And you are the reason why I wondered if I should have kept it simpler

read again slowly at your leisure.

[RaleighNCDUer]

23. My response is the same as Zalinda's.

"How white of you" is totally different, contextually, from "white trash", so much so that I re-read your post three times to see if I was missing a connection you were making.

I thought that "how white of you" (and its variants) had pretty much disappeared from the vernacular since at least the 60s. Generally speaking, it's a loaded term, equivalent to 'generous', but directed at people of color - as if, of course, that would never be expected of them. I think I've heard it once, in person, and it was used sarcastically, but it is not uncommon in movies from the 30s and 40s.

White trash, OTOH, is still common vernacular and if anything it denotes a social status for poor whites that is a cut below 'redneck'.

[Hoof Hearted]

30. Of course it is, and if you read the OP you would understand that I have not

confused the two. Contradictions? That's something else.

[zalinda]

44. Well, thank you for calling me stupid n/t

[Hoof Hearted]

54. You assumed I was confused, I assumed you were in a hurry, not stupid.

I realized that people in a hurry would skim through my OP and say to themselves "Wait a minute, these are entirely different things". I don't really think they are. They're more like different facets of the same stone.

"White trash"
"Passing for white"
"How white of you"

To me they all set up whiteness as the apex of being from which everything and everyone else is judged.

[noamnety]

21. that's a funny sort of definition

"if you live in a shack, don't work, missing teeth, drunk and dirty, smelly, or anything that another white person finds dirty and disgusting."

[zalinda]

45. Yeah, white people are the only ones that

I have ever heard use the term. If it is a person of color, those type of white people use more "colorful" terms. Since I have never heard a person of color use the term, I can't speak for them.

zalinda

[noamnety]

61. You may have misunderstood me.

I found the phrasing odd, as if white people are special in that they find drunk and dirty, smelly folks disgusting. And I would agree that this is implied in the phrase itself. A big clue as to how racist (against POC) the phrase is can be found in that other sentence you posted - which was insightful, perhaps unintentionally so (not sure there): "White trash is usually a put down for a white person who doesn't live up to middle class standards."

The assumption is that white people are by default middle class, well-bred, well-mannered, clean, etc., and are above low class behavior by nature of their whiteness. The ignorant poverty class, on the other hand, is filled with "drunk and dirty smelly" folks, and is reserved for nonwhites. It insults whites by insinuating they are living like those other people live.

[zalinda]

63. The plain simple truth is that everyone wants to think

they are better than someone else. It doesn't matter on what playing field you live. Why do you think Jerry Springer is so popular? It's because people can look at that show and say, damn I'd never act like that, I'm better. And, the same would go with that show with Paris Hilton and friend, they look at the show and say, damn I'd never be that stupid. It doesn't matter what race you are, there is always someone who is on the low end of the totem pole. And yes, even in the black community, there is high yellow and blue black, in the upper and lower range of who's better. Why? High yellow were usually mixed with white blood and were house servants, and blue black were usually in the fields. It is amazing that so much language is mixed up with history, which gets lost along the generations. After a while, the true meaning of a term will get lost among those who use it.

And yes, white trash is a term that was made popular more after the WWII, because it was easier to pull oneself up by the boot straps. White trash were people who just didn't care to try. Now, in the south, it may have been a totally different type of definition added on to the phrase. I can only speak of what I have heard in the north east part of the country. Now, could someone say "white trash" to distinguish white people from people of color, maybe. It may have had it's roots in that area, but what I have found is that people will use a term and not think of it's history. I have seen white people use the term "white trash", ala Britney Spears, but would never think that Bill Cosby is trash, black or otherwise. It has become more of a descriptive term for behavior than for racial distinction. And every race or country of origin has it's own terms that it has come to use, defining who is better than.

zalinda

[noamnety]

65. What I've found

is that people of privilege will use a term and not think of it's history.

This is how we end up with white folks telling people of color that historical slurs against them aren't really racist. It's why we have multiple threads at the moment started by men telling us with the utmost air of authority that certain other slurs aren't sexist, even though some of the women in those threads have experienced them as sexist slurs.

It's how I end up with straight students who use the phrase "that's gay" and are convinced it's not homophobic.

People of privilege have a vested interest in not being able to see those connections.

[lumberjack_jeff]

66. My 2 cents, and probably not worth even that.

I have heard lots of people describe themselves as trailer trash. In fact, while we were living in a single-wide while building our house, we used to joke with friends that "if you mess with one of us, you mess with the whole trailer park". ;)

In a sense, its similar to the "n" word. It's okay when used among others in your group.

In contrast, I don't see "white trash" as benign in any setting, because its origins are from "poor white trash" and being born poor, I won't participate in afflicting the afflicted, even if they are white.

"How white of you" may be a colloquialism. In my rural and monochromatic area, it's often used as a term of praise. "I helped rescue Joe Bob from the floodwaters even though he took a pot-shot at my dog last week." "Cool. That was white of you".

I'm not suggesting it's an appropriate way to express the sentiment.

[Mojorabbit]

8. I am not entirely sure myself

but living in the south most of my life it was used in a kind of snobby way of talking about someone that had not much education and not much money nor social skills to fit in with the norm. Kind of like the redneck stereotype.

When my father brought my european portuguese mother (after they married) home to meet his southern baptist mother, she wanted to know if my mom was raised wearing a sarong. She never accepted her as she thought she was not white and worse she was Catholic.

Small town,ignorant, bigot, and self righteous christian she was. My dad never had much good to say about her. I think a lot of that is fading away as the years have passed at least in bigger towns.

[justgamma]

13. This will explain it!

http://www.funny-web-site.com/white-and-trashy.html

[magellan]

15. Other

edit: sorry, the first time I read your post the subject line was different, I thought you were looking for the definition of "How white of you". "White trash" is derogatory to whites.

[Hoof Hearted]

17. How about "white" as a shorthand for good - in contrast to "not white"?

How does saintly fit into that context?

[magellan]

20. Changed my reply

Please see the edit.

I don't know how "white" came to be associated with good, and "black" or other associated with bad, like "white hat" and "black hat"...it wouldn't surprise me if it were religious in origin. Something to research!

[Hoof Hearted]

22. .

.

[noamnety]

18. It's racist against people of color

and I'm surprised people here are saying it's insulting toward white people. That's like saying "you're so gay" insults the "you" in that statement. Well, yes, it insults the "you" - but only because it's a homophobic slur. The broader message is that it identifies gays as being undesirables.

The "white" marker on the word trash indicates that the person isn't the so-called normal sort of trash (nonwhite). That's why we don't have the phrase "black trash" - thanks to our long-standing history of racism, that would have been considered redundant. White trash, however - not redundant, because it's not the default setting for white.

When I see people use the phrase white trash, I generally call them on it.

[CTyankee]

53. I think you are right. I grew up in segregated Texas and that's the overtone I always

thought of when people used the term. I avoid it for that reason; it is racist to me. It is also classist, looking down on poor people who happen to be white but also who are lazy and sluttish. A bad term that I'd like to see become nonexistent.

[loyalsister]

69. Wow

someone else agrees with me.
I am glad that you posted this because it seems to be something that is rarely discussed. Language nuances have so much more power than we realize.

[L. Coyote]

19. Hey, I'm a member of the shit-head tribe, and we are now racists! LOL

[Obamarama]

25. I tend to frown upon names that refer to others as "trash"....

I don't get all uptight and defensive about it when I hear someone use the phrase "white trash" or "trailer trash." I just think there are other ways to denigrate someone without referring to another human being as "trash."

I've never lived in a trailer, but I imagine I would be mortified or shamed if I did and heard someone refer to someone else as "trailer trash." I admit I have used both terms myself in the past, but that ended when I referred to someone as trailer trash, only to find out later that unbeknownst to me, a co-worker lived in a trailer and was hurt by my comment.

[Hoof Hearted]

33. you say

I don't get all uptight and defensive about it when I hear someone use the phrase "white trash" or "trailer trash."


you seem like a good person, may it all work out well. ;-).

[rAVES]

26. Republicans

[krispos42]

27. Wikipedia seems to have a handle on it..

White trash is a derogatory term with a classist component targeted at white people with low social status, poor prospects, or low levels of education. To call someone white trash is to accuse a white person of being economically, educationally and culturally bankrupt.

<snip>

The term white trash first came into common use in the 1830s as a pejorative used by upper-class United States southerners of all races against poor non-Latino whites. It was synonymous with the slurs "sand hiller" and "clay eater". White trash were hyperbolically assumed to farm ineptly on poor land, and therefore resort to eating clay in order to survive. The term involves both behavioral characteristics, such as mannerisms, lifestyle and overt racial characteristics.

In 1854, Harriet Beecher Stowe entitled a chapter "Poor White Trash" in her defense of her abolitionist classic Uncle Tom's Cabin called Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin. Stowe tells us that slavery not only produces "degraded, miserable slaves," but also poor whites who are even more degraded and miserable. These whites were forced by the plantation system to struggle for subsistence. Beyond economic factors, Stowe traces this class to the lack of schools and churches in their community, and says that both blacks and whites in the area look down on these "poor white trash" (Wray 2007). Max Weber described white trash as "(those) not owning slaves" compared with the planters in the Southern States. White trash were the only type of white people that didn't have many more rights than black people. Many people use it against West Virginians because of the impoverished nature of some residents in certain sections of the state.

A related stereotype is that of the redneck, although they differ considerably. A rural middle-class person may proudly characterize himself as a redneck (for example, the comedian Jeff Foxworthy uses his redneck persona as part of his act), but might be genuinely offended if called white trash, which is a more pejorative, geographically different term.

<more>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_trash

[asteroid2003QQ47]

29. When exactly did we become white trash?

WHITE TRASH
Fred Eaglesmith

When I met her, she was a beauty queen who wanted somethin' more,
And now she's hangin' out with me in front of a liquor store.
And it won't start when I shut it off, so she has to get the beer.
She puts it in the back seat and she quietly says to me:

"When exactly did we become white trash?
How come we got seven dogs livin' in the g'rage?
How come the only eight-track in our car is Johnny Cash?
When exactly did we become white trash?

And she tells all our friends that I've got my Ph.D.
But it stands for post-hole digger. It ain't exactly a degree.
And there's curtains on the windows and we hardly watch TV.
And that double-wide is a triple-wide now that she's with me.

And she says, "When exactly did we become white trash?
How come we got seven dogs? Who burned down the g'rage?
How come the only eight-track in our car is Johnny Cash?
When exactly did we become white trash?"

[fiveleafclover]

31. There's a new kind of white trash

Down here, some people are referred to as "white trash with money". These are the people who would have been what is called trailer trash, but they figured out some less-than-honest way to get ahead. A good example would be a car dealer in the next town over. He has this huge car lot, but it's well-known that he makes the bulk of his money from selling cocaine and using the car lot as a front. As far as I know it's true, as nobody cares to keep it secret it seems. Many of my friends went to high school with the children of this guy and I'm told they were always bragging about it.

It's a label that only applies to the shady types. People who work their way up with hard work and honesty are never called white trash with money. Not that any of this really matters, just thought I'd share! :)

[blogslut]

32. Other

The term "white trash" is all about class division among caucasians.

[Bongo Prophet]

34. The meanings and use of terms evolve over time, still a broadbrush putdown

Trailer trash is white trash with less of the racial component, but still a CLASSIST put down.
Often it has a definition that varies with the person using it, making it pretty arbitrary - even to the point of liking a certain TV show or sport (NASCAR anyone?)
Yep, we see it a lot on DU in regard to freepers and such. But we really shouuld stay away from that term.

Other posters are right - it can refer to lack of formal education, to the color of your collar, and so on.
Usually someone with the lack of coompassion or sense to use such a phrase doesn't really think that hard about the particulars -just being dismissive.
Any one uses that term in front of me will get a reprimand, either gentle or harsh, depending on what I know of their personality.


Try to see the humanity in everyone, folks!
Cheers!

[HeeBGBz]

36. It's more classist than racist. n/t

[asteroid2003QQ47]

37. "racist?" There is but one race!

"White Trash" as descriptive of every issue of the Bush genetic pool works for me.

[Toots]

38. Let's flip it and use that very much used "poor black trash"

Hmm I wonder why the word "White" had to be inserted? Poor Trash would never have worked because it didn't liken a person to a black person...
Do you use critical thinking skills? There is a reason "white" is there.

[Nay]

39. This is a very interesting discussion. First, since I grew up in FLA

where perfectly normal people, usually our grandmas and grandpas, lived in trailers in neatly-kept trailer parks, the term "trailer trash" never connected very well in my mind. The term always clashed with my experience. Now that I have lived all over the south and out west, too, I can understand what people mean when they say it, but I can't really feel that way.

As for "poor white trash," I have always associated that term with what most others in this thread associate it with -- poor education, poor health care, missing teeth, spotty job history, unwillingness to educate/improve/maintain oneself and one's surroundings. When you see a guy who wins some lottery money and buys a truck with it while he, his wife, and the kids need teeth/schooling/haircuts, you are looking at poor white trash. Another indicator would be the guy who buys himself that shiny new truck or boat or house with the winnings, but who has no earthly idea how to maintain, clean, repair or look after any of these things, or has no interest in maintaining/cleaning/repairing these things -- the "responsibility gene" is missing in these individuals.

It is interesting that the "white" is inserted in there, and I think it's obvious that it's in there because white people assumed that non-whites were trash from the get-go, so if they were talking about white people, they had to be specific. Evolution has taken place, though, because I have actually heard the term "poor black trash" here in VA. Only a couple of times, but I did hear it.

[alphafemale]

40. wasn't "White Trash" a term originally coined by middle class blacks?

That's where I first heard of a reference to the term. As far back as the '30's.

As in response to being called the N word... "I may be a _____, but at least I'm not Po' White Trash."

[Smith_3]

41. I like to use the term "trailerpark trash" instead.

Its neutral with respect to ethnicity ;-)

[DemGa]

42. It's the "n" word for white people

That's very simply, exactly what it means. It's disgusting.

Edit: It should be very clear: "only a racist shit-head would use a phrase like 'white trash'" is the correct answer.

[treestar]

43. It's meant to identify poor white people

It is racist in the sense they feel that it is necessary to point it out, because if you just say they are white they are presumably at least middle class. Apparently you can get across "poor" from just identifying someone as black, hispanic, etc.

It's one of those snobby identifiers for lower class people, showing that white people have an unfortunate tendency (perhaps shared by others, but I can't speak to that) to be not only racist, but classist. If there were only white people in the country, there still has to be someone to look down upon.

This is how some people maintain their self esteem. Apparently they can't feel good enough about themselves unless there is somebody they can feel superior to. It can be anybody, it just has to be somebody.

[AllieB]

46. It's classist more than anything.

It's a slur on the underclass.

[L0oniX]

47. Trailer trash ...white trash ...redneck ...pretty much the same thing imo.

[Cleita]

52. I don't think redneck is in that same company.

Redneck doesn't imply poverty like white trash and trailer trash does. I think of rednecks as NASCAR fans who hunt and like to work on cars and who have a job, usually a union job. It's a more cultural than ethnic IMHO.

[knitter4democracy]

64. Well, there are nuances.

"Trailer trash" usually refers to people living in trailer parks. "Redneck" usually refers to farmers or whites who do manual labor all day or come from people who did manual labor. Rednecks aren't always poor--it's more of a mentality thing. "White trash" can refer to whites of any socioeconomic class, from what I've seen, as people without any grace or class.

[Beelzebud]

48. So is this another term the PC police forbid?

[noamnety]

67. Those pc police sure are annoying, aren't they?

what with expecting people to use language that doesn't slur women or people of color or gays ... they have no idea how much of an unbearable burden it is to avoid offensive language!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=2362108

[tuckessee]

49. It's only racist if used by non-whites. n/t

[Cleita]

50. I don't know if it's racist, but it shows a lot of bigotry against

poor people. The phrase "trailer trash" comes to mind as well. It's pointing out the disadvantaged as somehow being inferior because of their economic circumstances. I guess it could be racist as well if used by other white people, if you are a different ethnicity than the accuser. Like "hillbillies" who are mostly people of Scotch/Irish ethnicity, being called such by more affluent whites of other European backgrounds.

[SoCalDem]

56. buttered or plain?

[blm]

57. Well, since I know the joke and why you put up these posts ... I'm not going to answer Hydid

along with the others.

Frank Luntz might be looking for an assistant these days.

[OzarkDem]

58. or maybe he's already employed n/t

[napi21]

59. I never viewed that as a racist comment, but I looked it up.

Definition 4b for the adjective white in the Oxford English Dictionary reads "Honourable; square-dealing." The OED cites the first published instance of this usage of white as appearing in the 1877 novel Golden Butterfly by Walter Besant and James Rice. Following is the relevant quote:

A good fellow is Rayner; as white a man as I ever knew.

My friend Ben Zimmer contributed some additional citations on an archived American Dialect Society posting. Check 'em out at your convenience.

Interestingly, quite a few folks in this Metafilter thread feel that the slang expression "that's mighty white of you" is used primarily in a sarcastic sense (if at all) by people, and does not have any overtly racist intent or meaning. Witness the following posting by a user named Irontom:

I grew up in south Texas, and the phrase "mighty white" was never used as anything but sarcasm and derision. Mostly to bring people down a couple of pegs when they were going on about what a great person they were.

[mitchum]

60. I use the term in reference to white trash sensibilities or aesthetics...

such as:

buying the commemorative KISS collector's plate from the Franklin Mint
wearing a Hooters t-shirt
displaying the "My kid beat up your honor role student" bumper sticker

things such as that

[zorahopkins]

68. "Poor" White Trash

I never hear the term "white trash".

The term I hear is "poor white trash".

It's something rich, well-off white people use to describe other white people who are poor and who are not as "refined" as the rich people are.

Lots of times, the people you use the term are people who came from poor families themselves. Now that they have "made it", they look back with scorn at their own roots.

[TalkingDog]

70. Read "Bastard out of Carolina" by Dorothy Allison

Having grown up the child of a mill-working single mother and the grandchild of tenament farmers I can tell you some basic differences between poor whites and poor white trash or even plain old white trash:

Being poor simply means you have no money. You don't blame the world for your woes, you aren't surly and resentful or "entitled".

You attend to your comportment. You are not loud or vulgar or rude. You develop yourself to the best of your ability and means. You take pride in your work, yourself, your home and grounds and their cleanliness, even though you may not own the property you live on.

From popular culture: The Waltons would be poor. No money, but good hearted, hard working, community spiritied, determined to be good people in spite of circumstances.

Being white trash usually implies being poor, but with many of the nouveau riche the term can also apply (hence the Britany Spears reference). The general idea is that rural poor white people are always and automatically: racist, stupid, ignorant (stupidity is innate, ignorance is willful) dirty, drunken, incestuous, corrupt, vicious, murderous and somehow sub-human. Now, throw Southern in on top of that and you'll start to understand some of the commentary on this board when politics and the South come up.

From popular culture: The Simpsons has their poor white trash couple.

Roseanne Barr (loud, vulgar, unkempt woman who does not "know her place")

On British TV the show "Keeping Up Appearances" has some good examples of poor white trash. Onslo, the brother-in-law is classic. But that show also has a social agenda. The protagonist is always being shown her "proper place" in society every time she tries to, as we say in the south, "get above her raisin's"

And to be honest, the whole concept of white trash as a perjorative is predicated on the social agenda of: you must look, dress, act, be like people who are "better" than you in order to get ahead in the world.


Racist? In and of itself no. It does not automatically include every white person when it is used as an epithet. It is, however, bigoted and prejudicial.


My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[easttexaslefty]

71. I live in remodeled mobile home

All the homes on my street are "trailers" My husband dropped out of high school and is in construction.I never attended college. In fact, I married and was pregnant at 17. We have more than 4 dogs and live in a rural area. I don't get offended at the term trailer trash however, the term white trash would piss me off. That's just me,though.
peace,

[porphyrian]

73. It depends entirely on the context. -n/t