netted 13 results on Google , refering to black T-shirts or porn sites. “white trailer trash” netted 793 results, many descriptive of a segment of the population.
Considering that 13% of America’s population is black, this percentage certainly doesn’t correlate to the usage of “racial” identification of mobile home dwellers. Furthermore, considering that because most Americans can be described as white, that generally being the default understanding of a persons colour in the absence of description, the discrepency in the demographics between poulation stats and language usage is even more astounding.
Is there a actually a cultural divide in America whereby very few black people live in trailer parks compared to the percentage of population? Or is our society willing to scorn white people but concerned about being bigots when describing less desirable black people? Or are black people in trailer parks generally better educated and socially adapted than white people? Is it possible that blacks are made to feel unwelcome in trailer parks?
Come to think of it, I cannot recall any Hollywood movie scene depicting black trailer trash, but certainly a lot of white trailer trash. In Canada, we have a lot of trailer parks, but very few black people. So I haven’t got a clue as to what the straight dope on this descrepency actually is.
“White trash” predates trailer trash by quite a bit and is a racist implication that certain whites are so low that they are as bad as or worse than blacks. (Interestingly, this use of the phrase is used by both whites and blacks to heap scorn on certain segments of the white population.)
Trailer parks are primarily an exurban phenomenon while the overwhelming majority of blacks live in urban (or, in the last 20+ years, suburban) locations.
Since mobile homes are much cheaper than more permanent housing, they tend to be used by people farther down the economic scale. This leads to an association of “trailer” people with “poor” people–the group from whom the people identified as “white trash” would most likely be drawn. (Which is not a claim that all poor whites are “white trash”–or that any poor whites should suffer that label–only that there is some perceived number of “white trash” that would be pictured as living in mobile homes while there would be little perception of [derogatory term of choice] blacks also living in mobile homes.)
This is just my experience growing up in the rural South in a town that was half black and half white. Poor black people tend to live in run-down subsidized apartment buildings in towns and cities. These are commonly called “the projects”. In very rural areas, poor blacks tend to live in tiny, run-down, self-built houses. These are very much a step below mobile homes in terms of size and quality of life. Think battered tin roof and bare wooden walls and roughly finished wooden floors. There are a few blacks that live in mobile homes but it fairly rare. The paradox is that the blacks that live in mobile homes are not the bottom dwellers. The people in the projects and run-down houses are worse off than someone that has a private mobile home so these people tend not to be trashy at all, but a little more affluent.
The standard for whites is to have a typical house with a yard in a neighborhood. There are certainly white people that live in "the projects too in cities and towns. These tend to have largely the same problems that predominatly black or hispanic projects have. However, there is another aspect of poor white culture which doesn’t really exist in the culture of the minorities. That is too move into the fringe of a town or far out of a city and set up in a mobile home. Mobile homes vary tremendously in quality. Some are quite nice. I spent the first 4 years of my life in a pretty good one. The bad stereotype comes from the fact that really poor a trashy whites often buy really old and run-down mobile homes and band together in trailer parks. This type of culture is very unusual for minorities to move into. If I had to guess why, I would say that the reason is that poor blacks and other minorities congregate in the cities in “the projects” rather than move outside of town in a more rural area. Trailer parks are very difficult to locate within the city and are usually on the fringe of town.
Also, term “white” as a descriptive has no negative racial connotations. If a person wants to make a derogatory statement against white people another adjective is needed.
On the other hand “black” can be derogatory all by its lonesome. Although it is a perfectly fine descriptive word and should not be seen as negative all by itself, it is. This is where a lot of “Was what I said racists?” grief comes from[sup]*[/sup].
So the term “white trash” or “white trailer trash” is used while the term “black trash” or “black trailer trash” sounds redundant to some.
[sup]*[/sup]From the threads I’ve seen here on this topic, most of the time the person was not trying to be racist and the grief starts with some very thin-skinned blacks. Many times, even though the person was not trying to be racist, the statement made was made out of real ignorance (not the willful or manufactured kind). And sometimes people really are racist.
Here in MY city (Virginia Beach), I’ve often noticed that our minority population (whether it be black, Hispanic, Filipino, etc)tended to be in the more urbanized part of town, where no Trailer Parks are to be seen, while the whites tended to be centralized more in the suburbs and Pungo part (country), where you can definitely find a Trailer Park.
A terrible situation, actually. I live in the countrified part, but attended an out of zone high school in the urbanized part. The school had a lot of cultural diversity, which gave February a very festive atmosphere - it was a lot of fun!
Unfortunately, in the predominately white school that my brother went to, things are NOT fun.
Since all those pasty-faced white people got together in one school, they somehow adopted the attitude that the minorities BELONGED at the other side of town. Membership in the KKK was actually not common, but not unheard of. (Blech.)
Thankfully though, I think those attitudes have reflected into academics - Travis’ school is NOT celebrated for its test scores’, while mine was known throughout the area for both its great athletics and its academic prowess. Travis’ school = no state titles. Mine = 6.
Very sad though that ANYONE has to live in a rundown trailer park. I know there are good ones out there, but by and large I think they are mostly hangouts for the down on their luck.
According to the Housing Assistance Council, “White-headed households comprise 78 percent of nonmetro mobile home households, while 7 percent are black-headed households and 4 percent are Hispanic-headed households.”
But if we include mobile home parks in metro areas, what are the figures?
There are 12,936,000 black householders (i.e., heads of household, whether owner or renter) in the United States. Breaking that number down by the structure they live in:
Units in Structure
6,076,000 1, detached
1,411,000 1, attached
1,728,000 2 to 4
1,022,000 5 to 9
804,000 10 to 19
593,000 20 to 49
716,000 50 or more
586,000 Mobile home or trailer
SUPERKARLENE,
This is not intended as a hijack, but up until about a month ago, my best friend lived in a trailer park in West Virginia. For the record, she’s a respected archaeologist. I visited her a few times down there, and it’s quite a nice complex, complete with a pool, playground and ducks. She moved there because it provided the best value for the money and included a landlord who fixed things. She moved out after she got married because it was a bit small for two people and she and her husband wanted something a bit closer to where he worked. I’ve re-read your caveats, but I did want to point this out.
I have never heard the phrase “white trailer trash” before, although “trailer trash” and “white trash” are both fairly common and are sometimes used interchangeably.
You are correct that race is rarely specified in the US if the person or group being discussed is white. This is almost always true if the speaker is also white. The notable exception is when mentioning a person or group with some attribute normally associated with non-whites. This is why one hears “white rapper Eminem” but never “white pop singer Britney Spears”. I have no doubt that the phrase “white trash” has its origin in the idea that most “trash” isn’t white.
By like reasoning, the use of the phrase “trailer trash” instead of “white trailer trash” suggests that “trailer trash” is generally assumed to be white so it is not necessary to specify their race. The “trailer trash” stereotype is a white one, and it does seem that real-life trailer parks are predominantly white. But I can assure you that “our society” is perfectly willing to heap scorn upon “less desireable black people”, and the rarity of references to “black trailer trash” should not be taken as a sign of a lack of other derogatory terms for poor non-whites.
In this area, it seems to be more a matter of upbringing, and family influence.
Many blacks live in the same area of a city that their families were from. Housing is easier to find, and transportation, and schools are not a problem.
City Fathers are more willing to overlook a falling down apartment complex, until ‘urban renewal’ is in place. They are also more active in getting funding for new apartments, than they are likely to make money available for individual units.
Some Cities won’t allow trailer parks, that aren’t ‘grandfathered’ in. There’s too much damage during a tornado or flood, if not set up properly.
Whites are more likely to be found on the outskirts,in rentals or possibly in a mobile home, or old house on family land. Several I know, drive 50 miles to work each day.
Of course, these are all people on the lower end of the economic scale. Once any of them start moving up, they may choose different housing, in different areas,also.
Lest we forget, the early ‘trailer parks’, had just that.
Trailers. Homes on wheels, many times with families who followed the crops, or other types of itinerant jobs.
Little better than Gypsies, to some. (And what’s wrong with that? ,<veg>)
I’ve lived in all those places, at one time or another.
Sure am looking forward to my old age.