…But I know some people who are rednecks.
Mick is the name of the lead singer of the Rolling Stones.
Slope is what’s on the side of a hill.
Cracker is something you eat.
Spic & Span is a brand of household cleanser.
Goodness gracious, if these words are offensive then it’s only a matter of time until the whole fucking dictionary becomes a cesspool of slurs!
Yes, you’re privileged. You’ve never been pulled over for Driving While Black. You’ve never been followed in a store because they thought that your skin tone indicates that you’re a shoplifter. You’ve never been assumed to be inferior solely on the color of your skin. Damn right you’re privileged. You claim you’ve never been given a break you didn’t earn? Well, a lot of people out there are systematically denied breaks that they DID earn.
I don’t think anyone’s accusing you of the crimes of your ancestors. But I’ll gladly accuse you of being so high on your horse that you can’t see the reality here on the ground.
Are you calling me a redneck, aryk29? Cause I’ll kick your ass if you are!
Oh, and it says something about a thread when it gets 63 replies and 1122 views in one afternoon.
Green Bean: You don’t know me or my life. You make broad pronouncements about things I’ve never had happen to me and things I can’t possibly understand simply because you think you know where on the Pantone chart my skin falls. That’s ignorant and bigoted coming from you, me, or anyone else on the planet.
BTW, my ancestors moved here long after slavery was over and never lived in the segregated South.
No, I’m saying that what kind of world will we be living in if for every word, somebody takes offense to it.
The term ‘white trash’ developed as a distinction from ‘trash’, as the typical colloquial usage of ‘trash’ referred to non-whites. This is why it’s a racist term: not because it might offend Whitey, but that white trash needed its own distinctive term from your normal, average, coloured trash in the first place. Historically, it has been Afro-Americans who have found the term to be overwhelmingly offensive. I find it offensive for the same reasons, not because I give the slightest shit over what my skin colour is nor because I am getting my panties in a knot over some bizarro white pride issue.
Sofa King, you are a redneck.
I know what you are trying to say, or at least I think I do. But the way you phrase it makes it a load of bull.
White people (or <insert your ethnicity here> people) aren’t privileged because they aren’t discriminated against (“as much”, actually, because whites DO get discriminated against too). Living without being judged because of the tone of your skin isn’t a privilege - it’s the norm (or at least, it should be). I realise there’s a lot of bigots in the world, from all walks (and colours) of life. But the mere fact that a person never experiences discrimination firsthand doesn’t make them privileged, anymore than not having experienced torture makes them privileged.
Discrimination is wrong. No one should suffer at its hands. People who don’t, aren’t privileged: they are the norm.
I think what Daisy Cutter meant was that on that particular street you would likely here many black people use that word themselves. And she’d be right.
IMO, if you are offended when one person uses a word but NOT when someone else uses the same word, then it’s not the word you find offensive.
I don’t like the word and I don’t use it. I think it’s ugly and it has a lot of historical baggage. But I would feel a lot better if we ALL agreed that EVERYONE who uses it has committed a social faux paus, not just white folk.
And I have never heard of anyone being called a mullet. I have only heard that term used to describe a particularly heinous hairstyle. Is that word used as a slur in other parts?
If you don’t find the words ‘white trash’ offensive, try saying it to someone’s face, instead of muttering it under your breath or behind their backs.
I think you are likely to get your face re-arranged.
And again, from the same source:
The “No Irish Need Apply” stuff never really happened.
It’s an urban myth, probably cooked up by Irish Catholic bigots of the 19th Century to inculcate a strong feeling of ethno-religious identity and solidarity in the minds of their youth.
The link is HERE
As the site claims, “It is now easy to search through hundreds of thousands of pages of 19th century magazines and books, using the Making of America online software at Cornell.”
In fact one example was found, to quote from the site:
So, notwithstanding a quote on that site by a politician who is much admired on SDMB, Senator Ted Kennedy:
Sorry about the sidetrack, but the durability of the “NINA” myth truly irritates me.
On the question of “White Trash” being an insult, it is no better than “Gypsy”. People who use it, even those who try to disguise it by using softer terms involving trailer parks, have a strong need to build themselves up by denigrating some group or other that way. In the final analysis, they must have a group to attack without committing some solecism. There is a fairly common one on SDMB but those who indulge themselves are not aware that something might be amiss.
As for the term “Nigger”, no one uses it except in a mocking, self deprecating way, and only those who are part of the “In” group have the right to use it that way.
spooje, respectfully, that’s not what Daisy Cutter meant when he said “I don’t believe Nigger is really offensive anymore” and summarily equated the way they use the word “nigger” to a cornerstone of the Hip Hop industry.
When I’ve heard people refer to themselves or others (of the same race) as “nigger,” it’s mighty inconsistent, but I’ve always looked at it as metaphor. I have used the word “honky” to refer to myself in a self-deprecating way. See, I look like a white guy and some people will automatically judge me because of this. By metaphor, I am able to keep this in perspective without letting it drag me down or forcing me to perform “Stuart Smalley” on a regular basis.
By asking about “mullet,” I was just wondering if this word might one day supplant “white trash,” or if we can predict howling in the streets about the bigotry implied by a moniker based on a hairstyle. I recall a bit of controversy at the release of The Legend of Billy Jack, where the oppressive, ignorant backwoods white folk are referred to as “cutters.” Just plain silly.
BTW, spooje, since you live in Long Beach I’m wondering if you’re similarly perceiving what’s happening to the word “Armenian” here in LA.
Actually, no. What’s the story?
Hmm, I’m curious, too. What’s happening to it?
With all due respect, Diogenes, I disagree. While it is certainly true that many white people enjoy certain advantages merely by virtue of being white, that is not always the case. Class bigotry can be just as strongly felt and just as cruelly applied as race bigotry. Poor whites in Appalachia whose children are malnourished and whose lives consist mostly of just waiting to die are as much victims of discrimination and bigotry as their black bretheren in the inner cities. In fact, they have less political clout because there are no leaders who stand up and even pretend to represent them.
Jane, Bob, Sue, Daisy, Michael and Betty.
My grandmother, who was a wise old lady, raised 9 kids during her lifetime. They were extremely poor, uneducated, lived in a rented house and she did laundry for people to make extra money.
She always said there was a difference between being poor and being trash.
I tend to agree. I don’t care if someone is black, white, purple or green live in the projects or live in a mansion, they can live a trashy lifestyle.
I would use the phrase, “white trash-mullet wearing-Jerry Springer reject” a million times over before I would ever call someone a nigger.
What say we all agree on “TRAILER trash-mullet wearing-Jerry Springer reject”?