I agree. It’s insulting to the people to whom it’s directed. And it’s racist as well, but that’s directed to non-whites. It implies that there’s no need to describe people as “black trash,” for example. Only whites require such a qualifier to make sure it’s clear the trash in question are white. No such qualifier is needed for non-whites, whose trashiness is a given, it implies to me. Saying something about the “trash” who live down the street is ambiguous. Referring to the “white trash” or “blacks” is not.
That’s how it rubs me the wrong way. I don’t think it’s racism against whites at all. (In addition to being just not nice for the people in question, racism aside.)
I don’t have a problem with the term because it can be accurate and perfectly descriptive. I think people are getting too hung up on the ‘white’ part of the term and reading too much into it. It doesn’t have anything to do with white people in general or the superiority or inferiority of any other groups. It is simply the descriptive term for that specific type of white person.
White trash doesn’t even apply to all of the subgroups of poor, white American people. You also have rednecks (there is some overlap but they are generally not white trash) and shitkickers (simple rural type like a poor but hardworking farmers). That is only two of many terms for different subgroups of similar white people and there are many more for lots of other groups.
I know the lefty types will always say that we shouldn’t apply labels like that to anyone. I say that if you believe that then you don’t know much about white trash. I grew up among them and it is most certainly a real subgroup with lots of undesirable tendencies. To qualify as white trash, a family needs some combination of most of the following: 1) A disdain for education 2)Extensive criminal history among several branches within the family 3) Drug or alcohol abuse as a lifestyle 4) Poorly maintained housing, especially older mobile homes 5) Bad financial history including frequent losses of jobs due to maladaptive behavior 6) Family history of teenage births - white trash will commonly be grandparents in their 30’s for example 7) Clothing, cars and entertainment choices that approximate the white trash ideal. 8) Family history of domestic disturbances.
That is a real subgroup of people that occur all over America so it is useful to have a term for the subculture. I don’t care if the term is white trash, trailer trash or a new term that someone makes up (I suggest ‘Mackers’) but people will continue to use some version of the label as long as white trash culture is going strong around them.
I don’t consider all derogatory descriptors based on race, especially the “white” race, to be racist. It may be prejudiced, ignorant, or offensive (“white trash” is all of these) but it’s not racist.
I can shrug it off. Of course, I’m not that vigilant in general.
This. It isn’t tied to a history of oppression or anything, so who cares? If I made up the word “blurts” tomorrow, and I meant it as an epithet describing white newscasters, I doubt anyone would find it offensive. Just stupid.
A little example of something that happened to me in the second grade. My self and a boy named Orville who was a bit if a genius were put into a special mathematics class together. We quickly became friends even though we came from two different worlds. He invited me to his house where we were going to build a mechanical frog togehter. His mother came out and smiled sweetly at us and asked Orville to come in the house for a minute. I heard her scream at him, " why are you bringing that trash around here?". I didn’t know if I should just leave or wait for Orville to come back. Anyway when he came back he just said he had to go in for dinner.
The next day his father showed up after school to give us a ride home and gave me a new belt, he told me if I would walk Orville home from school everday and keep him from getting picked on he would give me .50 cents a week. Even at 7 years old I was highly insulted and from that point on I just accepted my "place" in life. Took me awhile to get past that incident and others that were similar.
I agree with those who think the term is supposed to call to mind the fact that there is trash, and then there is white trash. The default of “trash” is non-white.
So, it’s an insult directed at people by comparing them to non-whites.
Similar to insulting men by comparing them to women.
Not all poor white people are white trash however. It is a specific term with several different criteria to qualify, many of which are behavior and choice based. I don’t see how that is deriding poor people in general. It isn’t always a derogatory term either. It isn’t uncommon at all where I come from for people to say that they and their families are white trash and they are always right because they fit the subculture.
I recently found out that I am 1/4 white trash myself courtesy of my least favorite grandparent, my maternal grandmother. I never knew much about her family background until I looked it up. What little I did know made sense based on everything new I found. They were complete white trash. If my mother had just told me that straight out, it would have made the explanation a lot more simple.
I’m not taking a position on the rightness or wrongness of the term, but to me it seems to imply a position of choice/privilege; people who have no excuse or cultural reason to be as low brow, rude, and trashy as they are, but are anyway.
It may seem that way today but everything I have read indicates that the term originated with house slaves in the 1830’s. House slaves were the highest level of slaves in the hierarchy and they used the term as a pejorative against poor white servants. The house slaves saw themselves as superior to some types of poor whites. The term was adopted throughout the South among all classes and races during the second half of the 19th century to describe a particular subculture of poor whites and remains that way today.
I agree. The term is more than simply the sum of two other words. It is referring to a particular known subculture that we are all familiar with to some degree. There are several criteria required for admission into that particular label so there is no need to try to deconstruct the term into individual components because it doesn’t work that way. You can be white + trashy and still not be ‘white trash’ if you manage to pull your trashiness off in some less typical way. You would have to fall under to some other label and there are plenty more to choose from. Conversely, you can be rather wealthy through whatever circumstances and still be white trash if that is still a predominant influence on your cultural and worldviews.
I might be with you if we restricted the term to describing adults. But we use it with families, including children, and that’s a shitty way to label a kid for a number of reasons.
I can see that point but there are number of people that fall into the category that embrace the term themselves. It can be mildly to extremely offensive depending on the context if it comes from an outside person but it is descriptive if used in the right way. I grew up with whole families that described themselves as white trash, kids included and seemed to be somewhat proud of it. Honey Boo Boo’s family definitely fits the general mold but that is hardly a one-off phenomenon. There are countless more just like them and I know many of them personally.
Kids have social awareness too and the term can serve as a warning for those motivated to take heed. Most of them tend to take on the family tradition but not all of them. For example, my SIL comes from 100% pure white trash family and she will tell you that herself. I was a groomsman at the wedding and we all had the double job of the traditional wedding tasks plus serving as bouncers and law enforcement (my little brother was a police officer at the time) in case her family got too out of control and started fights or the substance abuse got out of control. However, she largely raised herself and put herself through college and became a very smart and successful professional because she knew that she didn’t want to carry on her family’s white trash tradition. The label served as a focal point for her rebellion to do better and she has done it quite well.
I can see what you are saying, but it’s still problematic. It sets up the person who “gets out” of white trashdom up for some pretty complex feelings-- the sense that they are “passing” among polite society, shame and embarrassment about their family, motivation to disown the very upbringing that made them who they are, and a general sense of isolation in their “new life,” where they are neither one nor the other.
I think it can be harder for white people, because their class is less visible. If a successful professional comes from, say, a poor Mexican family, their peers are likely to have some understanding for the ways that they are different, and nobody is going to bat an eye if they go back to visit a family living in modest circumstances. But a successful white professional from a poor background is going to be expected to shed all trace of their "white trash"ness. There is no way to “own” their background and reconcile it with their new circumstances. And that kind of disconnect can be emotionally difficult.
I really liked your post, myself and plenty other people I know have battled this for a lifetime. Thats why I think it so important whenever possible to include an underpriveledged kid into some kind of family activity and make sure it is a positive experience. You will be doing a child a world of good.
I believe there have been whole threads about it being okay for blacks to use the N word on each other. Is whites using “white trash” that much different?