# "white trash" **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [June 18, 2007, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527 "2007-06-18T23:53:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/41 "2007-06-20T00:29:55Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] There’s never been a movement to move “white trash” to internment camps, they’re not an oppressed ethnic group, there’s never been a move to exterminate them (unless you count tornadoes)/ [/QUOTE] “God must really hate trailer parks.” /Johnny Fever ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/42 "2007-06-20T00:36:19Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] WHERE, if I may be so bold as to ask, did someone get warned for complaining about “white trash?” [/QUOTE] Individual posters weren’t warned, but the SDMB as a whole was admonished [three times](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=425268&page=2): > [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > The topic of this thread is the “fashions” and fads of the lowest economic, lowest education, southern demographic. I don’t give a shit what name you attach to it. > > If you want to debate whether the term “white trash” is offensive enough to warrant being excluded from the SDMB, please start such a thread in either Great Debates or the Pit or even ATMB (one location only, please.) > [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > In short, this thread is about fashions and fads within a certain demographic, however defined. Please stay on topic. > [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Moderator repeats himself (like history): Discussion of what is or isn’t “white trash” and whether it is (or isn’t) an offensive term is NOT for this thread . . . This thread is about discussion of fashions for a certain socio-economic group. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/43 "2007-06-20T00:38:30Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Are you white trash, Tuba? [/QUOTE] No, but I see the confusion. It’s _Tuna_ Noodle Casserole, not _Tuba_ Noodle Casserole. Which reminds me: Willie Nelson used to introduce a recurring segment on SNL entitled _Great Moments in the History of White Trash_, one segment being the invention of the Tuna Noodle Casserole and another the invention of Check Kiting. Post “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” (when they were a lot more cutting edge) I don’t think they’d have dared do Great Moments in the History of {Ethnic Slur Here}. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/44 "2007-06-20T00:39:49Z")
[QUOTE=Freddy the Pig] Individual posters weren’t warned, but the SDMB as a whole was admonished [three times](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=425268&page=2): [/QUOTE] And then a junior mod denied having ever known CKDH 3 times before his cock grew. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/45 "2007-06-20T00:45:23Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] And then a junior mod denied having ever known CKDH 3 times before his cock grew. [/QUOTE] This could be funny as hell if I just didn’t have this sense of Right and Wrong that keeps getting in the way. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/46 "2007-06-20T01:10:07Z")
> [@](#): > > Jap gets a warning, and for “white trash”, the people who complain about it get warned? Un-fucking-believable. Excuse me? The three “warnings” were reminders to keep discussions on topic in Cafe Society, and not to trainwreck or hijack the thread with a different topic. The purpose of THIS thread (I think) is supposed to be whether we should be modifying or clarifying the rules on offensive language, whether any words should be excluded per se, or whether it depends on context. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/47 "2007-06-20T01:28:49Z")
The OP started this one out with > [@DrDeth](#): > > \ Ok, but then not too long ago, a poster used the term “Jap” (in a WWII context) but a Mod stepped in an gave an Official Warning. . Well, I’m the big, bad Mod who issued that directive. Let’s read what I actually said in that thread. > [@samclem](#): > > Quartz. Unless you were referring to Jewish American Princesses, I think you could try to not use terms that are considered, with good reason, denigrating in todays world. Thanks. . Unless I’ve had too much to drink tonight(there ain’t no such thing), I’m not of the opinion that I issued an official warning. You can possibly provide evidence to the contrary. I must admit, I haven’t followed this thread intently, nor have I gone back to find out if I had to smack someone down about the use of the term “Jap.” And, BTW, “smack down” means more to me than suggesting that a poster who had no idea about the term might want to try to learn about its history, and not do it again. Again, I haven’t searched, and there may have been further “mod action.” But I don’t remember it. **samclem** GQ moderator ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/48 "2007-06-20T01:30:58Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] And then a junior mod denied having ever known CKDH 3 times before his cock grew. [/QUOTE] Now, that’s funny. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/49 "2007-06-20T04:00:05Z")
[QUOTE=C K Dexter Haven] Excuse me? The three “warnings” were reminders to keep discussions on topic in Cafe Society, and not to trainwreck or hijack the thread with a different topic. The purpose of THIS thread (I think) is supposed to be whether we should be modifying or clarifying the rules on offensive language, whether any words should be excluded per se, or whether it depends on context. [/QUOTE] Correct. IMHO your “warnings” were the right thing to do in that thread in that context. We were going into a hijack, no doubt. **samclem** : I dont think that is the one I am thinking of. But if it is, and I got it wrong, my humble apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/50 "2007-06-20T05:33:23Z")
> [@](#): > > **samclem** : I think you could try to not use terms that are considered, with good reason, denigrating in todays world. I agree and choose not to. It’s not that I think that some words are “bad” and others are “good.” It’s just that some words hurt and others don’t. I’ve seen what being called “trash” or “white trash” does to some people – especially young people. _Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth **Edition** _ :o says that _white trash_ is usually disparaging. I don’t see how it could not be denigrating. Certainly that term is as offensive as _Japs_ which says nothing insulting in particular. _White trash_ actually contains an insult within the term itself. > [@](#): > > **Sampiro** : Is there any group anywhere that’s not rich in culture? No. That’s my point. They are not “culturally deprived.” > [@](#): > > So you are calling the Joads “whitetrash”? No. I have no need to use a disparaging term for poor whites. And I don’t understand people who do. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/51 "2007-06-20T06:34:59Z")
I’ve never ever in my life heard the term “white trash” used as a synonym for “poor whites”. People use the term to refer to a pretty specifically defined group of people who have a lot of unfavorable characteristics… (such as being morally iffy and possibly criminal, etc) Can you really not understand using a disparaging term for any group of people? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/52 "2007-06-20T07:18:03Z")
After some searching I can’t find any post where a Mod actually did a “Official Mod Warning”. That may be because I am not searching well- since we can’t search for “Jap”. Or it also could be that my memory was incorrect. :smack: Still, I think this needs some discussing in general anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/53 "2007-06-20T09:35:11Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] No, but I see the confusion. [/QUOTE] I think the one confused is you — my question was directed to Tuba. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/54 "2007-06-20T12:05:35Z")
> [@](#): > > **OpalCat** : Can you really not understand using a disparaging term for any group of people? I’m sure that I have used disparaging terms at one time or another, but I don’t _usually_ indulge in namecalling at a particular group. I used an abbreviation for _fundamentalists_ at one time until someone told me that that was offensive to him. So I stopped. If you don’t accept the dictionary’s definition of _white trash_, how do you know which ones are immoral, don’t pay their bills, commit criminal acts, are uneducated and unintelligent – unless you are personally involved in their lives? And you know that a lot of people get branded with that label by people who _do not know them_ but just make assumptions. You would not even be able to label a family as _white trash_. It’s would have to be an individual matter. Why go to all the trouble to find out if someone sinks so low as to earn the label? And what does it matter if the picture on the T-shirt is a wolf or an apple pie (as found in the latest Sundance catalog? Why make the distinction? Why does it matter? It seems to me that people (not you especially, but _some_ people are really stretching for ways to stir up “us and them” thinking and will reach for just about anything! ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/55 "2007-06-20T12:06:25Z")
I think I’ve asked this before - if “white trash” is not hate speech, is “black trash” hate speech? “Wigger” is a contraction of “white nigger” - is that hate speech? Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/56 "2007-06-20T13:30:54Z")
To me, the bottom line is, _some people are offended by it_. Don’t argue about whether or not they should be. Make note of it and move on. Continuing to use the phrase and to argue about it with those offended is really being somewhat of a jerk, imho. Maybe some Dopers are being a little thin skinned, so what? Why be a jerk to them? To teach them some lesson? To change their opinion to yours? To prove yourself superior or them inferior? Really, just WHAT is the motive, now that everyone’s feelings on the matter are out in the open? (FTR, no, I am not offended by it as tho it somehow equaled nigger or kike. But I am offended by people trying to force an issue on some who have made it clear that _they are_ offended by it, for whatever personal reasons they have.) ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/57 "2007-06-20T13:33:16Z")
[QUOTE=C K Dexter Haven] Excuse me? The three “warnings” were reminders to keep discussions on topic in Cafe Society, and not to trainwreck or hijack the thread with a different topic. [/QUOTE] The “reminders” foreclose the self-policing that can keep the language civil without moderator intervention. Without the reminders, the person posting about fashion makes a choice–"I can post a question about ‘white trash fashion’, and face a hundred posts arguing with my inflammatory choice of words, or I can post about ‘truck stop fashion’, and have the thread stay on topic. Next time the same poster might make a better choice. As it stands, the moderators will not only not sanction “white trash”, they’ll _actively defend_ it by “reminding” people who complain about it to stop. ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/58 "2007-06-20T13:36:57Z")
[QUOTE=Liberal] Are you white trash, Tuba? [/QUOTE] No, all my sousaphones have been brass. 🙂 (Sorry, fiberglass sousaphones are often referred to as “white trash” as opposed to metal horns. Couldn’t resist.) Socially the answer is no as well. Odd that you should ask. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/59 "2007-06-20T14:26:54Z")
Well, I think after all this discussion, we’re where we started. Our rules prohibit hate speech, but not other forms of disparaging or offensive language _per se_, but only in context. The easiest example to work with is the a term like “fuck” which is pretty offensive to many, many people. We certainly do not prohibit use of the word as a word. We do prohibit it as a personal insult (outside the Pit), because we don’t allow personal insults, regardless of whether the language used is off-color. Similarly, I think, with regard to racial or ethnic slurs. They are not polite language, but their use is not prohibited unless the context is a violation of other rules. That is, they are not “hate speech” in and of themselves, such a ruling depends on the context. Those of us who try to be extremely polite, try to avoid racial and ethnic terms that are offensive to others. Those of us who don’t give a shit, use them somewhat freely. And the Boards are open to both groups. > [@Freddy the Pig](#): > > As it stands, the moderators will not only not sanction “white trash”, they’ll actively defend it by “reminding” people who complain about it to stop. I disagree with your interpretation. The topic was supposed to be about fashion, and a discussion of whether the term was degrading or offensive started up in post #6. A few posts about the use of the term would have been fine, such complaints (and rejoinders) appeared in posts #7, 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24, 28, 31, 33, 34, 35, 36, 39, 41, 42, 43, 45, 47, 49, 51, 52 and 55… and then I said, “Please stay on topic” in post 61. So, I don’t think I’m sanctioning the term, nor was I preventing discussion of the term within that thread. That hijack discussion was a relevant tangent for a while, and went on quite a long time before I said, “OK, back to topic.” ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527/60 "2007-06-20T15:23:27Z")
[QUOTE=TubaDiva] Full disclosure: I am a Southerner, I’ve had years and years of experience with most every stripe of Southern culture including the white trash kind and I can tell you that white trash culture is alive and well and flourishing in spite of all the ugly things people might say about it. Heck, you don’t even have to live in the South to see it, it’s growing everywhere, like kudzu. [/QUOTE] At least you finally admit that one doesn’t have to live in the South the be called white trash, as **Dex** claims with his backhanded little admonishment. > [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > The topic of this thread is the “fashions” and fads of the lowest economic, lowest education, southern demographic. I don’t give a shit what name you attach to it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-trash/408527.md?page=4)