# You might be white trash if.... **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 11, 2003, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492 "2003-08-11T22:15:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/41 "2003-08-12T14:30:12Z")
IDBB, have you emailed the mods or used the “report this post” button? It might get attention more quickly than if you wait for a mod to find your request here. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/42 "2003-08-12T14:47:25Z")
**Who\_me?** says pretty much what I would about this issue. It’s the tone of the presenter that determines whether such humor is funny or not. If the joke teller acts as if “Hey, I’m one of these folks and ain’t we funny when this happens?” instead of “Look at these rubes. Have you ever seen anything more stupid?” then I’m more apt to laugh _with_ rather than _at_. The lack of anything but typed words leaves it to the reader as to whether that tone is even present. If I get redneck jokes in email, I know who sent them. If the sender is a fellow Southerner I laugh along with him/her on how apropos they are. If the sender is somebody not from this area and has made it a point in the past to try to demonstrate some superiority based on being from some other region of the country, I just delete the goddamned thing with a kind and gentle “fuck you” muttered under my breath as I do. The fact that other jokes sites have an abundance of these as part of their display dilutes the issue of copyrighting for me. It’s not like Foxworthy created these things out of whole cloth. I would wager that Foxworthy heard these (or had them sent in to him) from dozens of sources. If we want to get technical about the copyright issues, Foxworthy would have to answer to Lewis Grizzard, Dave Gardner, Jerry Clower and most every other Southern comic who ever stood in front of a mike in a comedy joint. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/43 "2003-08-12T15:00:39Z")
I’m constantly amazed at how any little thing can be construed as offensive on here. I didn’t particularly find it funny, but it certainly didn’t upset me any. Come to Indianapolis and I’ll take you places where the people can be labeled as nothing other than white trash. In fact, this week would be really great because we’re having the State Fair. Whoo hoo! Hillbilly heaven!! ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/44 "2003-08-12T15:09:36Z")
Like I said before, any mention of the term “redneck” or “white trash” is now interpreted by some as an offense that’s as bad as using the n-word. However, there is no supposedly inoffensive alternative to “redneck” or “white trash.” Sometimes, I use “white working-class people of a rural Confederate cultural orientation,” but that reeks of an awkward political correctness that makes liberals like me the butt of jokes on the Rush Limbaugh show. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/45 "2003-08-12T15:14:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Indygrrl \* > \*\*I’m constantly amazed at how any little thing can be construed as offensive on here. I didn’t particularly find it funny, but it certainly didn’t upset me any. > > Come to Indianapolis and I’ll take you places where the people can be labeled as nothing other than white trash. In fact, this week would be really great because we’re having the State Fair. Whoo hoo! Hillbilly heaven!! \*\* Excellent! Road trip! Will you show us the places where the niggers and fags in Indianapolis hang out too? Cause their amusing antics and quaint folkways are just as much fun to watch. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/46 "2003-08-12T15:17:39Z")
**elmwood** , the question is now under what circumstances would you ever need to specify in one sentence that the person or people you are talking about are 1) white, 2) working class, 3) rural, and of a 4) Confederate cultural orientation. When is it ever so important to get all of that out at once? ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/47 "2003-08-12T15:27:39Z")
With all due respect, **IDBB** , you had to know this thread wouldn’t last too long with this crowd. You _do_ remember the trainwreck awhile back when a poster dared to use the term “white trash” to describe someone. I’m suprised it lasted as long as it did. By the way, weren’t you the one who started a thread awhile back about your husband’s mullet? 😉 And **Diane** , don’t you know that it’s _wrong_ to judge and/or laugh at people, such as the wife beaters and mullets you said you make fun of? Interesting… ---
**Author:** ![Read\_Neck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@Read\_Neck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Read_Neck)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/48 "2003-08-12T15:38:44Z")
You might be a redneck if ---- you still have a sense of humor. The PC police are pure bullshit. elmwood,kindly STFU. ---
**Author:** ![roadrunner70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19b73/32.png) [@roadrunner70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roadrunner70)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/49 "2003-08-12T15:43:27Z")
Lessee…I overhauled a motorcycle engine in my living room once, and I found a lawnmower while I was cutting the grass one time. And I’m originally from Detroit. Go figger. ---
**Author:** ![Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Krisfer\_the\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krisfer_the_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/50 "2003-08-12T15:44:21Z")
Well lets see apparently despite having a degree in Anthropolgy emphasis Archaeology, a B.S. in History and half a degree in Art I am still white trash because: 1. I have several beautiful well made t-shirts with wolves, native american symbols and other wildlife on them. I suppose non trash supports Nike’s poor use of their labor. 2. I read things like Bibical Archaeology. God damn don’t want people to know anything about the past. I suspect that poster has never read the magazine and has no idea of its content. 3. My husband has a mullet. Its his head let him look as bad as he wants. Bah… ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/51 "2003-08-12T16:03:47Z")
> [@](#): > > And Diane, don’t you know that it’s wrong to judge and/or laugh at people, such as the wife beaters and mullets you said you make fun of? Interesting… Interesting? Guess it depends on your definition of interesting. Yeahokaywhatever, but maybe you need to pay better attention, eh? What I think is interesting is your failure (1) to comprehend the part of my post where I admitted hypocrisy, (2) to know the difference between laughing to myself at the large representation of mullets and wife beaters at the drag races compared to making hateful comments on a message board about an entire class of people, and (3) to comprehend that my post was a flame against annoying glurge being posted on a message board and not so much as the content of the glurge. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/52 "2003-08-12T16:04:10Z")
Oddly enough, most people who would be called rednecks or white trash laugh like hell at those jokes, because they see them in themselves. But it is, admittedly, because they’re hearing them from someone who OBVIOUSLY knows firsthand. I’d know. I went to high school in a teeny tiny Texas town. Redneck is a word like…well, like the n-word. A poor Southerner who calls another poor Southerner a redneck is just fine and dandy. A rich person or a Northerner doing it is fightin’ words. My favorite redneck was born in Italy. We make fun of him ALL the TIME. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/53 "2003-08-12T16:19:41Z")
Actually, some of the places from [Palm Harbor](http://www.palmharbor.com/index2.asp) \*\* look pretty nice. Granted, I know squat about mobile homes, but [this](http://www.palmharbor.com/our_homes/floor_plans/search/floor_plan.asp?id=438&area=NW) one looks like it has a jetted tub and walk in closet in the master bed room, and a rather spacious layout besides. Also, the picutres [here](http://www.palmharbor.com/our_homes/gallery_of_homes/index.asp) look rather attractive. I’m not sure why owning one of these places would be a sign of being low-class (or whatever.) Perhaps someone could enlighten me? ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/54 "2003-08-12T16:27:24Z")
Heck - check out the virtual tour of [this](http://www.palmharbor.com/our_homes/gallery_of_homes/ipix.asp?model=65A4#) one - it looks pretty nice - it has a fire place and a large kitchen with and island and whatnot. I’m not crazy about the colour scheme, but I assume you can change that if you like. So - what gives? (I’m rather confused.) ---
**Author:** ![UncleBeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/977dab/32.png) [@UncleBeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBeer)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/55 "2003-08-12T16:35:04Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m presuming that all of the above entail the appropriate copyrights, and I’m willing to bet that most of what’s been posted in this thread so far can be found in one of the above books. Fine. You go read the books and report back to me. I suspect, however, that Foxworthy has obtained material from many sources, the provenance of which is impossible to prove. > [@](#): > > Well I’m sure as soon as the busy, busy mods get around to it, they will close and/or get rid of this thread as I’ve asked. :rolleyes: :rolleyes: Yer own self. We don’t necessarily close threads (or do anything else) simply because someone asks. I’m leaving this open because I think there’s an object lesson for some here. If you’ve e-mailed the Pit mods, they may have a different opinion, but I ain’t closing it. And fuck, you posted only twenty minutes apart your first “respectful” request to have it closed and your second rather more snide “request.” Twenty minutes isn’t really a whole hell of a lot of time for a staff member to find a request buried in the middle of a thread. Hell, some of even go as much as a half-hour between opening a thread. Or our e-mail. So, ::rolleyes: to ya again. And I hate the fucking smilies, so when I feel compelled to use them nore than once in a post, you may well guess how irritated I am. ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/56 "2003-08-12T16:45:40Z")
I’m not going to hijack this thread any further **Diane** , I’d just like to add that when one is an official card carrying member of the Professional Offenderati, one must be prepared to have their obvious hypocrisy pointed out to them when they admit to doing the very thing they get their undies in a bunch about here on this board. Disclaimers don’t give you a free pass, nor does the “bulk” of your post being about something else. If that were the case, the Offenderati would be unemployed… ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/57 "2003-08-12T16:56:36Z")
Save your fucking whining for something actually said instead of your failure to comprehend the written word. Maybe then you’ll stop looking like a dimwit. ---
**Author:** ![Diane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2acd7d/32.png) [@Diane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diane)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/58 "2003-08-12T16:58:58Z")
. . . . maybe, but improbable. ---
**Author:** ![fruitbat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@fruitbat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fruitbat)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/59 "2003-08-12T16:59:17Z")
**Uncle Beer** you are my hero. I have no particular opinion on this thread. I do appreciate a mod who doesn’t close threads just because the OP has stirred up a hornet’s nest. ---
**Author:** ![lezlers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/258eb7/32.png) [@lezlers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lezlers)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492/60 "2003-08-12T17:11:37Z")
Looks like I struck a nerve. Anyhoo, I said I’m not going to hijack the thread any further and I’m not. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-might-be-white-trash-if/194492.md?page=4)