White trash. Trailer Trash. People of Wall mart.

[hootinholler]

Seems to me that these terms roll too easily of the tongue around here. I've seen both used by many posters here and I'm just waiting for "people of wall mart" to appear and complete the bigoted trifecta.

I seriously doubt anyone using these terms have experienced actual poverty. When you attempt to insult no class people like Sarah Palin with these terms, you are actually insulting the poor by insinuation.

I got news for you, these are people. People deserve better. Would anyone here stand for the use of say "Urban Trash" or "Mexican Trash" or ...

Maybe I just expect better from an alleged Progressive forum.

[JustAnotherGen]

1. Keep waiting for that to end

It's not going to. Sadly - it won't.

I also suspect we have folks at DU that DO live in trailers and what their income allows - allows for Walmart.

I would hope those words don't alienate them.

Personally - White Trash creates a visceral reaction in me. Those are words used against my mother because of who she married - and here's where my post goes awry. . .

The people that would use it against her to her face were often people who were beneath her. Funny how that works you know?

[Omaha Steve]

34. Your implying Walmart is cheaper

(what their income allows - allows for Walmart)

That is a myth!

[JustAnotherGen]

40. No I'm not - I'm saying what I know of my own sister

She can't afford Chicos or White House Black Market for clothing - she can afford Walmart.

She works hard and she can stretch her dollar for her three kids much farther there too!

At the end of the day - the only difference between Chicos/WHBM and Walmart is the tag - everything is made in China, Vietnam, and India anyways.



ETA - WHBM shirt white bib front shirt: $78
http://www.whitehouseblackmarket.com/store/browse/product.jsp?maxRec=24&pageId=1&productId=570118034&viewAll=&prd=Iconic+Starlet+Bib+Front+Notch+Collar+White+Shirt&subCatId=cat4769287&color=&fromSearch=&inSeam=&posId=4&catId=cat210001&cat=Tops+Blouses++Shirts&onSale=&colorFamily=&maxPg=2&size=

White button down shirt - women's walmart - $12
http://www.walmart.com/ip/George-Women-s-Long-Sleeve-Button-Down-Shirt/12510823


Explain to me - how this is a myth?

[SheilaT]

50. Are there no stores between

WHBM and WalMart?

There's JC Penney, there's Target, there's Kohl's just to name a few.

The only times I have priced things, although admittedly not clothes, at WalMart and at the local supermarket, the local supermarket was cheaper, in some cases significantly cheaper.

[JustAnotherGen]

61. I don't know

I do know she has unreliable transportation and WalMart is easiest for her to get to.

Let's not pick on working class women :group: working a job and a half for not spending hours upon hours getting to and looking for affordable goods and services.

I don't shop at JC Penny, Kohls, or Walmart. Now Target - but I tend to buy my work out and yoga clothing there - and maybe go in 2 or 3 times a year. I had a horrible horrible shopping while black in Kohls experience - and I will never set foot in that rat bastard establishment again. No way - fuck 'em. Haven't been there in 4 years.

I stick to a local farm, Wegmans and Shop Rite for food.

So what's in between? I don't know.

[SheilaT]

163. It might be worthwhile finding out.

The main reason I will not shop WalMart is because they underpay their employees and treat them poorly. Plus, of course, they donate huge sums of money to the Republican party. I say, if you want to support the Republican party, just donate to them directly yourself.

Sorry you had a bad experience at Kohl's, but there are still other stores.

[MyNameGoesHere]

217. I want to thank you for that.

" I say, if you want to support the Republican party, just donate to them directly yourself."

We need a lot more like you in the progressive trenches. Now who else can we exclude or let them know if they shop at some store they should just become a republican supporter? COme on let's get all the undesirables out.

[SheilaT]

239. I know your post is intended as somewhat subtle

sarcasm, but trust me, I'm not trying to weed out any "undesirables". I just think that people should clearly understand where their money goes.

[adigal]

271. In the WalMart movie, they show how WalMart's factories use lower thread cottons, etc

So the same brand in Target and WalMart will be different and the WalMart clothes will wear out more quickly. I found WalMart clothes fell apart. In the long run, it was cheaper to buy my kids' clothes at Gymboree. More initial outlay, but my middle son and sometime my daughter, depending on the style, could get the hand me downs.

[Rozlee]

87. When I was a poor single mother...

...I used to find great bargains shopping at thrift stores. I would hit three or more of them on weekends and score quality clothes at great prices. Now, going to thrift stores, I see clothes being sold that people have bought at Wal-Mart and the markdown isn't worth buying it used. I think with times being tough, many people are hanging on to their better clothing and not donating it. I've been giving all my clothes to family members in need instead of thrifts. In the past, they and consignments were great alternatives, but anymore, Wal-Mart is where poor people buy clothes. But, clothing and some items are loss leaders. Many food items and certain hardware and sports equipment is more expensive than other retailers.

[mountain grammy]

139. My kids wore good label clothes, and we still do..

and we find them in thrift store. I often find "made in America" labels. I would guess 75% of the clothes and shoes we wear come from thrift stores. I rarely buy anything new for my kitchen or any kind of hardware, fans, coffee pots, etc. Broke my cheese grater the other day, found one in the Goodwill for $1.
I understand why people shop at Walmart and I wouldn't disparage anyone who does. It's a necessary evil for many. The food prices are much lower and these days a lot of people need to stretch that dollar as far as they can.

[Tree-Hugger]

280. Same here

Our thrift stores aren't great for clothing bargains (you can get a good deal on books, toys, and some household stuff). The clothes cost more than Wal-Mart and sometimes more than Target or Kohl's. For kid clothes, I have found the cheapest is Target clearance or Children's Place. Children's Place often has a lot of coupons, plus free shipping offers if you shop online, and clearance. I have been able to get my kids $2 dollar shorts and $3 shirts from there in the past. Kohl's and Old Navy clearance can be good, too, but very hit and miss.

For me - Wal-Mart has been the cheapest for t-shirts and tank tops, as well as underwear. Same for my husband. He can get jeans there - and they last - for $9.00. At the thrift store, they had the same brand jeans, used, for $10. lol I can also make a killing with Kohl's clearance combined with coupons. I have gotten myself jeans for $4 and shirts for $1. I have gotten bras, which are extremely hard to find at a bargain in my size, for $3 and $4.

[Jamastiene]

159. In some towns, mine for instance, Walmart ran those other stores out

or those stores were never there to begin with. I know for a fact that Walmart demanded that Winn-Dixie and Sears and at least one of the Food Lion stores close before they would put in the supercenter here. They got their wish too. We never had a Kohl's or Target and JC Penney has never been cheap. The closest Kohl's and the closest Target store to where I live are over 75 miles away.

[tazkcmo]

176. You really are

I can't believe it. A person that actually thinks Walmart isn't full of a bunch of inexpensive cheaply made crap. There are no places cheaper than Walmart on a consistent everyday basis with the exception , sometimes, of the Dollar stores. I am living off about 15 bucks a week right now so tell me, where else can I find Ramen noodles for under a buck for 6 packs?

[SheilaT]

204. All I can say is that the rare times I've

done price comparisons, WalMart is NOT the cheapest. Granted, I'm living on a bit more than 15 bucks a week, but it still isn't the cheapest. I seem to recall finding a ten pack of Ramen noodles at my Albertson's for a dollar.

[Hatchling]

246. Those of us on limited income do price comparisons constantly.

Some things are much more cost effective at Walmart.(cat supplies) Others at dollar store.(Some cleaning supplies). (I get my food at the food bank.) I once took my shopping list to Target after a thorough guilt trip by some DU'ers and the cart was $40 more than at Walmart. I abandoned the cart in the aisle and walked back across the mall to Walmart.

[PassingFair]

225. Big Lots. nt

[Tree-Hugger]

279. Big Lots?

I don't know if Big Lots has a pricing standard. Around here, they have some loss leaders and some inconsistently discounted items (what you will find week to week will vary greatly). However, they are much more expensive than both Wal-Mart and Target and they treat their employees just as bad. Here, you will also make more working at Wal-Mart than at Big Lots.

[classykaren]

203. Our local Publix's grocery store is cheaper than walmart for most food.

I also agree regarding JC Penny's, Marshall's and TJ Maxx.

[tblue37]

232. My daughter did her undergrad degree in Kirksville, MO.

She wrote an unhappy email her first week there telling me that Walmart was the only store where you could buy food or household supplies. The *only* one. I visited there. She was not exaggerating. Without a car to drive to anther town, she had to go to Walmart--and even for that she had to bum a ride.

Now, this was back in 1999-2003, so maybe there is another option there now, but I am sure that many little towns don't have other options for people who can't drive 30-60 minutes or more to do basic shopping for food and essential supplies.

[demigoddess]

133. I knew a guy who threw out a ton of food

because he bought it from Walmart. Bought huge quantities thinking it was cheaper and then never ate it. It would spoil or age out before he got around to it. Had to throw out huge quantities of food when he got too sick to shop any more. Also, he bought lots of cheap goods which had to be fixed, replaced, and in some cases he spent tons of time just fiddling with things to try to make them work. (couldn't be fixed). Not cost effective, if you ask me. He probably paid more in the end and spent a lot of time at Walmart. Never bought anywhere else.

[tazkcmo]

177. Oh, I agree

It's all crap and if you have the money, it's better to go someplace else. But if you don't have the money? What's your option? !5 bucks at Walmart, Dollar General won't get me good food but it'll keep me alive for a day and that's the daily battle.

[1dogleft]

208. so your saying

you know someone who bought more food than they could eat,had to throw it out and somehow that is Walmarts fault.

[Sherman A1]

185. Precisely

You hit the nail on the head.

[raven mad]

191. +1

And the folks who shop at the one here (we don't) are mostly military and military spouses; they get "deeper discounts" and can't be bothered with local - that it understood, given the multiple moves they have to put up with - it's familiar.

My interpretation of trailer trash is Sarah Palin; I live in a cabin all of 840 s.f., which fortunately does have electricity and recently, running water. Stretch Hummer limousines are not only not in my vocabulary; they wouldn't be an option if they were!

[KitSileya]

206. It is interesting about square feet.

I read your phrasing as you saying that 840 sq.f is not big. That translates to 78 sq meters, and here in Norway, for example, that is a regular family sized apartment, especially while the kids (usually 2) are still pre-adolescents. Families usually move to bigger apartments or houses when their kids hit puberty - usual house size, 1000-1250 square feet. Single people aim for 600-700 sq feet apartments.

Cultural differences as necessitated by climate and topography just amaze me.

[MineralMan]

2. I agree.

Both of those terms attack poor white people, along with others. Many good, Democratic voters are poor and white, and many live in mobile homes. We shouldn't be attacking that group in this way.

I'm sure the attacks aren't meant to be broad in that way, but they are, simply by using the words.

As for the People of Walmart, that website is just about as ugly as it gets. I'm sure that man Democratic voters also shop at Walmart, for whatever reason.

[Leontius]

96. That's exactly how they're used, used by wanna-be elitist jerks who think they're better than

"those kind of people".

[Eleanors38]

172. Arguing about stores misses the point of the OP.

Millions of people are poor in this country, yet some on DU insist on blaming the victim.

I watched a great labor film, "The Inheritance," and an organizer in the South said the most important value for people in this region was RESPECT.

Learn this. Accord this.

[MissB]

3. Good point.

I don't think people think about it. I came from a middle class family with all the trappings that brought back in the 70s. Despite having a set of grandparents live in a single wide mobile home, I still grew up thinking poorly of folks that lived in mobile home/trailer parks. (Edited to add: it's a funny point of view for me to have because I had so many incredibly poor cousins, including four that lived in a literal junk yard!)

That bias got checked (memorably) when I encountered a very respected coworker that lived in one with his young family. I didn't realize that he lived in one and made an unfortunate comment. It was a good life lesson for me, and is like to think I've learned it well enough.

Your post is a good reminder for folks. I'm sure not everyone will take it well.

[Throd]

4. It's situational. You can slander poor people if they're white and vote the wrong way.

Bonus points if they're overweight.

[hedgehog]

71. You hit it on the nose!

[Eleanors38]

175. Yep. Gotta ticket to ride. nt

[NYC_SKP]

5. Yes, they do. I'm seeing a lot of regional bias, racism, sexism, lately.

Always have seen it but in years past it was less likely to be tolerated.

It's very disappointing.

Double standards and broadbrushing are not progressive values.

[QC]

7. Sadly, class prejudice is OK, if not outright fashionable,

among what now passes for a Left in this country.

Our "Left" lost interest in class issues decades ago, right about the time it ceased to be politically relevant, though I'm sure that's purely coincidental.

[shaayecanaan]

199. All the povs need to do is put on a suit and fix their teeth

and they can get a job as an investment banker. DU told me so.

[QC]

212. Yep. They're just too damn lazy to claim their place

in the plutocracy.

Instead, they prefer to go hungry. These people don't make any sense.

[KoKo]

269. That is a good point. I see stuff here on DU that is alienating the

very people we are supposed to be fighting for with Unions, Women's, Childrens and Human Rights.

Yes...there are RW Bigots and their are Crazy Religious Freaks and Gun Toting Authoritarians. But, somehow we Dems who are supposed to be for the people who are disadvantaged in education, employment, access to health care and job employment that pays them a living wage...tend to ridicule them because they can't get out of what their lifestyle is and BE LIKE US!

It didn't used to be like this with the Dem Party that it became Elitist about its causes...but, is increasingly becoming so. The Crazy Repugs become more Crazy and the Dems follow?

Not good to see this. But, then....the Money in Both Parties..pollutes everything so that we fight amongst ourselves for the spoils these days while the rest Live High...and don't give a damn. We call names on each other just as badly as the RW does against us Dems. We become more and more hate filled like the Repubs in our efforts to distance ourselves from them...when we should be working for issues that move us forward and include people in a moral and altruistic striving for a better life and a better world.

"Hey the Stock Market is Up!"... I see that regularly posted on DU "Latest Breaking News" as if THAT is what everything is about for the average person in USA today....
The Stock Market isn't the Average Person in the USA these days. The Middle Class who had 401-K's are back even (for the most part) to where they were back in 2008 and think THAT IS A GAIN! The rest had to cash out to pay the bills after they lost their houses, jobs, went bankrupt over high interest credit card debt all do to the Exhuberence of the Housing Bubble and "Flip this House"....Buy, Buy, Buy...Media and Wall Street Hype which had no opposing views presented in MSM.

Those who had Mucho Money before the Crash invested more...and are doing Great... The 2%........But, the rest.....struggle.

[MineralMan]

8. Even Wikipedia recognizes those terms as derogatory and racist. Viz:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_trash
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trailer_trash

Perhaps we should recognize them for what they are, as well, and stop using them here.

[leftstreet]

9. Good luck with that. It's going to get worse

Prejudice against the impoverished is highly acceptable amongst ThirdWayers

There is no poverty. Life is wonderful if you just maintain a positive attitude and make all the right choices.

This will get worse and worse as more people slide into the poverty the ThirdWayers claim doesn't exist

[DemocratSinceBirth]

10. White trash is a racist term./NT

[totodeinhere]

70. But it is derogatory and condescending and it's wrong. n/t

[Louisiana1976]

112. Absolutely true.

[LexVegas]

11. Not racist terms, but racially insensitive.

[cali]

72. it's flat out racist.

[LexVegas]

93. I disagree, although I think it is very offensive.

[Louisiana1976]

113. It is possible to be racist against Caucasians.

[ncjustice80]

171. No, it isn t. Whites don t suffer from systemic oppression based on skin color.

[1dogleft]

210. google

systemic oppression, depending on who's definition you choose to believe your wrong

[ncjustice80]

278. If you dont believe minorities in America are not oppressed by the white majority, I don t know what

Else to say to you.

[1dogleft]

283. the definition

of systemic oppression is not what you say. I am just saying you are using the wrong term Google it

[DesertDiamond]

235. Whites don't suffer from discrimination, but the poor do.

[AgingAmerican]

248. Not all racism is systemic

nt

[7962]

118. So whats the difference? You cant be a different race and be called "white trash". It IS racist

[Gormy Cuss]

124. " White trash" is racist but not in the way you think.

It's saying the person is too trashy to be white -- an implication that the default position is that whites are better than persons of color and it's only by exception that they become like those people.


eta: White trash and trailer trash have no place on an allegedly center-left discussion board but I've seen posters defend the use of both phrases here ever since day one.

[7962]

131. You gotta be kidding me. Its an insult to white people.

Its used to insult only white people. Usually those of lesser means or southerners. It has nothing at all to do with whites being better than anyone else. I live right in the middle of an area where people are called this a LOT. And a lot of times its used by blacks.
And you're right, it shouldnt be used here, but we have a lot of "holier than thou" folks who think its perfectly OK simply BECAUSE its white people. Some of them also think blacks cant be racist.

[Gormy Cuss]

167. Think about it: why do people qualify the word trash with 'white?"

Because there are other people who are trash, but white people aren't supposed to be among them, else the pejorative would simply be trash.

eta: and IMHO that's exactly why it's used -- *white trash* aren't good enough to even be treated as white.

[7962]

188. Because "trash" is the insult. Never heard "(insert race) trash" anywhere.

I've never heard anyone say 'black trash" or any other race. I guess you could include "cracker" as well. Dont know where that or "honky" came from.

[Gormy Cuss]

228. If trash is the insult, there's no reason to say "white trash."

Cracker and hillbilly are both terms used to describe whites with perceived socio-economic characteristics too, but we don't hear people say "white crackers" or "white hillbillies" because the terms implicitly assume white. Honky is a derogatory name for whites period -- it isn't bound by other characteristics.

[bobduca]

197. Education helps diffuse your confusion and outrage.

[LiberalArkie]

184. Being from the south. "White Trash" is the same social level as being a "Nig**r" just different race

[YoungDemCA]

201. Great points.

It's racist in that way, and very classist as well.

[hootinholler]

244. Excellent post!

An aspect that I have trouble articulating.

[cwydro]

154. Would "black trash"

be racist?

Engage your brain. Think about it.

[roody]

168. It's racist in the assumption that all

blacks are trash, but only some whites are trash, therefore "white trash."

[shaayecanaan]

200. It originated with black slaves

The term White trash first came into common use in the 1830s as a pejorative used by house slaves against poor whites. In 1833 Fanny Kemble, an English actress visiting Georgia, noted in her journal: "The slaves themselves entertain the very highest contempt for white servants, whom they designate as 'poor white trash

[bhikkhu]

227. Categorising and stereotyping people in terms of race is racism

Its a clever trick, really, fox news and hate radio are very good at it. All you have to do, without even slinging insults, is always define people, events and places, according to race. Communities are no longer communities - they're "black communities", "white communities", and "hispanic communities". Protests are no longer protests without the racial identifier, people are no longer just people - see how that works. It skews how we think about things, trains the mind to segregate, and creates racism.

[jen63]

12. It's been said that hillbilly

and redneck (read "trailer trash&quot are the last of the acceptable racial terms widely accepted the the US. You hear it every day and no one speaks out against those terms. I believe it's a leftover of the colonization of Appalachia. Until the coal barons entered the region and stripped the people of their land for pennies on the dollar, those were proud folks who were able to do for themselves for generations. They were trusting and thought the coal barons had their best interests at heart. Since they were then seen as naive, that has translated to "stupid".

[RadicalGeek]

45. Have Things Changed That Much

It's just that they now thing the "%1" does?

[jen63]

54. True n/t

[mtngirl47]

47. The only one that can call me a hillbilly is me!

Mountain girl from the Appalachians...I've been called hillbilly, ridgerunner, hick, trailer trash, redneck. It is commonly joked that we marry our cousins. Tourists that come into the area think we're stupid because of our accents and colloquialisms.

I believe that all people (liberal or not) will generalize and try to label people.

[get the red out]

56. You would be able to understand my accent

I grew up in eastern Kentucky!

[jen63]

62. Of course I would!!

I'm extremely SE Ohio. Home of the "Big Muskie". (Like that's something to be proud of....)

[jen63]

59. I'm Appalachian too

and very proud of my heritage. We are anything but stupid. I do think we tend to be too trusting. "A man's word is as good as a contract", and the handshake thing. The problem is that outsiders have flooded the area because our natural resources and they have no compunction about going back on that "word" and taking advantage of us. We have been colonized for our resources and the government doesn't give a damn if it keeps the electric on.

[theHandpuppet]

74. I'd like to invite everyone to visit the Appalachia group forum

You'll find the link at my sigline.

[jen63]

79. Thank you!

Will visit!

[Rozlee]

98. I have a grandson who's from WV.

I never thought before that my family and I were being racist or condescending by referring to him as our " Little Jethro." He's only 8 years old, but he's 5'3'' and weighs 130 of solid muscle. But, you're making me wonder if calling him my Little Jethro might not be as demeaning to him as calling him my Little Sambo if he was part African-American. Because we're Hispanic and his mother is Appalachian born all the way to being a coal miner' s daughter.

[theHandpuppet]

230. Thank you for considering how that nickname is demeaning

I mean that sincerely. As an Appalachian, I would consider that nickname to be a derogatory stereotype. I hope you'll consider something more positive if you really want to call him by a nickname.

[Rozlee]

240. *

[rickyhall]

138. When I say redneck

I mean intractable conservative idiots like those that used to call me a dirty hippie because I wear my hair long. And usually they were the ones that stunk. Some of us call sorry cops pigs but we don't mean all cops are pigs.

[ncjustice80]

174. Well, to be fair 99% of them are pigs xD

[jen63]

178. Would you call

an African American who called you a "dirty hippie" the "n" word, or a Hispanic the "w" word? Same thing. I don't consider redneck to be a slur because of the history behind it, although now I do think it's used to denigrate those who others think are stupid and somehow beneath them and don't know the history of that word.

[rickyhall]

249. No and no

Because I don't use either word. African Americans who I was PE called my The Ghost but it meant something something after I ran down and tackled their fastest homeboy

[jen63]

265. White trash, trailer trash,

redneck and hillbilly are offensive, just so you know. We actually prefer hilljack

[Mr Dixon]

13. Really

I have not noticed it, but i have heard it around town IMO it makes people feel better about themselves to degrade others...SAD.

[hootinholler]

17. Right here in River City

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10025525128

[PDJane]

14. I have used those words. Why?

I apologize. I have used it, in fact, not as a racial slur. I have used it as a category for people who seem to be willing to throw their lives away on public displays of stupidity and ignorance.

If I had thought about it more, I would have found something else to use, even though I think, with Palin's bunch, it's probably accurate.

[brer cat]

37. I have used them too

without even thinking about what I was really saying. I must learn to think first.

[hootinholler]

39. Thank you

The Palin family is despicably and publicly dysfunctional, but the term refers to people who are actually the salt of the earth.

Why do you think it's probably accurate?

[BrotherIvan]

55. Can I just call them trash?

Because there must be something less clinical than dysfunctional. But isn't that just the same thing? Can I call them teabillies? But that includes hillbilly so that's out. Whores doesn't cover it and is also offensive. So how best to describe their *self-manufactured* version of hillbilly trash? What about the Duck Dynasty family? They accentuate their white trashness for profit.

I think the term white trash has evolved far beyond the meaning of poor. It means more of a set of values and priorities that usually include right wing thinking, Limbaugh listening, fake Christians, choosing to spend money on cars and trucks rather than a home for their children (an example of someone I know who lives with his family of six in a motorcycle trailer with no bathroom and he and his wife spend all their combined $250k income on shopping, giant SUVs & trucks, and guns). What is the name for those values?

I don't truly care, though I would seem to from this post. I just started typing and it all fell out. I just think if we sanitize language too much, we can't call a thing what it is.

[kelly1mm]

95. Calling another human being 'Trash' dehuminises, which is, unfortunately, I think the point. nt

[BrotherIvan]

111. So what do you call people whose job it is to dehumanize other people?

[Neoma]

121. Bigoted ass hats.

[kelly1mm]

125. I call people people, or humans, all of which are due respect as humans. If some person

holds an opinion or belief I do not also hold, I may think they are wrong in that position and perhaps, if interested, may engage them to determine why they hold such a position. What I try not to do is dehumanize a person or group.

[classykaren]

205. Republicans??? Tea party members??

They are the ones always using the terms thugs and ghetto.

[PDJane]

123. my definition, not the general one. Sorry, I didn't make myself clear.

These are people with advantages that are needful of therapy. Or something. Maybe just ignoring all of them might work.....

[pleinair]

15. Totally agree--a Progressive forum should be mindful

& not perpetuate slurs against any social group

[RebelOne]

16. Since I live in a mobile home, I do not like the term "trailer trash." n/t

[SoapBox]

88. Me too!

Our's is called a "Manufactured Home Park"...I have no wheels under my house (8 years old) so it's not a trailer.

Space rent...now over $1000 a month.

I do refuse to shop any Walmart...ethics and the crowd...not my style.

[7962]

129. 1k a month lot rent???? wow, what state are you in?

[RebelOne]

181. I am in Georgia just northwest of Atlanta and pay $400 a month

lot rent which includes water and garbage pickup. That is a hell of a lot less than renting an apartment. At least, I own my home.

[7962]

187. I'm in GA too. Wondering where 1K for lot rent is normal!

I know a lady who bought a MH in '87. She paid it off and lived in it till 2005. By then, she had been putting away money she wouldve been paying for rent and bought a stick built home with a tiny mortgage which is likely paid off by now. And she is working an average paying job. She's practically debt free, compared to all her neighbors who are paying out the rear for house payments, car payments, boat, etc. She sleeps well at night.

[RebelOne]

268. I still live in my mobile home and am debt-free.

My car is old, but it runs great and is paid for. My only expenses are my cable, Internet and land line, one credit card and my lot rent. Soon, I will be moving into my son's home in Canton. I am living on Social Security and have a few thousand in savings, but that money is slowly dwindling. I also sleep well at night knowing that I am not in debt.

[7962]

274. You planned well. SO many dont; some by choice.

My friends mom is 89 and is actually upside down on her home for some reason! Its not much, mid 30s, but its just that she didnt need the money when she borrowed it. My friend was surprised when she found out, thats for sure.

[Louisiana1976]

115. My sister's first home after she was married was a mobile home--and she was not "trash."

[Worried senior]

130. I do too.

We live in a mobile home that still has wheels in NE WI. We live here because we are on SS and it's cheaper living.

We have a little over an acre which at this stage in life is too much to take care of anymore but it gets done due to my husbands determination.

I really don't like living up here, grew up here and didn't like it then but for now we are stuck and I am trying to make the best of it.

[theHandpuppet]

18. Thank you.

I've spoken out about this on a number of occasions, but it can never be overstated.

[99Forever]

19. WTF?

You seriously think poking fun at that family of grifters is offensive?

Wow, maybe the intertubes aren't really for you.

[hootinholler]

26. That sound you heard earlier

Was the point of this thread going over your head.

It's not about defending the Palins, just in case your implied message is what you actually mean.

It's about calling out the denigration of the disadvantaged.

[99Forever]

41. ahh yes...

... insult me, that'll convince me.

BTW genius, I'm white, have lived in trailer out of necessity and am currently driving a 90 Honda Civic with 230,000 miles on it. I guess I should be all poutraged myself.

[hootinholler]

46. We can trade insults all day

Maybe you should be "Poutraged"

[carolinayellowdog]

219. the only person engaging in insults in this exchange

isn't the one you're accusing of it

[99Forever]

220. Well...

... bless your heart.

[cordelia]

224. Completely misses the point of the OP and resorts to insults

when called on it.

[yeoman6987]

27. You lost the entire point of the OP

Very sad!

[cali]

75. no. that's clearly not what the op thinks.

poke fun at the grifters to your heart's content- just don't use racist language to do it.

[Laffy Kat]

81. That's not what the OP said.

The issue is with the terms used to described the Palins and 99F makes a good point. Respectfully, open your mind and LISTEN.

[FlatStanley]

20. Kind of like racist and anti-Semite roll off the tongue.

[cali]

76. say what?

[FlatStanley]

195. In the way it is easy to throw around the terms white trash and trailer trash

To diminish a person or group of people, being called racist for simply opposing Obama or anti-Semitic for simply opposing Israel occurs very quickly and very often.

[heaven05]

21. These descriptive terms are

bigoted. The quicker americans stop using these type terms, bigotry and racism will be on their way to the trash heap of history. The sooner the better.

[ProfessorGAC]

91. That's Where I'm At

Not sure i agree it's racist, given the general opinion of the definition, but it definitely is bigoted.

If someone acts like a classless buffoon, it's not necessary to denigrate a whole group of people to call that person a classless buffoon.

I admit to using "hillbilly". Then i realize "i shouldn't say that". Too late, the ship already left the dock.

But, there definitely are classless buffoons out there.

[heaven05]

186. No, the racist

Last edited Sat Sep 13, 2014, 06:30 PM - Edit history (1)

terms are used against others in our society, the bigoted terms against the people who we are talking about. All terms used to describe the different classes and races of people, in a negative manner/light must be gotten rid of and hauled to the trash heap of history, But don't get me wrong, I agree with everything you wrote.

[Barack_America]

22. There, but for the grace of whatever, go all of us.

I think we would all do well to consider what it would take to knock us into poverty? An accident, an illness, a corporate merger.

I personally would go without almost everything rather than step foot in a WalMart, but I'm grateful I don't have to.

As for the Palins, yet another example that money doesn't buy dignity. Quite the opposite in many cases.

[rurallib]

23. Any denigrating words only serve to further divide the masses

and keep them at each others throats. Thus can the 1% use this to keep us from enact health care for all and fix SS, unemployment and most other safety net programs.

Just yesterday I had a medical person tell me that 'some people don't work so they shouldn't get health care.' Really!

from Jay Gould 19th century uber-wealthy
"I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half. "
(just keep us at each others throats and we'll screw each other forever)

[RadicalGeek]

44. But Now

You don't have to hire them, just advertise on the right programs!

[Orsino]

24. Rarely, though, do we come out and say "poor people." n/t

[RebelOne]

128. I live in a mobile home and I am not a poor person. n/t

[ErikJ]

25. Most DO vote Republican though,

I suppose because they still think themselves as better than the blacks. Just like the old South in slavedays.

[hootinholler]

28. I would like to see the data backing your assertion

I doubt your claim entirely.

[ErikJ]

49. Food stamp capital of the US is 99% WHITE and 95% REPUBLICAN

Owsley Ounty Kentucky 30% of the people there are on food stamps and vote Republican. That is typical of the poor red states.

97 out of the 100 poorest counties in the US are in red states.

How do you think the Republicans stay in power in those states? By promoting Racism and Racial division.

[get the red out]

58. This is true!

But there is one more thing that keeps the Republicans strong there, religious indoctrination.

[mountain grammy]

141. So true and so sad.

"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions."
Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right

[cordelia]

69. And by so-called Progressives calling them things like

"trailer trash" and "hillbilly", pick your pejorative.

[ErikJ]

97. Sarah Palin

Its just too tempting to call uneducated middle class Republicans like Sarah Palin as Teabillies etc. I dont like to use name-calling but I sometimes call them "flat-earthers" or Taliban Americans attacking their religious-political zealotry rather than class.

[yuiyoshida]

108. I think the very fact she is a

Republican and a proud Tea Party (Teabagger) is bad enough.. Because we know what they stand for.

[phylny]

78. It's true here in Southwest Virginia.

Lots of poverty, and since I work in Early Intervention, I'm in many homes. It's depressing - families depend on WIC, EBT, and Medicaid but they vote Republican. 'Murica, and all that good stuff.

[rateyes]

162. Do you know where in the world of SW VA is a place called Honaker? Richlands?

[phylny]

173. Yes :)

One of our daughters went to Emory & Henry.

[rateyes]

183. I lived in Honaker for almost 5 years back in the late 80s and early 90s.

Two of my three daughters were born in Richlands. Loved living there. Beautiful place.

[X_Digger]

194. <-- Grundy boy. Richlands was our closest "mall" (Claypool Hill). n/t

[rateyes]

211. Oh, I remember the mall at Claypool Hill.

KMart was the big store! Took my girls to see Santa there, but they were too afraid to sit on his lap!

[X_Digger]

242. K-Mart, Magic Mart, and Rose's. If you couldn't find it there, it's off to Bluefield or Bristol. n/t

[rateyes]

243. Yep. I grew up in Kingsport, TN.

Know the Bristol Mall well. Did the Bluefield trip a couple of times, too.

[No Vested Interest]

31. Maybe most do not vote. nt

[leftstreet]

89. +1

[RadicalGeek]

43. Sure

And the see Blacks, etc as the cause of their condition, instead of the "%1"!

[7962]

132. So that makes it OK?

[cwydro]

213. Your ignorance is stunning.

No, they don't consider themselves "better than black".

I once lived in a trailer, and my neighbors were black. Every race was there in that neighborhood and we all got along. No fights. No brawls. People who went to work every damn day.

Yor comment is sickening on so many levels. But you'll never understand tha.

[cordelia]

221. Thank you.

[Scout]

29. as a resident of a "trailer park"

yeah, it kind of pisses me off.

i daresay my home is nicer than many a stick-built home of the same age. and it is not really inexpensive to live in my "manufactured home community." every month i pay close to $600 for lot rent, plus water, sewer, gas, electricity, cable, phone, car payment, car insurance, and then if you haven't paid it off yet people also have a payment for the home itself.

i could not have afforded a stick-built home in my county that has a master bedroom suite with walk in closet, two more bedrooms with walk in closets, a living room, dining room, kitchen, utility room and storage shed outside.

our community has a lot of young families, retirees, couples and singles. the common areas of the community are kept up, the streets are plowed, trash is collected. it's a neighborhood like many others, with a variety of people. we are not "trailer park trash."

[snort]

160. I've done demo on both

Demolition for renovation that is. Manufactured housing is a bitch. In a lot of ways modern manufactured is hung together better than site built. I've also been in some triple wides that made me wonder why bother with site built. But give urbanites a break, they've watched a lot of dukes of hazard.

[cwydro]

161. Hey

[Octafish]

30. They're my kind of people.

Along with all good people.

Thank you, hootinholler!

[arcane1]

32. Well-said. I'd include denigrating comments about peoples' health and teeth, too.

[No Vested Interest]

33. Whoever said Democrats/ Progressives were perfect?

I'm sure you'll find the same faults among Progressives that you find among the human race in general.
Maybe some faults more in one area and less in others.

I've long observed that there are those here filled with anger.
They may believe it's righteous anger, but that's not always obvious or even correct.

[MADem]

35. What do you expect?

There are people here who are insisting that Michael Moore's racist comment about POTUS are nothing but a thing.

You can call people any name, here, except perhaps "fat." That one will get ya a hide.

And yes, I am employing ... but only just.

[democrank]

36. "Trailer trash" is mean-spirited and anything but Progressive.

I honestly cringe when I read that term and similar ones here....or elsewhere. Attitudes like this are part of the reason we hear so many negative things about liberal elites.

Anyone here who looks down their noses at people who live in trailers, people who are poor, people who are overweight, people with mental difficulties, people who have difficulty spelling....the list on DU is a half mile long....should go to some other board where they can have a rollicking good time making fun of people....like the poor.

On DU, we should be better than that. Much better.

[Louisiana1976]

117. Agree wholeheartedly.

[snooper2]

38. Well, we haven't had the term "ratchet" show up here yet

so still doing good!

[Lochloosa]

67. I had to look that one up...

[RadicalGeek]

42. To Me

It's that many of them vote against their economic interest. They fall for the "Dog Whistle" tactics of the "%1" and become convinced that the urban poor, who should be their allies, are the cause of their problems.

And you can't get them to see that they're being used by the "%1"!

I deal with many of what I like to call "Trailer Park Trolls" on my newspapers forums!

[randome]

48. During the early days of my divorce, I saw a therapist.

She was black and when I described my soon-to-be-ex's behavior, I used the term 'white trash'. I knew it was an ignorant thing to say to a black woman but it just slipped out and I was mortified I had let it.

The therapist didn't bat an eyelash but I really wish I hadn't said such a stupid thing.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Birds are territorial creatures.
The lyrics to the songbird's melodious trill go something like this:
"Stay out of my territory or I'll PECK YOUR GODDAMNED EYES OUT!"[/center][/font][hr]

[blur256]

51. I promise I'm not trying to stir the pot

but being a poor person myself, I don't find the term white trash offensive to myself. Trailer trash, yes, because that points out people in a particular living situation which in many cases is not their fault. But when it comes to "white trash" I see that as calling out white people who are willfully ignorant of the way they act because they are white people and feel like they can do whatever they want.

Even though I am super poor, I do not feel like I am "white trash" because I go out of my way to treat all people with respect. I believe that everyone adds value to society in some way or form. To me, that is the difference between being "white trash" and not. In my mind it has nothing to do with socio-economic status, and everything to do with your mindset, whether you be rich or poor.

Like I said, not trying to stir the pot, it is just my view of it.

[OnlinePoker]

86. You may feel differently if people use the term regarding you.

Just because you don't think it's offensive doesn't mean it isn't. It's kind of like the N-word being used by black people. They may think it's fine, but there is a large portion of their population that are against it (Oprah and Bill Cosby are two that come immediately to mind).

[blur256]

94. I didn't think that came out right...

I was trying to say that yes it is offensive, but when I hear the term, I think of white people that are willfully ignorant and do what they want because they think they can. I don't think of it in terms of poor versus rich. I don't use the term, I'm just saying that that is what I think of when I hear it.

[blur256]

102. And actually, let me step that back further

I grew up with my parents telling me that the people who are truly trashy are the ones that flaunt their money, not those without. So I guess while I know that many people associate the term with poor people, I have always associated it with the opposite. Props for my parents I suppose.

[Lochloosa]

52. 12' X 72' Family of Five

That is the size of the trailer I grew up in. And I'm far from "Trailer Trash".

Oh, we also owned a 36' Chris Craft w/ twin 400 hp inboard engines...flying bridge...the works..

Priorities...

Our boat was nicer than our home. Damn I miss my parents.

[mountain grammy]

146. More like quality of life and understanding what's important..

that's why you miss your parents.

[Lochloosa]

151. Yep.

[Jamastiene]

166. 14' x 70' now.

It's paid off and sits on .68 of an acre that I own too. Recently, I added a concrete foundation under it and had it painted this beautiful reddish brown cedar color* with nice dark green trim that matches many of the older trees in the neighborhood. It looks better than many of the stick built homes in the same neighborhood. It might be a hovel to most, but it is home to me. It is in a nice neighborhood other than one neighbor none of us like. Even he has toned his obnoxiousness down through the years. I can't complain much any more about him even, which means he has learned to act better.

I still don't consider myself trash though. Why anyone automatically assumes people living in trailers are trash is beyond me. Apparently, they've never known any of us. If they did, they would know better.

*And many others in the neighborhood are now painting their house the same color. Many have asked me specifically what was the name of the paint and many have asked the man who painted it if he will give their home the same color combo. He didn't think that color combo would work, but people love it and most importantly, I love it too.

[GoCubsGo]

53. "People of Walmart" is an awful site.

Many of the people it mocks seem to have mental issues. Or, they look like they have reached the point where they just don't give a shit any more. No doubt there's also a number of them who just march to the beat of their own drum, and I'd much rather be around those types than the smug assholes who like to mock them and the people who life seems to have crapped on.

[Hestia]

107. Those are real people - how can it be awful? Those are the people we live around - can't take the

heat, stay out of the kitchen.

[GoCubsGo]

116. The site makes fun of those people.

That's what makes it so awful. If you think it's okay to make fun of them, you're the one with the problem, not me.

[mountain grammy]

142. I've seen the site twice and it is awful. It does make fun of people

and portrays them as anything but "real people." It's disgusting.

[logosoco]

60. I have known many good hard working people who live in trailers or very low rent apartments.

I have cleaned big fancy houses for people that were, yes, pretty trashy.

I try not to lump people together.

I see a lot of people who work hard and never get anywhere, and I hate hearing people (mostly republican types) who act like they are lazy. They would die if they had to work that hard!

I think the whole Palin family incident should show that money does not buy class, and being poor does not mean you have no class. So maybe "class" is not the word. I would vote for many of the poor folks I know, if they ever cared to run for office. But I would certainly never vote for someone who lives or even likes the philosophy of Palin.

[madokie]

63. Thats why you'll never see me use those terms

I remember when I was dirt poor and what it was like having people look down on me because of where I was and not what I was

[Live and Learn]

64. +1 I can't stand those terms. Living beings are not trash, period.

People may have misplaced values but they are not trash. The terms are derogatory and serve no purpose other than making the person using them look shallow.

[The Green Manalishi]

65. If you want a great insight into this culture

From a genuine progressive, a first rate writer and one who was born into and returned to it, check out Joe Bagent

http://www.joebageant.com/

"Deer hunting With Jesus" and many of his blog posts are absolutelyy brilliant. His whole point was to examine *why* so many poor whites vote against their own best interests.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

66. It's a cultural thing unrelated to income....

These are the people who think guns and Church go together like beans and franks.

They are inherently violent, racist, voted for Bush twice and think the #1 problem with this country is FOX "News" isn't broadcast over the airwaves and on every channel.

[kelly1mm]

99. The point of maost/all bigoted terms is to mark a group as the 'other' and dehumanize them.

Even if everything you say is true about these people, they are still humans and as such, deserve the same basic respect any human does.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

145. They'll get the benefits we fight for despite their claiming the #1 problem in America is Liberals.

[MadrasT]

68. I grew up in a fairly privileged middle class home.

My father was a university professor.

My parents were forever looking down on "poor people" as if they were somehow less worthy of being alive, and they told me straight up more than once that "those people" were not the kind of people I should have as friends.

It pissed me right the fuck off and I had *way* more friends "from the wrong side of the track" than from families of our own social class.

To this day I simply cannot stand people who trash talk people just because they are poor, or uneducated, or live in simple homes.

THEY ARE PEOPLE, people who are just as important and worthy as all the status-conscious assholes running around in their SUVs and BMWs going home to their ridiculous McMansions with pools and perfect lawns.

(My mother told me not long ago that looking back, the thing I told her long ago that had the most impression on her still, was that people were not "less than" just because they lived in a trailer. I think she eventually got it.)

Both my parents grew up rather poor - my dad was *especially* poor growing up. As in "no heat in the winter sometimes and mayonnaise sandwiches for lunch if you're lucky" poor. Maybe their attitude in adulthood was trying to put distance between their past and the present? Like trying to insulate themselves against it happening again?



Nobody better be trashing on people experiencing poverty in my presence. It will not end well.

[nashville_brook]

144. amen to this! want to add, i think some people from poverty might actually

internalize the epithets and that's why we end up with parents disparaging where they come from.

we had this in my family with regard to race -- my maternal grandmother was spanish/jewish extraction. she had also been an orphan and pulled herself up by whatever means necessary during the Depression. she would never tell us where the family was from, saying only "we're mediterrean." we've since found out that meant Minorca.

now, this isn't to say she was racist -- she wasn't. but she aimed to "pass" as unambiguously white b/c she saw that as a challenge to her ablity to fit into certain social circles in Miami in the 20s and 30s. and if you saw pictures of her, you'd say "that's pretty funny." she's a raven-haired, olive-skinned beauty with purple-black eyes. her brother's name was Vasco. come ON!

so, now we're left with no sense of history -- trying to piece it together. i understand why she did it, but i wish she'd just shared what she knew. she definitely shared what it was like growing up poverty, and how important is was to have solidarity with your social-economic tribe. so, it's all very ironic to me.

[Trajan]

73. I don't intend to be a perfect human being ...

I called myself 'White Trash', while I and my family lived in two different trailers ...

I did not offend myself ...

What will I do with complete sincerity? ... vote Democratic Party, straight across the board, white trash or not ...

Does that tick you off? ...

Oh, and I am from New Jersey ... got anything to say about people from New Jersey? ... surely you can think of something ...

[Corruption Inc]

77. Maybe there will be a new term thrown around: "white trash privilege", LOL

I read the term "white media betters" yesterday, not a day goes by without someone insulting the crap out of "whites". Not what I expect from an alleged liberal forum either.

[alp227]

140. Link? nt

[riqster]

80. Good post. Thank you!

I sometimes refer to myself by such terms, although I do my best to not apply it to others. Now I am thinking that even calling myself a hilljack (or one of such) perpetuates the stereotyping of people like us.

Must ponder.

[littlemissmartypants]

82. Thank you, hootinholler for your thoughtful post. Kicking! nt

[Quayblue]

83. I despise these terms.

I have a lot more to add but of course I don't have time to do it.

No wonder people walk around this country feeling f*cking hopeless!!

[Catherine Vincent]

84. I may have used that term once or twice in my lifetime

I assumed it was an accepted term because I read it many times on forums on the internet. I remember years ago my family and I were attending a wedding. One of the flower girls was bi-racial (black/white parent). My parents mentioned that the child's father, my cousin, had a child from a white woman (we're black) and that's the little girl. Because my cousin was, well it's hard to describe but he was always getting into trouble...jail and all so I assumed he would be with someone on his level. I said out loud in front of my parents that her mother was probably white trash. The look that my father gave me had given me chills. He didn't say anything to me...he didn't have to. I knew right away that it shocked him that I would say something like that. After that incident, I have never used it since and never will.

[packman]

85. Trailer Trash - 90,000 sq. foot "home"

Saw the documentary with dog shit on the floor, dead lizard pets because no one fed them, and a husband who could care less about anything except himself. This is trailer trash.

[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]


" 90,000-square-foot, 30-bedroom abode modeled after France's 17th century Palace of Versailles. The project has been in the pipeline since 2004.

Work stopped on the 90,000-square-foot build in 2009 after creditors went after Mr Siegel's timeshare company, Westgate Resorts, but recommenced this year after business bounced back."


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2341722/Americas-gaudy-Palace-Versailles-finished-2015-11-YEARS-construction.html

[delete_bush]

192. "White trash"

is a state of mind. Donald Trump and Rush Limbaugh are white trash. Look no further than their hideous taste in décor...gilded era gold encrusted swirly festooned Louis XVI crap. Much like their trophy wives.

[LoisB]

90. For me, trash is trash regardless of economic or ethnic circumstance or address.

[SoapBox]

92. +1000

Or race or religion or sexual orientation or...

Trash is trash.

[kelly1mm]

103. No human being should be described as trash. That is dehumanizing. It is siply a way to 'other'

that group and not respect them as human beings.

[Cleita]

100. I've been hesitant to use those terms being I live in a trailer

myself, although I think snowbilly might work, even though some of my family originated in Appalachia and were called hillbillys. Her and her family are certainly classless in their actions. In Spanish they are called sin educacion, which translates to uneducated, but really means ignorant and lacking in social manners.

[Hestia]

110. There's living in a mobile home and then there is trailer trash - two wholly different species

I should upload pictures of what trailer trash lives in. To this day it is shocking to think that people actually live in these wrecks. The county doesn't inspect them, so they can't make them move out. Then we'll go look at their criminal records.

Y'all just need to live in a state to know what we are talking about. Mean as snakes, meth heads, kill you for your last dollar. If you don't live here, YOU DO NOT GET A SAY IN THE MATTER.

Just continue living in your ivory tower and pontificate, telling others what they can and cannot say. Then there is us, out here in the real world, having to put bars on the doors and windows to keep these people out and not stealing us blind.

These are the people that Michael Moore talks about when he discusses white people - criminals. Read Stupid White Men and you'll get it. Can't argue against statistics. Or, are we all republicans now, and do?

Again, there is a reason for a stereotype and the terms here are true. Rail against the unfairness of it all - just make sure your hand is on your wallet while you do.

[Tsiyu]

148. Funny, I live in the guts of Appalachia

Coal mines, train tracks and trailers.

And I know saints and sweethearts and babies and grandfathers who grow vegetable gardens and couples who run businesses and a retired hospice nurse and a retired mechanic who still gets up early every morning and quite a few men and women who get up and go to the factories every day and a man who landscapes all summer and works for a non-profit all winter and a woman who owns a local restaurant and a chef and her husband and their kids and more musicians than I can think of and I could go on and on.

All of those people live in trailers. And some of those trailers are falling apart.

These people still get up every day and help make the world go round.

[Quayblue]

164. +1

Thank you!

Beautifully written

[Tsiyu]

253. Thank you Quayblue

Hope you're having a lovely weekend.

[Tree-Hugger]

281. +1

[graywarrior]

101. I totally agree!

I used to be one of those WalMart people bashers until I realized that judging people is so not cool.

[Android3.14]

104. I've lived in poverty

The small-mindedness of people with less than others and their ability to drag down anyone making strides to develop as a human being is by far the best description of far too many of the folks living in redneck poverty.
Trailer trash is exactly what I thought when I finally pulled away from the mindset of self-hating poor.
White trash is an apt description of poor white bigots fighting each other over scraps of faux dignity.
People of Walmart? Isn't that the Waltons? Can;t we just call them the .1% ?

[DrewFlorida]

105. Agreed!

[FrodosPet]

120. So what terms do you use for African Americans who are like that?

What about Latinos, Vietnamese, or Hmong? Are there any groups BESIDES whites that you reserve some special slurs for?

[cordelia]

122. I am looking forward to an answer.

Think we'll get one?

[Gormy Cuss]

126. Are you fond of the N-word too?

Oh I know, not all African-Americans are n****rs, but some are and they should be called that, right?

[7962]

135. nailed that one!

[Tree-Hugger]

282. Exactly nt

[7962]

134. "only republicans do that". Thats gotta be the joke of the day!! How long you been on DU?

You cant swing a dead cat around here without being told "thats offensive to _____"

[Uncle Joe]

109. At the very least, those terms are divisive and only serve to aid the Republicans when we use them.

Thanks for the thread, hootinholler.

[sendero]

114. the term "white trash"..

... does not describe a socio-economic level, it has zero to do with poverty. It's a description of people who don't know how to behave. Getting into brawls at parties for example.

[Louisiana1976]

119. I know good progressives don't like Walmart but it's one of my favorite places to shop. Because

of the prices--I like to read and books there are cheaper than they are elsewhere.

[delete_bush]

190. I for one don't denigrate those who shop there.

And I will admit that although I can afford to go elsewhere, I buy one particular item there and will continue to do so.

I go through two cans of red salmon per week for my lunch. What I do not understand is that at both Whole Foods and Wal*Mart the price of a regular can is around $3.85. The price at Von's is over $6.50/can. Wal*Mart is close to my office, Von's a little further, Whole Foods a much long trip. It pizzes me off that there's such a price difference and I refuse to pay such a premium, especially considering that Whole Foods is the same as Wal*Mart.

[locks]

127. Have you noticed that

politicians of all stripes including our President no longer mention that they are fighting for the poor, that they are striving to lift the poor out of poverty, or that they even care about the poor? Obama does not mention anymore his hard work as a community organizer to mobilize the poor; most legislators do not talk about the urban areas in their districts where children do not have enough to eat and the homeless are sleeping on their streets.

Most speeches and proposed legislation are about jobs for the "middle class" who are struggling or who are falling behind. Do you think that this is because for a long time we've been told that the poor could be middle class if they just worked harder, or that they are all "takers" and don't deserve our concern? Is it because they do not want to believe that so many Americans live below the poverty line even though they are working hard like Wal-Mart employees?

Some of the T-Partiers defend against any slight to "rednecks" and consider them the "hardworking base of the American economy." Somehow they don't count people of color or immigrants or anyone receiving disability or food stamps or unemployment in the same class.

It doesn't matter so much what we call them as what we do to help all people have a decent life.

[rickyhall]

136. Living in a trailer don't make you "trailer trash"

Any more than being white makes you "white trash".

When I call the Grifta from Wasilla trash I mean SHE's worthless NOT all people who live in trailers. I have lived in trailers, my parents lived in trailers, my kids live in a trailer but none are trash and all are better than that Alaskan she-wolf. We all shop at Walmart, too, but we dress decently when go there.

[kmlisle]

143. Lets not diss wolves here either

They don't deserve to be lumped with Palin and her Ill mannered Ilk!

My opinion: Politicians don't address the needs of the poor because #1 they don't contribute to campaign chests and #2 they vote at low levels.

The whole issue of demonizing poor people has a long history going back to the Victorian ages when the idea that "God loves the Rich" was very popular and it is still popular today. Being rich somehow makes you a good person? Certainly I have met good people who are rich but there also seem to be a large number of psychopaths in that class.

Thanks Hootinholler for calling us on it! Its hard to live in a culture where that basic idea of "God loves the Rich" and what that says about the poor is woven in so thoroughly. Its hard if you are middle class to get away from but much harder if you are poor. I Taught in a title I school for almost 20 years and saw many wonderful hard working poor families whose kids struggled against the odds and mostly did well and also saw a few of not so hard working/addicted/abusive poor families whose kids had a much harder time. Being stereotyped by society just compounds their challenges.

We are still a tribal species and this can be good when we care for our own but it can also be bad when we see another human being as the Other. The ideals of tolerance and acceptance and valuing multiculturalism which attract me to DU are really hard for a tribal species to do. But I for one believe the struggle is worth it and that we are capable of evolving into a better society where we love our neighbors and the Golden Rule rules.

[Dont call me Shirley]

137. How about using the term "sociopaths" for that is what they really are

[GummyBearz]

147. Thanks

Being one generation removed from "poor white trash" (grandparents lived and died in trailors, parents grew up picking cotton), its personally depressing to hear the terms thrown around as a tool of comedy

[mountain grammy]

149. Grew up in the 50's with Dad in the Marine Corps..

lived in everything from a trailer with no running water to base housing my Dad christened "splinterville." No tv, no frills, canned food with no labels, "PEAS, BEANS or CORN" stamped on the top. Close quarters but, luckily, great, loving parents who gave us a happy home.
I remember being looked down on as a military kid in public school, especially in the South. But it was an all white school, so they had to look down on someone and we got the teacher's scorn. We played with the black kid next door (the base was integrated) who did not go to our school, but to the "colored school." I asked him how he liked his school because I sure hated mine. He said they had a wood stove for heat and it was a cold winter that year, and he might like it when the weather got warmer. My school had central heat. I shut up.

[cwydro]

152. Thank you for this post.

Lots of posters here who love to denigrate anyone who lives in a trailer park. "White trash" is a completely accepted racist term here.

Sickens me.

[sabrina 1]

153. I used to expect better from this forum, but now I expect to see support for endless war, SS 'on the

table', torture explained, the bailing out of Wall St criminals defended among other things, so seeing poor people, and overweight people and women who speak for themselves etc denigrated here, it has become the norm. Which is why many have found other venues to actually discuss real issues as was possible at one time here.

[Eleanors38]

180. It's ugly when "liberals" learn to hate.

[sabrina 1]

196. Especially when they join Right Wingers in t heir hatred for the 'left'. Seen lots of that here

lately also. Iow, we see a lot of what we used to see only on extreme right wing forums, and what this forum used to be a refuge from, right here.

[Tsiyu]

155. here's Sarah's "trailer."

Here are two clues for those on this board who haven't figured the mystery of life out ( most Duers have . )

1) You have been taught that the dollar value of what someone wears, drives or lives in also determines the value of the person.
This is false.

2) The shacks on the poor side of town do not contain the people who refuse to pay a living wage, who pay themselves obscene bonuses after bankrupting vital businesses; the trailers on the outskirts of town or down by the lake do not contain the cops who are extorting people for cash along the freeways, nor do those trailers house the bankers who played dirty with the market and cost your granny her life savings. The military contractors who get those no bid contracts don't live in the seedy hotels. The for-profit prison executives do not live in shacks up in the forest.

Drive over to the nice side of town, the "safe" side of town.

That's where the real criminals hang out.

[In_The_Wind]

218. " That's where the real criminals hang out. "

[Tsiyu]

254. Hey, ITW

[JEB]

156. My own bias is a very dim view of Gated Community Trash.

[Jamastiene]

157. Trailer trash is another one that rolls off the tongues of too many DUers.

Geez, some of us live in a trailer because it is what we can afford. It doesn't make us any less strong Democrats who always vote for Democrats, but we are supposed to listen to the trailer trash insult and pretend we don't believe they think the same of us too.

I might live in a hovel, but it is paid off and I own it.

[gaspee]

158. People of Wal Mart has all races (n/t)

[Skittles]

169. and it's not poverty that makes them dress badly enough to make that web site

seriously

[ncjustice80]

170. Sounds like someone needs to check their privilege.

[hootinholler]

245. If you think this is about maintaining white privilege

Perhaps you will read what Gormy Cuss had to say above and rethink your position.

[eridani]

179. It's what comes from allowing culture war issues to trump economic analysis.

White trash is a class insult, not a racial one.

[liberal_at_heart]

182. I agree. I grew up in a trailer. Seems rather contradictory, hypocritical, and bigoted

to claim to care about the poor and call them trailer trash at the same time.

[booley]

189. As a matter of fact I am a poor white person

And I really have no problem.

Being poor doesn't' mean one has no class.

It also shows a bit of privilege in that we wouldn't use phrases like "black trash"

When it comes to white trash, the problem isn't seen as intricately linked to being white.

[tiredtoo]

193. This thread went off topic immediately

Thought it was about calling people names based on their income level. turns out it is a debate about where to shop.

[loyalsister]

198. Hate speech

"Would anyone here stand for the use of say "Urban Trash" or "Mexican Trash" or ... "

Exactly. It is racist toward those who don't have to be qualified as "trash" because there are plenty of words for that.

It is intended to insult and demean a demographic (white and poor). I think there a range of sentiments behind it.

Depending on context, It could refer explicitly to people who live in trailers and\or shop at walmart. Or more vaguely people who dress in old hand-me-downs, appear to only get haircuts from non professionals, sometimes they just look like they might be dirty, and maybe they drive used cars..
Regardless, it seems that it suggests that people who are white, poor, uneducated, appear to be comparatively less groomed, use less grammatically correct language (especially when they have a rural\southern accent).

Is it possible that it could suggest that people are of such quality that they have been or should be "disposed of?" Or maybe they have already been disposed in a sense.

Regardless, when people who meet that devaluing criteria happen to be white, their skin color has to be mentioned because it goes without saying in reference to other "races."

How different is it to be qualified as trash, than from bugs (used during the Rwanda massacres)?

I'm not saying that we are involved in anything that resembles genocide. Just making the point of how language can be used to set people who look like each other apart.

[YoungDemCA]

202. Sarah Palin, et al are irrelevant in terms of who actually has power in the US

Who created the entire system of racism and exploitation that we continue to deal with? Who actually runs the major institutions of the United States? Who has the wealth, power, and social status in this country?

Not the "trailer trash", certainly. White people are the dominant racial group in the United States, yes; and white people hold much of the power in society, true; but poverty, lack of educational opportunities, cultural appropriation, and political exploitation-these things don't discriminate based on skin color, certainly not on the individual level (group level is different).

I've seen a lot of racism, class snobbery, and other forms of bigotry and discrimination from highly educated, affluent people. Many of these people consider themselves "tolerant" and even "progressive" or "liberal." The difference is; they are more subtle and sophisticated in their bigotry, as opposed to the cruder "white trash" individual venting his or her frustrations, resentment, and anger at their lot in life in crass, offensive, vulgar terms.

Bigotry that hides behind a veil of political correctness and educated intellectualism is still bigotry, and is arguably more insidious and pervasive in American society these days.

[DesertDiamond]

207. Thank you for saying this! Ridiculing those who suffer from proverty is just plain wrong.

I notice this started during the Reagan era, and it had a purpose -- to make us feel that the poor are stupid and don't deserve our concern. Just another "divide and conquer" wedge along with immigrant-bashing, etc. Let's NOT play into their hands!

[Chemisse]

209. I think when white people are dirt poor it is more likely to be because they have other problems.

These terms conjure up the trailer park I lived in when I was in my 20s.

-The next door neighbors beat their babies - we could hear it (yes, I called child welfare, to no avail).

-The man down the road molested several of the little girls on the street.

-One neighbor would get drunk quite regularly and shoot off his gun.

-Most were home all day and literally had nothing better to do than watch the comings and goings of their neighbors, pass around horrendous gossip, and create that all-entertaining drama.

-Several of the trailers were occupied by the town's drug dealers.

-Packs of dogs roamed the park, terrifying my young children.

-A three-year-old wandered the park regularly, looking dirty and sad.

Of course there were good people too, elderly folks who could afford nothing else, families (like mine) who were there as a stepping stone to other life situations.

My point is, that while nonwhites are poor for a variety of reasons that are often outside their control, whites - who have such advantages in our society - are more likely to be downtrodden because of low intelligence, mental health problems, or behaviors that sabotage their lives. Thus the labels - trailer trash or poor white trash - were created.

I admit I use the term 'trailer trash' occasionally, but have the grace to inwardly grimace when I do so. After all, no human being should be considered 'trash', and there should be no shame at all in living in a trailer.

[Tsiyu]

247. You're joking, right?

the "problems" you mention are not just "poor people's problems."

They are humanity's problems.

Rich people beat their babies.

A Dupont uber-heir was recently convicted of molesting his own three year old ( no jail for him, nosiree because apparently child molestation is not a "problem" when you're filthy rich. )

if you don't think there are affluent people gittin' drunk and shootin' off guns, you don't know any wealthy people.

I know an entire town full of affluent people who "sit around all day" talking smack about everybody else. What else have they got to do? Half of them are alcoholics, too, but they're wealthy alcoholics, so it's not a problem.

As for the drug dealers, drive through your local gated community. How many of the "no problem" folks there are working for pharmcos, which addict millions and whose products kill 40 people a day from accidental overdose? How many people in those fine homes are addicted to pain killers or meth or cocaine? None? Because drug dealing and abuse are only pastimes of the poor? SURE!

I guess if you're wealthy, these "problems" are just quirks. If you're poor, then they're problems.

[theHandpuppet]

250. +100

Great post.

[Tsiyu]

251. Thanks Handpuppet

I have to limit my time here, but wow.

Just.

Wow.

[Chemisse]

252. Good points. Nevertheless,

the density of people with problem behaviors is much higher among the poor whites than middle-class or well-to-do whites.

Here's one reason:

If you are mentally ill, alcoholic, or a drug addict, you are more likely to be poor because it is hard for you to hold down a job and/or you do not spend your money wisely.

If you are mentally ill, alcoholic, or a drug addict, it is more likely you will neglect or abuse your child or your dog.

The fact that these problems are found throughout all areas of society does not negate the fact that they are more prevalent among the poor.

[Tsiyu]

255. Money hides a lot of prevalence

and I daresay that the bejillionaire, money hoarding, society decimating sociopaths in charge of things these days certainly do nothing to prove that mental illness isn't teeming at the top of the food chain.

Hint: Just because you refuse to see a problem doesn't mean it isn't there.

[Chemisse]

264. Sure, whatever.

I don't care enough about what you think to continue to discuss this with you.

[Tsiyu]

275. Well, that's certainly mature

but no problema.

Peace

[ninjanurse]

214. Food Stamps and Walmart

I wrote this post in response to a Young Republican who got marriage proposals for her snotty and mocking post about the people she saw using food stamps at Walmart--

http://www.emancipationconversation.com/2013/06/23/sneering-at-walmart-shoppers/

[santroy79]

215. Well if you havent noticed

its ok on the DU to trash white people 24/7.

[Smarmie Doofus]

216. I agree. K and R. n/t

[gollygee]

222. This is an issue of classism, not racism

At least not "racism" against white people. As stated upthread, "white trash" is racist because it tries to hold apart white people who are seen as trashy from regular trashy people, who are people who aren't white. The reason the other examples aren't used are because, in our society, they've always been seen as redundant.

However, it is a problem as far as classism goes so I'm with you on that.

[L0oniX]

223. Trailer Park Boys (now on Netflix) is not helping...

but it sure is some funny shit. I supposed we shouldn't use the word "jackass" as it may offend donkeys. There's always someone who be offended no matter what is said so some have gone on this journey to purify and purge expressions and descriptions. While I agree that groups should not be attacked ...tell me there are not a few in all those groups that fit some of the derogatory descriptions. I suppose using derogatory descriptions of repukes er uhm republicans will be scorned soon on DU.

[drray23]

226. i live in the country side

In an old 1890 farmhouse we have renovated. My county is very poor and many of my friends live in trailers because that is all they can afford.

They have a piece of land they inherited and just place a trailer on it. Very common in the country. Many of these places are well maintened with manucured yards.

The old cliche about the "rednecks" living in squalor are just that. It is insulting to judge somebody by the type of housing they live in.

[davidthegnome]

229. Yeah, I agree with you on this one.

Not much sense, compassion, or even productivity in putting people down because they're poor, or live in trailers, or shop at Wall Mart.

The small town I grew up in, in the last decade, has shut down almost all of it's ma and pa stores, opened new trailer parks, opened two separate dollar stores and a family dollar store. Business has been crumbling for years - and a lot of people who worked for decades to get what they had had to move into to a trailer park, or start shopping at a place where they could buy their food in cans for one dollar each.

I'm not too far from that myself, if not for my family, I might be hard pressed to even manage to rent my own trailer. Shopping at Walmart is about four times cheaper than shopping at the local grocery store - even though it's a 50 mile drive for me, I end up saving money when I go.

We don't all have the luxury of choosing where we live, how we live, or what we can afford.

[tblue37]

231. +1. nt

[theHandpuppet]

233. From my DU Journal, 2005 & 2006

I've borrowed these OPs from my DU journal because after some 8 or 9 years I believe they're still relevant. Although I do believe the name-calling isn't as bad here as it was some years ago, the problem persists. I only ask, like hootinholler, that folks take a moment to consider why we use certain terms to denigrate people by class and that when we do, we play right into the narrative of those whose goal is to keep the 99% at each other's throats. If we're going to point fingers, it shouldn't be down but up.

Many thanks to hootinholler for this thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=230x1014
Why is name-calling the poor still okay even among "progressives"?
Edited on Fri Aug-04-06 11:03 AM by theHandpuppet

I'm posting this rant on the Poverty Forum because I don't dare post it on GD. I've brought this subject up before only to be met with outright hostility. Am I the only person who is sick and tired of a certain kind of name-calling that goes on throughout the "progressive" community here? Why is it that folks who otherwise identify themselves as politically enlightened think it's okay to refer to their political foes as "trailer trash", "stupid hillbillies" et al?

This is really, really bothering me and I'm having a hard time keeping a lid on my anger. I am Appalachian and a proud Scottish/German Jewish, college educated, progressive lesbian "hillbilly" who grew up as a "river rat" but has been an activist since I was involved in publishing an anti-war newsletter at 15 and helped lead a mass walkout of my high school to protest the Vietnam War. I am DAMNED SICK AND TIRED of every bozo Repuke being dismissed as some "toothless, ignorant hillbilly" when a majority of the people throwing those perjoratives around wouldn't know a hillbilly if they woke up next to one in the morning.

If you dare to object to this kind of name-calling you're called thin-skinned or told to "lighten up". Well, I'm not going to "lighten up." The poor are not our enemies, the powerless are not our enemies, the hungry or uneducated are not our enemies. The ones pulling the strings in this country can be found among the uber rich and their corporate allies. They can have Ivy-League educations. They live in the best homes. They're still scumbags. I'll proudly take my poor hillbilly neighbors any day over their kind of trash.

I had to grow up with that kind of hurtful name-calling and I'm totally sick of hearing this on DU. It's a kind of class warfare that turns my stomach. So what can you do?

I followed that up with...

Why are there no equivalent names for wealthy GOP voters?

After all, since they are in a position to make "educated "choices from their perches of comfort, shouldn't we hold them just as responsible as poor GOP voters? Even moreso, I would say. They are the ones stuffing GOP coffers, they are the lobbyists, the Bush "pioneers". Who threatens us more? The poor or rural person who votes for Bush out of ignorance or from being misled, or the well-heeled GOP voter who knows EXACTLY what they are doing and why, all the while providing those who will fashion a government suited to their greed with pocketsful of campaign cash? Why don't we have dismissive names for those folks, ones that reflect their economic status? You know why? Because in this country poverty is considered a moral failing. If you're poor you must be lazy, a loser. Boortz, hatemonger that he is, probably reflects a more widely held belief among Americans than we will ever admit, even to ourselves. If that wasn't true I wouldn't be seeing that very attitude reflected on DU, day after day. No wonder there are those who would call us "liberal elitists" when there are too many within the party who continually ridicule people who may lack an education or a decent place to live. As the old saying goes, if the shoe fits, wear it. They mock the way the poor dress, talk, walk, eat, vote. "Rednecks, hillbillies, trailer trash.." Yes, we've heard them all. I'm just not sure how much more of it I can take before I lose my temper and end up getting myself kicked off DU.

And then this...

I just want people to be aware without dismissing our feelings

Part of that process is letting folks such as yourself know where I am coming from. I grew up with the name-calling, being made to feel ashamed of and dismissed for something I feel is a real part of my identity. Some of my most vivid memories from childhood have to do with being called those hurtful names, of actually having been spit upon for being a "hilljack". For instance, I once remember a band trip I took with my school to the white, middle class suburb of Upper Arlington, Ohio, a Columbus suburb. It was a real treat for a bunch of poor kids who rarely got to take trips of any kind. Uniforms -- UNIFORMS! -- were a big deal, even though they were only old and borrowed. Well, we got to participate in a parade through that town and I WILL NEVER FORGET those people lining the streets and shouting names at us like "hillbillies!" and "river rats!" and actually throwing garbage at us while we passed. I went home that night and cried myself to sleep. I WILL NEVER FORGET. I will never forget the snickers when that first day of college I walked in with my clothes in a paper sack because I didn't own a piece of luggage, only to be given the clothes closet with one bare bulb as a studio while every other young person in my class was given an airy space with studio windows. I WILL NEVER FORGET.

I am proud of my Appalachian heritage. Proud of my beautiful, talented mother, the daughter of German Jewish refugees and who grew up in little more than a shack next to the railroad tracks; my mother who had a poor piece of meat to eat once a week if she was lucky and kept warm by collecting bits of coal from the loads that dropped off trains traveling through to somewhere else. Proud that she valued every one of us and exposed us to everything she believed would make us whole human beings -- art, music, dance, literature. Of walking hand in hand with my mother, day after day, to a wondrous public library (which to me seemed like a palace) and coming out with another armload of books. Mother would then make tea, sit her children around a rickety old card table and read to us. Never once did I ever hear my mother disparage another human being for their religion, for their race, for how much money they might or might not have in their pocket -- and she would never have allowed that in her home. Yes, we were and are hillbillies. Oh, I could tell you stories.

I am proud of my father's family, whose first American patriarch came to Virginia as an indentured servant and whose children and grandchildren trekked into the wild Appalachian mountains as free men. Proud of those who, to a man, served in Union regiments from Kentucky to free women and men who were worse off than themselves. (The fact that Appalachia was the bedrock of Southern Unionists is a neglected fact of history.) Proud of my large, strapping father who wrote reams of poetry and gave up his dreams of becoming a writer to toil all his life on the railroad to support his large family, who sacrificed much to send us all to college and never doubted our worth as human beings.

So you'll have to pardon what has turned into something of a rant here. I just want folks to know where that hurt comes from and no matter where you go those demons will follow. "Judge not, lest ye also be judged." I'm a hillbilly, not a dirty word.

Lastly, there was this ....

Maybe it's time to reclaim the word "redneck"

Once upon a time the word "redneck" had totally different connotations. It was a source of pride among union miners, including miners of color, who fought for justice against mine owners and government troops during what is known as "The Redneck War of 1921". Just do a Google search for the West Virginia miner's strike of 1921 or "The Redneck War of 1921" and you will find many links of historical interest. Miners who chose to take up arms in the struggle identified one another by the wearing of red bandanas around their necks; hence the term "rednecks". Of course, those who looked down upon the miners used this term in a derogatory fashion to describe anyone who was poor, perhaps lacked education or polish. Ironically, too many today who supposedly take pride in being called rednecks play right into the hands of those who used that term as a slur rather than as a source of pride, for the history of the "Redneck Miners" is one that has been lost to American History books. You have to look to the history of labor battles in this country to realize just what the redneck miners contributed to the labor movement and to justice in this country.

For just a glimpse into the "Redneck War of 1921" here are a couple of links.

http://www.appalachianhistory.net/2009/08/original-redneck-explanation.html
http://www.wvgenweb.org/wvcoal/red.html

As for the thread from 2005, I'm only providing the OP here, as the thread itself was quite long.

Class Warfare Here On DU -- STOP IT!

Posted by theHandpuppet in General Discussion (Through 2005)
Fri Aug 19th 2005, 11:30 AM

Y'know, I'm really getting very discouraged by what I view as the class warfare too often being waged within many threads here on DU. I can't tell you just how many times within the course of a single day I read disparaging remarks here about people in poor and/or rural areas. Vicious stereotyping of the poor is not something I expect here on DU.

Some of the comments I've read just today are worthy of the worst Freeper posts, ridiculing what poor folk eat, drive, where they live, go to the bathroom, et al ad infinitum.

Let me give you a clue, folks: it's not the poor in this country who sent us to Iraq, who are raking in billions via corruption and illegal wars, who are profiting from fixed elections, sucking up to lobbyists, driving Hummers, living in mini-mansions and gated communities, stealing from state pension funds, ripping off the American people via corporate robbers like Enron, who are donating millions upon millions into Republican coffers, who own the RW hate radio stations and mediawhore outlets, who spew their twisted visions of our future from their RW think-tanks, or whose policies are being rebelled against in vigils all across this land.

Are there, among poor folk, those whose actions and deeds are revolting, lacking in compassion or downright greedy? You bet. Yet for every small town preacher taking advantage of a poor widow on Social Security there are a few score and more of millionaires right in DC who are cannibalizing millions upon millions of their own citizens. Too bad their vile isn't so eagerly exploited by the media -- but then they own the media, don't they.

The Democratic Party is supposed to be the party which represents, among its number, the disenfranchised of this nation -- and that includes the poor and working class folks in this country of ours. Sometimes you'd never know it by some of the posts I read here on DU.

[Snipping the last sentence here, lest someone take it out of context.]

[suffragette]

236. Yep, it insinuates that it is expected for poor people to behave that way but not wealthy people

Even when, as in this case, it is a very wealthy family behaving so badly.

Adore you, hoot.

[hootinholler]

263. I think there are like 3 or 4 different ways

That this has been identified as at minimum ignorant.

Back at ya!

[alphafemale]

237. White Trash is not an economic term. It's a behavior.

Very rich people can behave like this.

That is White Trash.

[KoKo]

266. We would be better to let go of that term "White Trash."

It separates us from others and makes us look like racists. It doesn't bring people to the Democratic Party...it alienates them. It is racist.

[alphafemale]

272. Most of us whites are trash.

We are the creulist thing ever unleashed upon the planet yet also the most cowardly thing.

Getting called trash is entirely accurate.

[Scootaloo]

277. Especially given the implicit meaning of the term

if you are 'white trash" then you are acting "below your race." To call a white person "white trash," then, is an attempt to insult them by equating them with non-whites. it's an all-around racist term.

[Heather MC]

238. Question?

Why do you think the poor consider themselves to be "trash"?
I am black when someone tries to label me as the N-word. I don't get offended I reject the label they attempt to pin on me and move on with my life.

It seems to me when you hear the words "white trash" an image pops in your head of what that looks like to you. But that doesn't mean the people YOU SEE IN YOUR HEAD are trash. That is your issue not theirs.

[JCMach1]

241. Walmart is the meme for the mentality that is destroying America

[KoKo]

261. Thanks "Hoot" ...we can rail against Wall Mart for Change in its Policies

but to mock and make fun of those who are forced to shop there because of location (rural...with no other stores) or that they need to buy products with reduced prices because of reduced wages or poverty..

It's not good and makes us look like ugly "elitists" who laugh at everyone for who they are and their circumstances which causes "backlash" on us Dems.

Deriding "Policies" are one thing...but, blaming Poor or the "becoming poorer" Middle Class for trying to survive in this slagging economy for all except the 1%...for where they SHOP is blaming the people for the policies done by the Lobbyists, the Money in Politics that has become Obscene and circumstances beyond their control. We blame them for not voting...but where we live these days MANY of of us have LITTLE CHOICE because of Gerrymandering, "Citizens United" Decision by the Supremes and other Money in Govt. that shouldn't be there. Their vote doesn't count to them. And, increasingly our own own Middle Class Votes don't matter if it's voting for a Congress Critter who is a DINO or who gets pressured by their Multi-Mil Donors AFTER the election.....Who Could Have Known.......?

It's getting out of hand how we trash people on DU...who are the people we are supposedly trying to protect and encourage to join our Party.

[hootinholler]

262. Your last sentence sums up a lot

Many who would vote D if they voted feel alienated by the machinery in the bureaucracy as it is. They are too discouraged to vote because they know from personal experience it doesn't matter.

The thing is, if we can get them to the polls as a block behind someone it would rock the Koch's world.

Maybe we should start a would you let this person vote alone? With photos of teabaggers or the talibornagain

[JEFF9K]

267. Extreme political correctness ...

can only hurt the Democratic cause. Walk it off!

[ladyVet]

270. You've got a lot of posts, so I guess I can assume (!) you've been around awhile.

Surely you've seen that anyone in the South, poor people, fat people, women and gun owners are regularly ridiculed here. Doesn't matter one whit how liberal they are -- and they're often more progressive than some -- they still get beat down.

So, for the record, I am a woman over 50, a USAF veteran, I'm fat, I don't have a college education, I'm so poor I don't even register on the poverty scale, I'm a proud North Carolina-born, Constitution-loving, Second Amendment supporter (well, I support all the amendments, but let's just go with the one that pisses people off the most for now).

Oh, and I shop at Wal-Mart, when we have any money for stuff (one son even works there, and we're grateful for the job) and I get my non-organic food at Aldi.

Fire away.

[maced666]

273. The complete term is 'white priveledge' trash.

Certainly of late.

[Scootaloo]

276. This isn't a progressive forum. it's a DEMOCRATIC forum

We on the left are told this frequently. Might as well apply it equally.