"Trailer park trash"

[SheriffBob]

I see this term often here at DU.

I live in a trailer and it offends me.

It is stereotyping at its worst.

It is also bad for democrats to do this.trash

It could make us lose voters who get insulted about this painting with a broad brush.

Trailer park trash is a term that I would expect to read on a RW forum and not here.

I live on SS, 1k a month and if it wasn't for my trailer home I would be living in a tent.

How about a rule here against this term?

Thank you very much.

[hlthe2b]

1. You are right, of course.

it pains me when our side is insensitive. I am glad you are here to remind us.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

143. I lived in a trailer before becoming homeless...

When I feel discriminated against, I simply ask a street person what the local police are doing these days. When I lived in the streets, I missed my house trailer, which termites destroyed.

[apcalc]

2. You are quite correct and I agree wholeheartedly.

[dhol82]

4. Um, so what are you actually trying to say?

Just curious.

[cherokeeprogressive]

7. That a former darling of the Democratic Party once said if you drag a $100 through a trailer park...

you never know what you'll find.

That clear it up a little bit?

[dhol82]

10. Ummmm-no

Which former darling and what did he mean?
Just curious.

[dhol82]

20. So, you are going back to a 1992 quote about Bill just to bash Hillary

Were you a Bernie devote?

[RandiFan1290]

122. DU allows republicons to post

as long as they are subtle

[LoverOfLiberty]

128. It wasn't about bashing Bill

it was about bashing Paula Jones. He was specifically claiming that Republicans paid her a lot of money to claim that Bill Clinton had sex with her.

Carville's mouth can be pretty vile sometimes.

[PJMcK]

129. Is Mr. Carville any worse than many Republicans?

Think of the things that the leaders of the GOP have said about the Clinton family:

They had Vince Foster murdered.
Mrs. Clinton was a lesbian, (as if that was an insult).
Trashed Chelsea Clinton who was just a kid at the time, (claiming that she was the love-child of Mrs. Clinton and Janet Reno).

The list goes on but you get my point. James Carville was fiercely fighting fire with fire. I will agree that his is borderline insane; after all, he married Mary Matalin!

[Jeffersons Ghost]

210. How many men and women had sex with this potential First Lady?

[ToxMarz]

23. Since I don't know what that means I assume others don't either

so I put the Google to work. That was a slur he made about Paula Jones. Not really an intuitive meaning.

[zz-la]

55. Carville grew up in the South

In a poor area of Louisiana according to his own words. He was probably at one time or another considered white trash. It's a derogatory term I agree, but it's sorta like a redneck telling a redneck joke, or a Jew telling an off color joke about how Jew's are always pinching pennies. It's all about context and who the person is that is making the reference.

[GulfCoast66]

203. He was hardly white trash

He is from the small town of...Carville.

It was classic classism and misogyny. But it was also 24 years ago and has nothing to do with anything except this poster trying a backhanded dig at the Clintons.

[zz-la]

60. That was a reference about how many people were crawling out of the woods...

To suddenly become experts about what happened with the Paula Jones scandal. What Carville was saying, in his own very unique way, is that if you walk through a poor neighborhood and flash some cash, you can pretty much get a person to say whatever you want them to say because they are probably starving. I don't think Carville, of all people, was actually trying to denigrate poor working white people.

[whathehell]

28. It was Jim Carville..

He's a democratic consultant, but if he was ever anyone's "darling", it's news to me.

[putitinD]

54. maybe Carville is trying to tell us how he met Mary Madlyn

[whathehell]

123. Nasty..

but funny. I never really trusted him after he married her.

[LisaM]

176. Wait, this quote is from 1992?

I agree that it's probably something people shouldn't be saying, but why are we re-hashing 1992 now?

[whathehell]

212. Goes to character, maybe?

"probably shouldn't be saying"?...

With respect, I'd say it's something a high profile political aid should definitely nOT be saying, especially if that person is a democrat.

[LisaM]

213. Of course not, but....

I'm sure there were a lot of thinks people said 20 or 30 years ago that they wouldn't say now. I think of the words that got bandied around in my junior high school a million years ago and I cringe, but that's how people talked in my home town.

[whathehell]

214. Okay, but Carviille became a national figure..

of what has traditionally been the "Party of the people". He should have known better.

[NurseJackie]

219. Refering to him as being a "darling" reveals much more about that poster than he intended...

... and what it reveals to me is not at all flattering.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

209. This looks a little "trashy" to me...

This artist painted a nude picture of Trump to create the artistic statement that genitals should not define a person. Look what hired, Trump hit-men gave her for the effort:

[nolabear]

16. Who? And define "confidante."

[nolabear]

22. Never mind. It was Carville. Carville has a big mouth but I can live with it.

Btw I lived in trailer parks for a good portion of my childhood. Carville is a smart, determined guy who loves to hear himself talk and you have to decide whether you can deal with that in light of the rest of what he does. I can.

[handmade34]

5. thank you...

it needed to be said

[deathrind]

6. Agreed.

I understand your point but from a different perspective it is up to you if you allow a person who obviously has character deficiencies (which anyone who belittles another with name calling has, Trump is a fabulous example) get to you.

[loyalsister]

168. That sounds creepily like "don't let race or sex get in your way."

When someone used bigoted terms, it is on the speaker not the person who understands the intent.

[deathrind]

192. I disagree.

If someone calls me names because of a birth defect or the type of car I drive or the zip-code or place I live in it is totally up to me if I am going to let their words hurt me.

There always have been and always will be people like Trump who belittle others in order to feel better about themselves. If you give them the power to let their words hurt you that is up to you. You can't control what others say but you can control how you let it affect you.

[loyalsister]

194. What works for you is not a universal truth

and it borders on blame the victim type mentality. If it were as easy as you claim, kids would not be killing themselves over cyberbullying.

[deathrind]

199. I understand what you are saying and you are entitled to your POV.

But I still disagree. It is a universal truth that one only has control over certain aspects of their lives (one of those aspects being how they let others remarks affect them). Constructively pointing this out is not a "blame the victim" mentality. Blaming the person buying fruit at the farmers market for being in the way of the drunk driver who drove thru the market place and getting hit is a blame the victim example.

"Stick and Stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me"...it is as true & relevant today as it was when my great grandmother taught me it back in the early 70's. This is something every parent should discuss with their children (it pains me greatly when I read stories about the 13 / 14 / 15 etc. year old who took their life because of some bully at school). There are always going to be mean people/bullies in the world. I wish very much that that was not the case but it is. The best way to deal with them is to take back the control.

[loyalsister]

200. "sticks and stones" was and is a lie

and a childish one at that. Presenting a grandma knows best argument does not help people who have awareness and sensitivity to what is behind language. It's really just basic manners and I am continually astounded that DUers object.

[deathrind]

201. Ummm, ok.

You completely missed the point and went to name calling as well.

As I said you are entitled to your opinion.

Have a nice evening.

[aaaaaa5a]

8. +1

[gwheezie]

9. Trailer homes seem like a viable option

Im getting ready to downsize so I can retire. I can't afford to stay where I am so been looking at singlewides on a couple acres. I lived in one years ago, I'm not knocking it.

[1939]

11. At various points in my life, living in trailers has been a good option for me.

You can do it IF (very big IF) you don't have too much stuff. It really doesn't feel cramped. The neighbors were no more obnoxious than suburban neighbors and there are a lot fewer kids.

[gwheezie]

17. I'm looking to smaller as bettet

I've been getting rid of my stuff for the past 2 years. I'm down to one closet and I've been living in the 3downstairs rooms.

[CrispyQ]

13. Trailers = bad. Tiny homes = good.

Will we soon have tiny home parks?

[DeadLetterOffice]

30. OMG yes THIS!!!

Drives me absolutely batshit crazy. I mean seriously, wtf?

[handmade34]

44. hmmm

http://tinyhousetalk.com/communities/

groups of tiny houses are called 'communities' ...kinda like the Crack/cocaine dilemma go figure

[IronLionZion]

85. That's a good point, trailers are the original tiny houses

also trailers make sense in boom and bust areas like oil fields that need temporary housing for workers and can be moved.

[Warpy]

182. I think so. The yuppies are going to get pretty sick of campgrounds and

the sickness will be mutual. Most of them are going to want to get rid of the bucket arrangement in the bathroom in favor of a flush toilet, for instance, and that means at least a sewer hookup. Other tiny home park amenities will be storage lockers, hot tubs, electrical hookups, and a "lodge house" where entertaining large groups of friends can be scheduled.

People are opting for the tiny house because of the way small trailers and RVs are done up, I think. I know I'd be extremely unhappy in an RV that assumes I'm part of a couple and I love shag carpeting and velours upholstery and do nothing in the evenings but watch TV.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

191. How about tiny gated communities?

Only a Fiat 500 or smaller can fit through the gate. Fiat 500L's will scrape their fenders on the gateposts.

[Chemisse]

81. I sold my large log house when my kids grew up

And got a mobile home on land. It is the perfect size for my husband, dog and I.

[gwheezie]

95. That's what I'm thinking

I feel like crap and want to retire. I can't afford to stay in my house unless I work. I have spent the past 2 years rehoming horses, goats and dogs. I think I can get enough $ if I sell my home and acreage to find a nice Mobil home with a couple wooded acres.

[classykaren]

125. Many Millionaires here in Florida live in Mobile Home communities

[Eleanors38]

189. I need to sell my house for retirement, trouble is finding a trailer is easy, but a lot...

still legacy-zone for MHs is difficult. If I found one, I would plop a used 14' wide on it, maybe build a shed over it to blunt the 100+ heat, and to cover my car. Might cost a hundred grand or so, but my current place is worth half a mill -- more without the old scrape-off house!

[busterbrown]

12. Yea.. i guess most of us grew up with that term..

It’s time to wake up and realize that stereotyping ( Trailer Trash) must be eliminated from our
vocabulary.

[whathehell]

27. I didn't..In fact, outside of the South, that term, and that of 'white trash' wasn't heard until

the mid to late eighties, and I think it coincides with the beginning of the "Republican (Reagan) Revolution.

[forgotmylogin]

59. I have been in some awesome trailers.

I've been shocked at how nice some double wides are on the inside. If they are nicely kept and landscaped and the area around isn't treated like a dump, I think trailers can be a viable option. I work in home renovation and what some people call a "trailer" is often actually a "modular home" that is placed on the ground with an actual foundation. They are much safer and more permanent than a trailer on wheels with a skirt around it.

Trailers are often transitional homes for low income people, and thought of as something you'd want to eventually get out of into a real apartment or house.

I can see how there are people who don't aspire for more and might be termed "trailer trash". I think it applies more to a kind of person than to all people who live in a trailer for whatever reason.

[busterbrown]

100. Thanks for that..

Might be looking for one as my wife and i look to transition...we don’t have the freaking money to transition into a home anywhere in cali.

[Tsiyu]

141. "People who don't aspire for more"

I honestly cannot get angry at people who envision a world covered with apartment complexes and tidy HOA-controlled subdivisions with perfectly landscaped lawns. This is their idea of utopia, and their internal feelings of value and security arise from having the "right" or "correct" domicile. Perhaps their rigid view of what constitutes "appropriate housing" arises from their upbringing or their own snobbery?

It's more amusing than infuriating the older I get.

Why on earth would all of the wonderful people I know living in trailers in the woods on acreage, where there's room for a big messy garden, and untamed woods full of wildlife, and room for a pony lol , and not one fucking rule to tell a person what to do with their own property, where there are trees all around cooling and refreshing the air, no traffic, and very little crime..........how in the fuck is it a step up to move to an apartment for that person? We're not all the same, and your "view" of apartments being a step up is definitely NOT shared by most smart people.

If I had to live in an HOA-ruled development where I couldn't hang my clothes on the line or in an apartment building where I could never open the windows I would stab myself.

But then I don't assign value to others based on the mainstream ideal of the "appropriate housing" that good and acceptable people MUST have to be part of decent society. I think cabins in the woods and little trailers tucked next to a lake are just fine.

I've seen stick-built mansions in Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama reduced to specks of debris by tornadoes. I've had as much fun at a barbecue in the land surrounding a trailer as I've had at a party in upscale Connecticut.

So anyone who just read the above, please don't view a trailer as a downgrade or "not appropriate" even if you don't have awesome landscaping and a Disney World development to put it in.

Most Americans are very shallow, true, but you find your own way to freedom, and don't base it on some poor deluded soul's vision of how proper people "should" live.

Laugh at their narrow world view, and live life the way YOU choose.

[kooth]

153. People who don't aspire for more ...

Well-said! Let's hear it for the greenbelt!

[forgotmylogin]

164. No offense intended.

If ones aspiration is to live in the country in a trailer that's awesome. It sounds like a great life. I'm talking of people who don't take care of their trailer and let it become a junk pile because they don't view it as what they want. It's a type of person, trailer-dwelling or not, and it is unfair to use it as a blanket stereotype.

[Gormy Cuss]

166. Trailers are rarely transitional housing for local income people

Rather they represent the affordable means of home ownership particularly in rural areas where undeveloped land is cheap.

[For Freddie]

88. Popular Term in the Hamptons

My daughter is a certified organic gardener on estates,
farms in far Eastern Long Island. She lives on Shelter Island.
She hears this all the time. The elites and their spawn throw it around quite a bit. "Ignert" as my husband called them. I have lived in large affluent new homes, I have flipped vintage homes. And now I live in a pleasant apartment in Tucson. But the happiest I have ever been was when sold one of those big homes and chose a "modular home" 15X16 and put it on 2 acres up in Apache Co. Az at 7000 ft. to live in our version of a "Tiny Home" when no one gave such things respect. We were the first on the mountain to telecommute.

My husband was a mechanical designer and he designed tooling for the bio-medical industry. We were FREE, from pollution, traffic,
and all things suburban. We designed our home to withstand the winters without a furnace. Our gas stove warmed the whole home when I baked bread and cooked. We rescued animals and enjoyed wildlife. We put "a ceiling on material desires" and lived simply.
It was beautiful. Half mile from the Apache Nation and about 20 miles from the New Mexico boarder in what used to be Zuni hunting ground.

I will always love trailers. Lived in them as a student in college,
Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado,upstate Ulster Co., New York.
My youngest son was home birthed in "a trailer" in Ulster Co. NY.
Now if I had affluence I would choose a trailer designed wisely
and environmentally harmonious. But I am a "widow" enjoying my life in Tucson, my grand children and my Meditation Center.
I walk to Bookmans and collect historic books.
And I live frugally on S.S.

So..."trailer trash" "white trash" etc. is just an ignorant term used by ignorant people who have money and fear "the Other". And who do not know how to live well simply. But fear a life with out
material excess. If we were as ignorant as they we would now
label them Trumpy.

[Ligyron]

14. I've never done it before and now, never will.

[getagrip_already]

15. I haven't heard that one...

I've heard white trash, southern trash, gutter trash, and bottle trash, but not trailer park.

Live and learn.

In any case, not all whites are trash, not all southerners are, some gutters are clean, and bottles, well, i'll leave that one alone.

But whites, southerners, and drinkers don't like it. And neither should trailer parks.

However, in the grand scale of pejoratives, it's a small one.

What I'd like to know is why mother nature hates them so much?

[paleotn]

41. Here in the South....

....they usually leave out the word "Park". It's just one more ad hominem on poor people, and he's right, we need to stop using it. We are the party of the downtrodden and poor after all.

Mom doesn't really hate them, they're just so easy to destroy. They weigh a fraction of a similar size stick built house, aren't attached to a permanent foundation and it's easy for wind to get under them. But they're less expensive per sq foot and thus the only option many can afford.

[Fritz Walter]

19. In Florida, some of us prefer to use the term...

"Manufactured housing" which applies not only to mobile homes (trailers), but also the pre-fab housing units that many seniors here find affordable.

Because so many of us cherish other things in life, beyond real estate -- Traveling, for instance -- quality of life should not be measured by acreage.

Personally, I find the cookie-cutter homes -- with the giant two-car garage door up front and HOA fees out the ass -- much less attractive than the more affordable options.

Stay strong, SheriffBob!

[HereSince1628]

51. True, quality of life should not be measured by acreage, but sometimes quality of life

can involve actual acreage and depending upon its context some of a variety of diverse opportunities for satisfaction that can bring.

I hope for everyone the good fortune to have an appropriate amount of personal space and sanitation infrastructure to support whatever space they need to provide a reliable place from with to pursue a life in which they find quality.

'Their' space may not be my choice, and mine unlikely to be 'theirs', but hopefully each space able to contribute to the qualities of life its occupant seeks

[WillyBrandt]

21. Agree with you

And sorry you have to hear that. It's beneath anybody decent.

[RebelOne]

173. Ditto. I agree.

I used to live in a mobile home and the term"trailer park trash" is very offensive.

[whathehell]

24. I agree completely..It sucks.

I concur with disallowing it. It's elitist, anti-democratic, and therefore anti-American. Back at ya.

[Mister K]

25. I Agree...it is not a good term to be used here or anywhere else

Labels and stereotypes are only used to offend and not define.

My nieces have lived in trailer parks most of their lives.

It is how they live and never found anything wrong with it.

[Skittles]

26. here's me as a trailer baby

you'd never hear me trashing trailer folk - and those who do, they are f***ing SNOBS; yes INDEED

[DeadLetterOffice]

31. I was a trailer baby too!

But lack cute pictures - Mom still has them all. She made friends in that trailer park that she still has to this day, and we moved out of there 46 years ago.

[Skittles]

38. we moved all the time

so often, dad wrote the name of the town and state on pictures

(this one was Waterloo Wisconsin)

[DesertRat]

48. What an adorable, happy baby you were!

[Skittles]

53. when that picture was taken

I was one year old, and had a two year old brother and a two month old brother, and my mum had to keep us quiet in a trailer (my dad - can you believe he was 23 years old - worked nights)

[DesertRat]

90. Wow!

Well you sure looked healthy and happy.

[Skittles]

106. my parents both came from poor backgrounds

WWII and Depression survivors

us kids had fun in a very frugal fashion - it took very little to make us happy

[panader0]

58. What a cutie!

[Skittles]

61. you want I should kick your ass, panader0?

I WILL YOU KNOW

[NBachers]

62. I look at that picture and I see kids, bikes, toys, playmates, running, screaming, sand piles,

neighbors, running inside, running outside, do-it-yerself - all the things every kid should have as they grow up.

[Skittles]

73. read #53 regarding "running inside"

but otherwise, spot on - we had a blast, for very little money

[Squinch]

86. OMG, those cheeks are awesome!

[ailsagirl]

101. Awww... cute!!

[harun]

126. Love it

(from one trailer baby to another)

[yellerpup]

127. You look happy and well loved in this photo.

Here's one of me in 1951 sitting on the steps of one of the original "tiny houses," dressed in little boy's hand-me-downs and loving two puppies. This house was delivered by the oil company where my grandpa worked and slid off a trailer onto a concrete pad. I loved visiting my grandma because it was a big step up from our apartment. [link:

I use this as a thank you card for the actors and everyone else involved in a production of one of my plays because I want people to know where I started. I am not ashamed.

[Demonaut]

133. Happy Baby! I like the dates on the margins,

and those toys would be worth a small fortune

[yellerpup]

135. You look well-loved and happy!

This is of me in 1951, Oklahoma oil fields, sitting on the front door sill of a tiny house. The oil companies provided housing camps and would slide a house like this off the back of a truck onto a concrete slab and call a group of these houses a camp. It was a camp; my dad was an oil field worker. We moved at least once every year until I was 17 and my mom's dad left her his house when he died.

I use this photo to thank the people in my shows and others who know me deeply and I use it to show that a person can be happy with the simplest things no matter what their origins.

P.S. A trailer house was a huge step up for us.

[etherealtruth]

159. adorable!!!!!

[yellerpup]

160. It doesn't take much to make me happy!

Puppies will do it every time. Or kitties!

[etherealtruth]

163. Me too!!!!!

[tonyt53]

29. I grew up in a shitty very old farm house. My wife grew up in a mobile home.

That 'trailer" beat the hell out of the house I grew up in. Her mother raised her and her sister, working as a nurse (RN). But she battled addictions all of her life an was often out of a job. Those trailers were all they could ever afford. She is an IT executive with one of the largest hospital groups here in the US. So much for trailer trash. Hell, i'd rather have friends that grew up in mobile homes than friends that grew up in fancy houses and think their shit doesn't stink because of it. I didn't do so badly either. I am an engineer and own my own firm. But I never forgot where I came from, and neither has my wife with her childhood home. I have no problems with the term "white trash" though.

[DeadLetterOffice]

36. I've been told "white trash" is insulting to people of color...

... because it suggests that all people of color are trash, thus the need to specify when said trash is "white." (I think I got that right. If not, someone please correct me.)

Not being a person of color, I cannot speak to whether "white trash" is offensive, or whether it's just a theoretical argument. I've stopped using the term, anyway. Which has severely limited my ability to succinctly describe some folks in my county, let me tell you...

[Go Vols]

102. This is where I always heard it came from

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'".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_trash

[phylny]

32. I agree, and I'd also like to ban the word "Redneck" because it's

also derogatory.

[Go Vols]

103. If its coming from another redneck,

its not a problem for me.But if its used to denigrate,I can get redneck real quick.

[nolabels]

121. It's from going outside and working in the hot sun

Get ya a straw hat, some SBF45 and a shirt with a taller collar for the cure

[Go Vols]

175. lol

[GulfCoast66]

204. yep

I often refer to myself as a Liberal Redneck.

Very seldom fails to get a smile, even from republicans.

[MicaelS]

202. Depends on who is using it and how.

Some white people are proud of the term redneck. They self-identify as rednecks. It means they are a hard working (frequently outdoors) blue collar man or woman.

There are plenty of hilarious jokes that start "You might be redneck if..." I suggest you google that phrase.

[phylny]

206. No need for me to google it - I'm well aware of the jokes. I don't find it funny. n/t

[Stonepounder]

33. Thanks for the post.

I have tried to say this gently and haven't made much headway.

When I was 'forcibly retired' at age 60 from a company I had worked for for 17 years, we obviously couldn't afford to continue to maintain the lifestyle of an employed worker. We moved from Kansas City back to Northern KY and bought a very nice 3 Br, 2 Bath double-wide in a lovely park. All homes are owner occupied (no sub-letting allowed) and the owners of the park have very reasonable rules. (Example: you can work on your car, but you can't leave it up on jacks for more than 24 hours at a time.) We have always had very nice neighbors. (I don't talk politics with them, but then I don't talk politics with most people.)

We have dogs, our neighbors have dogs, so no one complains about dogs barking. It is an older park, so the trees are mature and the owners do a good job of keeping the streets maintained and plowed in the winter.

So, ixnay on the 'TPT' nonsense.

[unapatriciated]

34. I grew up in one

Dad was a bridge builder and this allowed us to move with a lot more ease to different job sites.
When I divorced and moved from southern California to Mammoth Lakes. I bought a three bedroom two bath moble home for 21k in 1994. Sold it in 2004 for 95k. Nothing trashy about that.

[QED]

35. I live in a manufactured home, a double wide.

And it is a home, planted in the ground and not mobile and certainly not a trailer. A couple of years ago a rezoning issue was up for consideration by our city council. The turnout by manufactured home residents was sizable. One of the council members referred to our homes as trailer. The crowd hissed and booed. One resident corrected him and he apologized.

When I went for a refi, I had to prove that my home could not be moved. Right - how would I hitch it up to a truck? There's no way to attach it.

There is so much stigmatism against manufactured homes, mobile homes, trailers, etc. but it is the only really affordable housing in my area. I didn't want to rent and be subject to a landlords whims. This is what I could afford. I don't let my coworkers come to my house or tell them where I live for fear they'll get snotty with me. They all have traditional homes but then, they have two incomes. Some of them are house poor. I'm not.

[Laser102]

37. I live ten miles outside of Rapid City, SD. There are some very nice trailer parks here and a lot

of them are senior communities. Nothing trashy about them. They are well kept and have amazing flower and vegetable gardens.

[sheshe2]

39. 100% agree with you Bob.

Best to you~

[blue neen]

40. Agreed.

100%.

[libtheoman]

42. Great comment

A person should not be judged by the possessions they have. Trump appears to have significant wealth and countless republicans think he's a genius because of his wealth but the content of his character appears to be lacking. I know countless people who live in trailers that I would trust more with the presidency than him.

Trailer Trash is a term used in the South. I believe it's another example of the wealthy elite creating class distinctions to keep economic and political control. White middle class southerners feel superior to poorer southerners while doing the bidding of the wealthy boss. And then poor white southerners are pitted against African Americans. Ultimately, it's a term used to demean and bully someone in order to control them. Which is pretty much what Trump's entire campaign is.

[renate]

157. welcome to DU!

And well said!

[Skittles]

197. Great reply

yes INDEED

[underthematrix]

43. Actually trailer park trash is a socio-economic class term that's

been bastardized. It actually refers to "white trash" which was used to define the uneducated English who were SENT to America because they were considered undesirable 1600 to 1700. This is the ancestral stock of many of today's European americans. They were thought of as lazy, unproductive, incapable of learning or being socialized. If you're African American like me, this sounds very familiar.

Right now, I'm reading Nancy Isenberg's book "White Trash: The 400 Year Untold History of Class in America" which demonstrates how the one percent has been phucking with the other 99% for a very long time. It's a great read. Trump is the one percent's ultimate mindphuck.

I'm retired too and living on SS which I love. I live in a house but I've always wanted to live in a mobile home. It just seems like it's cozy and a lot of fun with minimal yard work. And you have neighbors closeby that you can talk to every day. I'm poor too but I like being poor. I find it liberating.

I agree with you though, we should not use that phrase because it really does play into the one percent's ability to mindphuck us.

[fleabiscuit]

104. I like your attitude, and it's interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[Patiod]

112. I'm on the waiting list for that book at the library

I find the issues around class on America fascinating.

[nolabels]

119. Oh, for heavens sake....

Give me a break with the yardwork. Been living a 1800 sq ft double wide for the last 30 years, its surrounded by two acres (and brother's two acres next door). Tree care, weeds, rodents, stray animals etc. make me wish for the good ole days of living in an apartment.

[underthematrix]

172. I was speaking of mobile park communities

[Odin2005]

132. I want that book so bad now!

[geardaddy]

150. Howard Zinn also touches on this in his book

He talks about how in 17th and 18th century colonial society, servants/slaves, both white and black were often living together in harmony. The 1% thought this was dangerous, because they thought they could be a powerful force. That's when they started pitting white against black in the lower classes.

[ArcticFox]

180. try Grapes of Wrath too

I can't believe I never read it before. Gives good insight into the history of repression of the masses.

[paleotn]

45. I agree 100%

stay strong, SheriffBob!

[MFM008]

46. There is an attitude but

Trailer homes were cool.
TV dinners in aluminum were new and a big treat....
Some trailer homes were luxurious.
Our was a 2 bedroom apt for 5 people at Scott AFB,
It wasn't easy there either. People look down on the military to.

[Politicub]

47. I grew up in a trailer park

It doesn't bother me.

[Feeling the Bern]

49. No more word police, please.

[QED]

66. Easy to say if you're not the recipient.

[Feeling the Bern]

72. Grew up the only Jew in a Baptist town

Had swastikas etched into my car and my locker. . .called every anti-Jewish thing you can believe. Got beaten up many times (usually four to five on one) because I was a Christ-killer.

My wife is a Chinese national. We went to Phoenix and you don't know the amount of racism she received.

Watch you're saying about recipients there, buddy!

[uppityperson]

109. One might think you would be less tolerant of nasty language than forgiving of it.

[Feeling the Bern]

111. I ignore the words. Actions I don't. I am tired of word police

You don't like my reaction to it how I have been treated in my life, I don't care. I realize words are words.

It's time to actually grow up. "I'm offended." So what? Where does it say you have the right not to be offended? Someone says something offensive you don't like, consider the source and move on.

When did we call become such thin skinned people in America?

[Gormy Cuss]

170. Words have power. Ignoring that aids bigots.

White Americans especially WASPs have always been thin skinned when it came to sharing their societal privilege.

[LanternWaste]

158. I like to pretend I'm oppressed as well.

I like to pretend I'm oppressed as well. Though being a straight, white male tends to mock the very claim we imply (yet verbally deny), it still gives us a gloriously absurd sense of self-admiration we may not otherwise have.

[SheriffBob]

138. You need educated

http://www.meganmeierfoundation.org/suicide-statistics.html

SUICIDE & BULLYING

Peer victimization in children and adolescents is associated with higher rates of suicidal ideation and suicide attempts (JAMA Pediatrics, 2014).

Cyberbullying was strongly related suicidal ideation in comparison with traditional bullying (JAMA Pediatrics, 2014).

22% of frequent perpetrators only, 29% of frequent victims only, and 38% of frequent bully-victims reported suicidal thinking or a suicide attempt during the past year. Several environmental risk factors and risk behaviors were associated with suicidal thinking and behavior among youth involved in bullying (Borowsky, Taliaferro, & McMorris, 2013).

There is a strong association between bullying and suicide-related behaviors, but this relationship is often mediated by other factors, including depression and delinquency (Hertz, Donato, & Wright, 2013).

Youth victimized by their peers were 2.4 times more likely to report suicidal ideation and 3.3 times more likely to report a suicide attempt than youth who reported not being bullied (Espelage & Holt, 2013).

Students who are both bullied and engage in bullying behavior are the highest risk group for adverse outcomes (Espelage & Holt, 2013

[Feeling the Bern]

149. Okay. . .apparently, someone didn't read my last response about my past with bullying

And just thought to shoot from the hip and insult me by saying I am uneducated.

[treestar]

167. We don't know if it's true or not

But your attitude is so like right wingers that it's hard to credit your story. If you were Jewish and called ugly names you would not just shrug it off, that's very odd thing for a person to do. But right wingers often think this sort of thing would shield them. Kind of like saying Jeb can't be anti-immigrant since he's married to one. Sure he can. And on the internet, it is tough to believe this Jewish-Chinese couple are people who agree with the right wing on the word police thing.

[SheriffBob]

216. See, words do matter

I didn't say you were uneducated. I said you need educated referring to word police.

I am sorry you took it as an insult. I apologize.

[DawgHouse]

50. I agree with you!

[RKP5637]

52. Agree!!! n/t

[raging moderate]

56. You are SO right about this, SheriffBob!

I, too, lived in trailers when I was young. My children were born into a trailer park! That is part of how I made it through graduate school. And I may end up in one! And so what! There is nothing wrong with it! People are people wherever they live! Some of the finest people I have ever known were people living in trailers!

[Agnosticsherbet]

57. It is also derogatory towards the poor, and working class folk who live in them.

I spend some time living in Trailer Parks. My divorced mother had four kids, and it was cheap.

I don't like the term.

[thucythucy]

63. K & R

I totally agree.

[Kablooie]

64. My brother's mother-in-law retired to a trailer park.

It's very nice community. It's a great alternative for people who must live on a budget.
It's just odd that nice inexpensive housing must have wheels even if they aren't ever used.

[snooper2]

147. The wheels get taken off and moved to the next mobile home- I used to set them for a living

If you live in a mobile home within an hour of St. Louis I may have set it. Sorry for the dents in the side, when that auger hits a rock it tends to slam your ass into the side

[JohnnyRingo]

65. "Trailer Trash" has little do with a manufactured home.

...at least to me.

It probably does more to describe someone with multiple face piercings who calls her kids by their last names. Someone who cuts the sleeves off his free Marlboro T-shirt to show off an arm's length of $50 tattoos.

I have a good number of friends and family who own mobile homes and only a couple of them are trailer trash, and they'd still be a bit trashy living in a mansion. LOL

[doc03]

67. I agree I lived in a trailer for 20 years.

[canetoad]

68. Well said SheriffBob

You make a good point that too often we let slurs and insults become...just part of everyday language and we can do better than that.

PS. As a chronic sinus sufferer I really, really object to 'mouth breather'.

[Hestia]

69. WHITE TRASH The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/26/books/review/white-trash-by-nancy-isenberg.html

WHITE TRASH
The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America
By Nancy Isenberg
Illustrated. 460 pp. Viking. $28.

No line about class in the United States is more famous than the one written by the German sociologist Werner Sombart in 1906. Class consciousness in America, he contended, foundered “on the shoals of roast beef and apple pie.” Sombart was among the first scholars to ask the question, “Why is there no socialism in the United States?” His answer, now solidified into conventional wisdom about American exceptionalism, was simple: “America is a freer and more egalitarian society than Europe.” In the United States, he argued, “there is not the stigma of being the class apart that almost all European workers have about them. . . . The bowing and scraping before the ‘upper classes,’ which produces such an unpleasant impression in Europe, is completely unknown.”

In “White Trash,” Nancy Isenberg joins a long list of historians over the last century who have sent Sombart’s theory crashing on the shoals of history. The prolific Charles and Mary Beard, progressive historians in the first third of the 20th century, reinterpreted American history as a struggle for economic power between the haves and have-nots. W.E.B. Du Bois interpreted Reconstruction as a great class rebellion, as freed slaves fought to control their own working conditions and wages. Labor and political historians in the 1970s and 1980s recovered a forgotten history of blue-collar consciousness and grass-roots radicalism, from the Workingmen’s Party in Andrew Jackson’s America to the late-19th-century populists of upcountry Georgia to the Depression-era leftist unions of the Congress of Industrial Organizations. Historians of public policy, like the influential Michael B. Katz, emphasized the persistence of notions of “the undeserving poor,” an ideology that blamed economic deprivation on the alleged pathological behavior of poor people themselves and eroded support for welfare programs.

So Isenberg’s story is not, as her subtitle suggests, “untold.” But she retells it with unusual ambition and (to use a class-­laden term) in a masterly manner. Ranging from John Rolfe and Pocahontas to “The Beverly Hillbillies,” Isenberg — a historian at Louisiana State University whose previous books include a ­biography of Aaron Burr — provides a cultural ­history of changing concepts of class and inferiority. She argues that British colonizers saw their North American empire as a place to dump their human waste: the idle, indigent and criminal. Richard Hakluyt the younger, one of the many colorful characters who fill these pages, saw the continent as “one giant workhouse,” in ­Isenberg’s phrase, where the feckless poor could be turned into industrious drudges.

That process of shunting outsiders to the nation’s margins, she argues, continued in the early Republic and in the 19th century, when landless white settlers began to fill in the backcountry of Appalachia and the swamps of the lowland South, living in lowly cabins, dreaming of landownership but mostly toiling as exploited tenant farmers or itinerant laborers.

In the book’s most ingenious passages, Isenberg offers a catalog of the insulting terms well-off Americans used to denigrate their economic inferiors. In 17th-century Virginia, critics of rebellious indentured servants denounced them as society’s “offscourings,” a term for fecal matter. A hundred years later, elites railed against the “useless lubbers” of “Poor Carolina,” a place she calls the “first white trash colony.” In the early 19th century, landowners described the landless rural poor as boisterous, foolish “crackers” and idle, vagabond “squatters.”

[more at link]

[Hestia]

70. Review: ‘White Trash’ Ruminates on an American Underclass

Crackers and squatters, rednecks and hillbillies, sandhillers and mudsills, clay eaters and hoe wielders: America has developed a rich vocabulary to describe one part of its permanent underclass. The epithet that subsumes them all, to borrow the title of Nancy Isenberg’s formidable and truth-dealing new book, is white trash.

Ms. Isenberg’s project in “White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America” is to retell United States history in a manner that not only includes the weak, the powerless and the stigmatized, but also places them front and center.

As such, she has written an eloquent volume that is more discomforting and more necessary than a semitrailer filled with new biographies of the founding fathers and the most beloved presidents. (Look, here are six more in my mailbox.) Viewed from below, a good angle for no one, America’s history is usefully disorienting and nearly always appalling. “White Trash” will have you squirming in your chair.

Ms. Isenberg is a professor of American history at Louisiana State University. Her books include a well-regarded biography of Aaron Burr. Her own class background goes unmentioned in “White Trash.” This study does not require the emotional accelerant of memoir.

Like Howard Zinn in “A People’s History of the United States” (1980), Ms. Isenberg presents an alternative interpretation of American history. Unlike Mr. Zinn, she is not interested in crusaders and labor organizers and politicians of a socialist bent. Do not come to her book to learn about the Wobblies. The story she tells is more intimate. It’s an analysis of the intractable caste system that lingers below the national myths of rugged individualism and cities on hills.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/22/books/review-white-trash-ruminates-on-an-american-underclass.html?_r=0

[Chemisse]

82. This sounds interesting.

I never knew 'white trash' was an old term. But certainly the phenomenon of there being an underclass is ageless.

[LiberalLovinLug]

198. Trailer park trash vs White trash

I think most using the former term actually mean the latter. Still not a "nice" term, but quite appropriate for many of the idiots that are STILL planning on voting for him. (I'm white... And I approve)

[alarimer]

220. That book is on my list to read

Along with "Listen, Liberal". It would be able to discuss Thomas Frank's book in particular because I think Democrats really need to heed his words.

But class is something rarely discussed in this country and needs to be.

[Buckeye_Democrat]

71. Agreed.

[moondust]

74. Agree.

Last edited Mon Aug 15, 2016, 12:21 PM - Edit history (1)

Today the phrase is obsolete as it probably dates back to the days when there were manufacturing and other well-paying jobs allowing widespread upward mobility. Back before Reagan and union busting/deregulation/globalization/financialization made it "okay" for employers to ship those well-paying jobs offshore to boost their profit margins and stock prices.

ETA: It was never okay to call people that. It just used to be easier for Republicans to get away with blaming the poor for their own hardship back when there were more opportunities for upward mobility into the middle class and home ownership.

[hibbing]

75. Agree 100% n/t

[Warren DeMontague]

76. I agree, Bob.

It's not cool, and deserves to be hidden by a jury.

[roamer65]

77. I love my double wide.

Very cheap, yet cozy living.

My heating and cooling bill makes my co-workers jealous, since it is of newer construction.

They are great for someone who doesn't want to pay 30 years on mortgage, thus making the bank even richer.

[Tsiyu]

146. I have no mortgage and my summer electric bill is around

$50 bucks a month. I get unlimited fiberoptic internet for $29 bucks a month.

Just so sad I can't waste more money like "good " people do!

[The Last Dem.]

148. Trailer trash!

Roamer65

Amen! To that.

[greymattermom]

78. My brother's "cabin" at the lake in Wisconsin

is a single wide. It's great and cheap to rent. It's easy now, just call folks Trump supporters if they are. No need to use the term "trash".

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

79. When I see that term I don't assume the person

referred to necessarily lives in a trailer. Nor do I consider all who live in trailers to be trash. I actually lived in one for several months when I was first out on my own. And I currently have friends who live in trailers/trailer parks.

From what I've observed, the biggest downside to almost every trailer park I've ever seen is that the units are so abominably close to each other. There are maybe ten or so feet between them, not the relative spaciousness of small homes on the oft-belittled quarter acre. So they have tiny, tiny yards, no privacy, and that's my personal objection to living in a trailer park.

But manufactured homes themselves, especially if they are relatively new and better yet a double wide, can be quite luxurious and roomy.

[liberal N proud]

80. Agreed, it is unacceptable

[ErikJ]

83. I'd rather live free

I live in a 20 ft motorhome and can park almost anywhere for free every night. Lots of people do this for much less than 1K a month. And u dont have to live next to barking dogs, arguing gunnuts and drunks and loud music.

[ArtD48]

84. Enthusiastically agree

I agree. You can have someone living in a trailer who is kind and intelligent and caring and you can have a billionaire who is a scumbag, like . . . Hmm, no one comes to mind.

[pennylane100]

87. I lived in a trailer park

when I was a single mother and I loved it. My dream was to get a double wide. Now I have remarried, my children are all grown and I live quite comfortably but I am always telling my husband I would still like to live in one. Only this time, not next to a freeway.

[amandabeech]

89. The really trashy people are the ones who make fun of people who live

in trailers.

They can live in Manhattan penthouses, and they are still trash if they make fun of people who have less than they do.

[derby378]

91. Uh, excuse me?

Look, I know where you're going with this, but come on.

My grandmother lived out her retirement in a doublewide. She was comfortable and led a decent life.

But let's be honest. Trash exists. Some trash lives in trailers. Some trash, like the infamous Cullen Davis, built mansions as monuments to their own ego.

Being trash has nothing to do with the size of your wallet.

[csziggy]

92. I lived in a trailer park the last couple of years of college

It made sense - the cost of the trailer plus the lot rent ($35 a month) added up to less than what apartment rent would have run for that time and I could afford to live by myself. After I finished college I sold the trailer for half of what I paid for it so I came out way ahead.

A wide cross section of people lived in that park and it was an interesting place to be. There were several retirees, some young married couples, other college students and a lot of working people. It gave me exposure to more types of people than anywhere else I ever lived which helped widen my perceptions.

After college and marriage my husband and I rented houses for a couple of years while we found a piece of property to purchase. We had to clear the property, build barns for our horse business, fence the entire place and do a lot of work to get the business going. Rather than take the time to build we bought a double wide which took a month from when we ordered it to when we moved it. We lived in that for many years (1979-2008). It was a great home and we thoroughly enjoyed it. Some of our upscale neighbors didn't like it but we were here before them - and before we bought this place it was a pig farm so I don't think they had grounds for complaint!

We finally got to a position where we could afford to build and put up our dream house on the same farm. The old double wide was not worth what it would have cost someone to pay for it and move it. One of the people I had worked with during the 2008 campaign knew a family whose house had burned down. Three generations were living in a camper next to the burned out shell of their home. I gave them our double wide and they found someone to move it cheaply. They're working on fixing it up and it looks great. Sometimes we drive by to check on it.

Trailers are a very convenient way to live, whether small ones that can be easily moved or larger ones than are more permanent domiciles.

[SusanCalvin]

93. Great post, great idea. Completely agree. nt

[ghostsinthemachine]

94. Some music! "It ain't home till you take the wheels off!"

Trailer Park Troubadours

[ghostsinthemachine]

98. A double decker, double wide

Keller Williams

[grubbs]

96. I have lived in several mobile homes

I own a habitat for humanity house now. Thank you president Carter. But if not for that I would likely still be in a trailer. No shame in that. We all live as best we can.

[SheriffBob]

136. I was a habitat for humanity volunteer for years

I loved it.

[JI7]

97. agree

[denvine]

99. Thanks for pointing that out!

I agree completely!

[Quayblue]

105. I hate this term as well.

And I would definitely be for the rule you proposed.

[tblue37]

107. +1. nt

[tavernier]

108. Thanks!

We live in a trailer by choice, on the water in the Florida Keys. And like Donald, we also have words. Lots of them. But none of them are, "We are so stupid that we are voting for Trump."

[Go Vols]

110. I have a friend that just bought a huge one,

its nicer than some of my friends stick built homes.

Similar to this.



Living in a trailer doesn't make them trailer trash.

Trailer trash/people that prefer robbing and stealing to drink and drug instead of working, that just happen to live in a trailer,is what I think of.

I haven't heard anyone use the term in years tho.

[raven mad]

113. LOL! SheriffBob, I was called that.

But after a hurricane hit the old home place, I really didn't care. At the time I lived on Merritt Island, Florida..........

They ("trailers&quot are an incredibly great alternate in warmer climates, sturdy and well-built, tied down and they WORK.

So, sweetie, this old Alaskan may be "trailer trash" So! Let's have a party.

[Spitfire of ATJ]

114. Exactly...

We didn't consider her and her kids to be "trash".

[C Moon]

115. A friend of mine used that term many years ago, and I suggested to her she not use it again.

I've always thought it was a horrible term.

[secondwind]

116. You've opened my eyes... thank you very much!

[Granny M]

117. We lived in a mobile home

for 4 years when the kids were little. It wasn't bad at all. It was parked on some land with an apple orchard. Lots of fun for the kids. My cousin sold his big house and moved into one recently.

[sammythecat]

118. Completely agree. A mean, insulting, and hurtful phrase. n/t

[OnDoutside]

120. How would you describe that grouping so, SheriffBob ? Fox News viewers, perhaps ?

[marble falls]

124. Old Texas joke:

What do divorces have in common with tornadoes in Texas?

Either way, someone's losing the trailer house.


BTW: me and the missus are moving to manufactured housing in Springfield, OR and we're looking forward to it.

[get the red out]

130. Can anyone be trashier

Than Donald Trump?

[Odin2005]

131. I grew up in a trailer home in rural MN.

I am sick of the classism and elitism that is so common not only on DU, but among educated middle class Democrats more generally.

[Scruffy1]

154. I'm with you.n/t

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

134. I think people are probably thinking about

that show Trailer Park Boys when they say this term. I do find that show to be quite funny, but it is true that most trailer parks are not like that. I have seen quite a few nice ones in my area.

[SheriffBob]

137. Thank all of you people for the wonderful responses

on the best forum on the www.

[Coyotl]

139. Can we still use Guilded Trash?

Kidding, of course. I'm just glad you don't live here, would rather be out on the street actually:

[leftyladyfrommo]

151. Isn't that the tackiest thing you have ever seen? nt

[Coyotl]

155. Laughable and ridiculous beyond words. You could feed all the homeless in NY with that budget.

What we are not hearing about Trump is his absolute lack of social conscience. How any one person can rationalize taking so much from the Earth for just himself is outside my ability to understand. Is there a millionaire culture, or does this indicate no culture at all?

[closeupready]

174. This really deserves its own thread, but consider this:

The New World's revered thinkers date from ... the 18th Century, i.e., 300+ years.

Meanwhile, the Old World's intellectual giants date back THOUSANDS of years.

If the New World had a capital, it would be New York, and for as long as there's been a New York, there have been rich people here who pretend that their wealth translates 1:1 into being elite cognoscenti for every human endeavor, including culture ... regardless of the truth of that notion. Trump is definitely one of these types, who seems to think faux Roman urns and gilding make him Somebody.

Meanwhile, this is the same guy who oversaw the destruction of the Art Deco Bonwit Teller bas reliefs to build Trump Tower, despite the fact that the Metropolitan Museum of Art was willing to take them in as part of their collection. Emperor has no clothes.

http://thisculturalchristian.blogspot.com/2016/06/without-artistic-merit-donald-trump.html

[Warpy]

179. "New money" is the polite term

"Trash with money" is the impolite one.

Old money is extremely understated, never talks about money, and is polite to a fault. It's also shockingly inbred, which is why my mother said she married a college professor's son from the midwest after she'd flatly refused the debutante circuit in New York. Oh don't look at me like that, the money was mostly gone in the Depression so neither one of us got to turn into a complete asshole.

However, no one quite manages the contempt with which "new money" is said like people with old money, not even "trailer trash" said by middle class people in stick built tract houses.

And yes, I've lived in a single wide trailer and I loved it. If I could have moved that thing onto a lot in a more convenient part of town and kept it, I would have. They're the original tiny houses, well planned out small spaces with a place for everything. Anyone who has a choice between a trailer and an apartment should definitely take the trailer.

[Odin2005]

185. All the bling of Versailles without the taste.

[Coyotl]

188. and no real gold, just fool's paint.

Except the toilet, Donald sits on a golden throne. That is reason enough to never vote for the man.

[B Calm]

140. I jokingly called my wife's aunt trailer trash. They sold their house after retiring and were

full timing it in a fifth wheel camper. She had no sense of my bad humor and really scolded me out. They were camping out at my place for over six weeks when I said it.

[colorado_ufo]

142. You have my support!

[SecularMotion]

144. Get down off the cross Bob

[SheriffBob]

215. You talking to me?

https://www.google.com/search?q=dinero+%22you+talking+to+me%3F%22&sitesearch=

[SecularMotion]

217. That's right, Bob

I'm calling you out on your lame attempt to smear all liberals and DU members over a phrase used by a Democrat 25 years ago.

You're the one "painting with a broad brush" with your attempt to disparage all Democrats.

I suspect you're neither a liberal nor Democrat.

[SheriffBob]

218. Gosh!

[KingCharlemagne]

145. K and R! - nt

[randr]

152. Far more trash in gated neighborhoods

[alarimer]

156. Among the reasons why "Listen, Liberal" is important reading

Some people are "liberals" in name only, until "those people" want to move in next door. Then, it's all about diminishing property values and "quality of life."

[jalan48]

161. It's a simplified approach to problem solving practiced by simple minded people.

[Cryptoad]

162. My neck may be Red but,,,,

my sould is Red , White and Blue!

[Gormy Cuss]

165. That phrase has always been allowed here in spite of protests.

Users will defend it by saying " I don't mean ALL trailer residents" while using it as an epithet for any white person who isn't a proper stick-built home owner with a higher education and/or good paying job.

It's elitist and obnoxious and has no place on a Democratic board.

[loyalsister]

169. I recently talked with a homeless guy whose campsite got wrecked

What he wouldn't give for a trailer. Especially when it rains! I agree with you.

[lostnfound]

171. My dad made an honorable living in the 60s... I agree

I don't let people get away with using the term either.
He had a mobile home sales and service business.
Small ones, big ones, old ones and not-so-old.
My parents bought them, fixed them, and sold them.
Those people weren't "trailer park trash". They were human beings and our customers.

[ArcticFox]

177. I agree

As a younger and dumber person I've been guilty of saying this. As I've come to understand more about the world, I've come to realize this is just one more of those derogatory terms the rich and powerful put out there to divide and conquer.

[pwb]

178. Trash. How trump feels about most Americans.

Trailers are fine.

[hollysmom]

181. I used to live in a trailer in the summer,thinking of buying another one.

it was an upscale trailer park, I loved it, had lovely neighbors.
not all trailer parks are equal. and it is a wonderfully inexpensive, (relatively my property rental was 9K a year. but a condo would have cost me 500K + for the same area. )

[Vinca]

183. That definitely is a term that shouldn't be used.

Our first home was a little red trailer and now that we're getting older we're thinking it wouldn't be a bad idea to go full circle and sell the huge house and buy a mobile home.

[FLPanhandle]

184. I lived in a trailer park for a short time

The people are not trash.

In fact, if someone needs help (e.g. fixing a car, building a deck, etc) neighbors would show up to help. Far friendlier and giving people than many suburbs.

It's just accepted DU racial and class-ism that the term survives around here.

[bluestateguy]

186. I only use the label when it is deserved

If someone is a bitter angry white person, lives in a trailer park, is racist, homophobic, sexist and is anti-Muslim/Semetic.

If he (and most likely it will be a he) blames other people (the aforementioned groups above) for their self-destructive behavior, such as drugs, neglecting their schoolwork, booze, commits domestic violence and makes no effort to improve their lot in life, then yes, I will call them trailer park trash.

[salin]

195. there are many other terms including: racist, destructive/potentially violent, etc. terms that do

not imply that those who live in trailer parks are all trash, or are prone to be trash. That is the problem with the term put together.

The term skips all of the actual tendencies you list, and leaves the common denominator = trailer park. Thus - the term suggests that the common denominator (trailer park) suggests the racism, the homophobia, the sexism, the religious bigotry, and aggrieved sense of victim-hood.

There are other appropriate terms - knuckle-dragger, mouth breather, wing nut, that don't bring the insult broadbrushed out to many folks who do not fit the stereotype.

[ancianita]

187. Fair enough.

[SummerSnow]

190. I totally agree with you.

[nightscanner59]

193. I've seldom known "better" accomodations.

Homeless as a teen runaway from anti-gay bullying, Fred-Phelpsian derogatory treatment and a murder attempt by my father... I was overjoyed to get into a trailer after two years on the streets. It took me decades to break the perpetual debt cycle of paying off college loans, vehicles and other to sustain a worker's life.
Only home I know is a very remote piece of land I bought 20 years ago as a future retirement plan. Even then, my home will be on wheels. I challenge many of those who stand in judgementalism of my life to wear my shoes.

[Alkene]

196. There was a time...

...when the Democratic party represented working people and those of middle class incomes on down.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

205. The Democratic party is ruled by white upper middle class ivory tower academics.

[fleabiscuit]

207. You're welcome. nt

[Initech]

208. Everyone is offended by something.

I seriously saw a post a couple of months ago that argued that we shouldn't use the phrase "word salad" because it offends people with mental illness. But if we start limiting speech because of those we don't agree with, are we no better than they are?

[Jeffersons Ghost]

211. Trump fans were offended by Gore artwork

She wanted to make the statement that genitals should not define a person; so punks - posing as men - gave her a black-eye: