I wrote this opinion article independently. It was awarded an Honorable Mention by Scholastic Art and Writing. See the PDF here. An Opinion Virtually all racial slurs have become taboo in modern society. The exception? “White trash.” The term is thrown around easily in everyday conversation, newspaper articles, television shows, and sometimes even jokingly used to describe one’s own lifestyle. “White trash” is a derogatory term typically used to refer to poor white people, particularly those living in the southern United States. Partly due to pop culture influences such as the sitcom Roseanne and the reality television show Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, the phrase has come to portray poor rural whites through heavily negative stereotypes, often characterizing them as crass, ignorant, and racist. The epithet is not only disparaging to those it labels, but also demeaning to racial minorities. “White trash” is not a modern phrase. Its origins date back to 1820s Maryland, when it was used to demean poor whites who, having been denied land in the north, settled in southern states.
According to Matt Wray, a sociology professor at Temple University and author of several books about “white trash,” poor whites were seen near the bottom rung of the social ladder at the time. “It looks like African-Americans used [the term] to disparage poor whites. Probably either recently freed slaves or perhaps even higher status slaves recognized that the condition of these particular whites was… in many ways beneath their own social standing and status,” said Wray, “but it was elite whites who picked it up and ran with it.” The term gained popularity through memoirs and novels. In an 1856 pamphlet titled The Poor Whites of the South, writer George Melville Weston warned that poor white people were “sinking deeper and more hopelessly into barbarism with every succeeding generation.” Weston’s words represent the prejudice against poor whites at the time. The rest of the population was okay with this separate species not achieving the new nation’s promises of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; after all, they were practically “barbaric.” Poor white citizens were alienated from other “superior” white people, making their wants and needs seem invalid. Usage of “white trash” serves a similar purpose in modern-day society— rather than understanding these people’s political needs, it is easier to simply dismiss them. As Wray says, the term’s hateful sentiments reflect the hostility of the current political climate. “It’s really quite easy to… get [people] politically and socially mobilized around disgust, around contempt, around fear,” said Wray. “We’re living in a moment right now where there’s a lot of political energy being stirred up through fear and division, and ‘white trash’ can absolutely work the same way.” Today, the epithet continues to reduce lower-class white citizens to offensive two-dimensional stereotypes. Not only are these stereotypes over-generalizations, but they also depersonalize poor rural whites and marginalize them from the rest of America. Rather than being seen as thinking, feeling human beings, “white trash” becomes the punchline of jokes, the comedic relief. Repeated usage of this phrase in everyday speech and entertainment only further ingrains these stereotypes in society. But perhaps the most problematic aspect of “white trash” is that the phrase itself actually cements the idea of white supremacy. As Wray says, the term establishes white as the superior race. “The fact that it gets signaled out as ‘white trash’ seems to suggest that while non-whites could expect to behave in these trashy ways, we would not expect that of whites,” said Wray. “That’s a real expression of white supremacy, the idea that the behavioral codes of white people are somehow normally above reproach, yet here are some whites who are sinking to the level of almost non-whiteness.” By juxtaposing “white” with “trash,” the default white is defined as everything trash is not. Other races, however, do not need a modifier to be these things; after all, there is no “black trash,” “Asian trash,” “Latino trash,” or “Native-American trash.” Although not reflective of his personal views, Magnet science teacher Erik Lodal believes that the endurance of this phrase has to do with the fact that Caucasians are the majority. “It makes it okay because you’re discriminating against the majority instead of the minority,” Lodal said. As Wray believes, “white trash” would not have lasted so long if people did not find it particularly apt or humorous. However, whenever the term is used, even if for comedic effect, it is at the expense of people of color. The words “white trash” do not elicit the same visceral reactions as other racial slurs. Nonetheless, they put down minority groups and diminish them to nothing more than their race or social status. Seeing as the phrase has persisted for almost two centuries, it is unlikely to be eradicated anytime soon. However, by understanding the historical context and social implications of such a phrase, we can censor the ways we use it and have a clearer understanding of the microaggressions it carries.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |