Is "white trash" a slur?

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

Option 4 for me, and no. We're taking it back.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Obviously yes

[President Johnson]

Calling certain people trash obviously is a slur.

[DaleCooper]

Nope.

[dead0man]

not at all

[Associate Justice PiT]

     Replace white with another racial color and I couldn't imagine anyone disagreeing with the proposition. That persuades me that the answer to this question is "yes".

[The Right Honourable Martin Brian Mulroney PC CC GOQ]

It's a slur, but not every slur is made equal. The way we react to slurs is socially conditioned. The n-word for example is considered the "worst" slur in American culture, to the point that I didn't even have to say the word, and there are thousands of words that start with "n", yet we all know what the n-word is.

But at the end of the day, it's still a slur, even if it's considered less offensive than some others. A slur, as far as I'm concerned, is just a derogatory word used to describe people with certain characteristics. White trash fits the bill to a T.

[Person Man]

No. "White Trash" might be offensive, but it isn't the same as calling someone the N-word. Get a grip.

[wnwnwn]

Yes.
What about "yt"?

[Del Tachi]

"White trash" implicitly suggests that being poor or uneducated is particularly disgraceful for White people, thus reinforcing the notion that White people should not occupy lower social strata, which are stereotypically associated with Black people.

[HisGrace]

No. "White Trash" might be offensive, but it isn't the same as calling someone the N-word. Get a grip.

A whole range of racial slurs like chink, spic, or wetback for example would probably be considered less offensive than the n word because they don't have the same baggage with slavery and lynching. That doesn't make them not racial slurs.

[world.execute(me)]

Regardless of whether you call it a slur or not, it's a screwed up, classist insult and the exact same kind of bigoted nonsense you'd hear out of the meth headed caricature in every trashy liberal/leftist's imagination.

Also, reclaiming it is pretty cool.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Yes, but these things all come down to one thing.

Is the recipient offended?

That is it. If you are a boss dealing with a harassment claim, it's that simple.

Harassment occurs when someone is offended by another's behaviour towards them on sexual, aggressive, racial or cultural-religious grounds.

[Bleach Blonde Bad Built Butch Bodies for Biden]

How is "white trash" really any different from words like redneck, hillbilly, yokel, etc.? Or are those slurs as well now? The only difference I can see is that its use is more common than those other words up north, where I'm originally from.

I apply the term to myself for the same reasons I still identify as dirtbag left, which has sadly faded into obscurity; people are way too easily offended these days. That includes people of all colors, and especially those who act like their job is to be offended on others' behalf.

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

I'm conflicted....I mean do ALL poor and uneducated white people fall under the heading? I've always thought "white trash" just meant those poor and uneducated white people with obnoxious manners/behaviors. In any case, I guess I'm okay with retiring the term.

[Antonio the Sixth]

How is "white trash" really any different from words like redneck, hillbilly, yokel, etc.? Or are those slurs as well now? The only difference I can see is that its use is more common than those other words up north, where I'm originally from.

I apply the term to myself for the same reasons I still identify as dirtbag left, which has sadly faded into obscurity; people are way too easily offended these days. That includes people of all colors, and especially those who act like their job is to be offended on others' behalf.

Uh, no one is telling you what you can or can't say? You're the one who made this thread and we're just answering your question.

It's okay to use certain slurs sometimes, you don't need to pretend they're not slurs to feel okay using them.

[Antonio the Sixth]

Yes.
What about "yt"?

I always read that as "YouTube" tbh

[MasterJedi]

Yes, but if they are they are. Being poor, white, and rural doesn’t mean you’re white trash. It’s the actions combined with it that earn the term. Most who are white trash are also proudly trashy people too.

[Ancestral Republican]

You need to do some digging to understand what "white trash" is and why it's rather problematic.

I mean, think about it.

White...

... trash.

That implies most trash is not white. You're trash, but it's worse because you're white and you are behaving in a way unbecoming of white people. Very insidious idea, right? It's not a slur directed by non-whites towards whites, at least as I've ever heard. It's used by whites against whites they judge to be inferior and behaving like non-whites.

Another phrase I heard growing up was "trailer trash" which isn't racially tinged but evokes the exact same connotation.

[kia boyz '24]

It's not a slur directed by non-whites towards whites, at least as I've ever heard. It's used by whites against whites they judge to be inferior and behaving like non-whites.

Another phrase I heard growing up was "trailer trash" which isn't racially tinged but evokes the exact same connotation.

You've never seen 8 Mile??

[dead0man]

this is one of those threads where everyone is right.  Obviously it is a slur, but it also doesn't have to be.  It's like queer in that some people it applies to are trying to "take it back".  But it's also true what our far left friends are saying, when used by white people as a slur it is (often*) racist in a "what's your excuse, at least you're white, the minority trash that lives next door at least has the excuse of being a minority (or if coming from a paternalistic progressive white, the excuse of being a minority in super racist America that does nothing for him and only works to keep him poor).

My white parents used the term as a slur (and trailer trash) and meant exactly that (you have no excuse to be poor, you're white).  That is no bueno.  Anyone can be poor, and even good hard working healthy people can be poor (temporarily or if they are dumb), blaming the color of their skin for it or expecting a specific individual to not be poor because of the color of their skin is stupid.


also, New Virginia Law Will Let Anyone Harvest Roadkill Anytime of Year

The question of why the chicken crossed the road is of secondary importance to who gets to claim the bird's carcass if it's killed while attempting the crossing.

For a long time, the rule in a majority of the country was the government got to keep the deceased animal. State laws prohibited drivers from claiming the meat of animals killed on public roads and highways for food. Instead, ownership of the corpses defaulted to whichever agency maintained the roads, wasting countless tons of farm-fresh, slightly battered flesh to rot.

In recent years, a growing number of states have been loosening their highway harvesting bans. The Associated Press reported in 2022 that "30 or so" states now allow people to harvest roadkill. The pace of reform doesn't appear to be slowing down.

Come July, a new Virginia law allowing anyone to claim roadkill all year round will go into effect. Current law allows only the driver who the killed animal to claim the carcass, and only if they hit the animal during hunting season.

that's a victory for America, Freedom and White Trash!




*like Queer or the N-bomb, if used by one white trash to another, it doesn't have to carry all the baggage the term carries when it's used as a slur

[Reactionary Libertarian]

Implicit in the term white trash is that most white people aren’t “trash” because otherwise it wouldn’t have to be specified. Contrast to something like the n-word that can be used against all black people regardless of socioeconomic status. White people are the only ones whose “slur” specifically only applies to a subgroup. Seems meaningfully different to me.

[Ferguson97]

It's clearly an insult, but it's not a slur.

[ingemann]

It’s obvious a class based slur when used by Whites and a racial slur with class undertones when used by non-NH Whites.