White trash (extended: poor white trash; acronym: "WT") is a racial epithet usually used to describe certain low income caucasians, especially those perceived as having crude manners or abnormally low moral standards. According to Oxford English Dictionary, "white trash" first came into common use in the 1830s as an American pejorative used by the slaves of "gentlemen" (rich white Southerners, often plantation aristocrats) against poor Caucasians who worked in the field. The term involves both behavioral characteristics (such as mannerisms, lifestyle) and overt racial characteristics (whiteness). The term is widely used in the American South and Midwest.
Details
The nature of the term "white trash", the people to whom it has been applied, and the motivation of people applying the term are studied in connection to racism and politics. In full historical context, the term is difficult to define, and any definition must be considered with respect to the context in which the epithet was applied. For example, the racial meaning of "white" has changed; 150 years ago immigrants from Mediterranean Europe would not have been considered "white." At present, the U.S. census would consider these same people, such as Italians and Italian Americans to be "white."
Following is a list of stereotypes associated with the term:
- Poor hygiene.
- Unkempt property, with junk in their yards.
- Racist attitudes.
- Laziness and lack of ambition.
- Unstable families.
- Promiscuity and illegitimate children.
- Lack of education.
- Self-centeredness.
- Poor health and obesity.
- Crooked, discolored, or missing teeth.
- Unruly behaviour in public, including drunkeness and brawling.
- Dwelling in trailers, or mobile homes.
It has been debated why there is no comparable term commonly used for other races, such as black trash or Latino trash. One suggestion is that it is a form of reverse racism. In particular, the acceptance of the term white trash in everyday media is questioned when offensive words referring to another race, such as nigger, are shunned. This is often considered to be a double standard, because while negative terms and stereotypes about races other than whites are shunned in almost all contexts, poking fun at whites is still seen by many as an acceptable form of humor.
On the other hand, many affluent whites also use the term to distance themselves from other whites perceived to be vulgar or low-class.
Today, The Jerry Springer Show is an example often used to define white trash. This television show often deals with lower-class white people and situations that are generally considered to be common to the white trash stereotype (e.g. incest, illegitimate children, racist beliefs). The mostly-white audience of this show is also considered by some people to consist of white trash.
White trash in fiction and film
- In Sherwood Anderson's 1920 novel Poor White, a Southerner who thinks of himself as "poor white trash" makes his way as an inventor in a small Midwestern town.
- Tobacco Road (1932) by Erskine Caldwell, set in Georgia during the worst years of the Great Depression, depicts a family of poor white tenant farmers estranged by the industrialization of production and the migration into cities.
- Ellen, the young heroine of Kaye Gibbons's 1987 novel Ellen Foster, comes from a white trash background.
- In her novel By the Shores of Gitchee Gumee (1996), Tama Janowitz portrays a white trash family living in a trailer park.
- Some of Mike Leigh's film characters are also magnificent examples of white trash people. This is the case in films such as Secrets & Lies, Naked and All or Nothing.
- Many of the characters in the films of Russ Meyer and John Waters are examples of white trash, exaggerated for camp value.
- Writer/Director Harmony Korine featured actual white trash people in his film Gummo, along side actors convincingly playing white trash roles.
- Roseanne was a popular US sitcom in the late 1980s and early 1990s in which the characters often billed themselves as white trash. In one episode, Dan was arrested, and when he returned home from jail, Roseanne said that the family was now officially poor white trash, and began to dance.
- In the Simpsons episode Bart's Girlfriend, Bart wants to hook up with Jessica Lovejoy, who describes herself as "the sweet innocent reverend's daughter" and Bart Simpson as "yellow trash". This is obviously a play on "white trash", referencing the fact that nearly everyone in the world of the Simpsons has yellow skin.
- Recurring white trash characters on The Simpsons are "Cletus the Slack-Jawed Yokel" and his wife "Brandine."
- The American syndicated television show "Hee Haw" featured numerous white trash characters in its comedy skits.
- In the 2004 film Million Dollar Baby, Maggie Fitzgerald's family typifies white trash.
- In Harper Lee's 1960 novel To Kill a Mockingbird, the Ewell family are referred to as "white trash".
- White Trash culture is parodied on http://www.gangstatrash.com and http://www.gangstatrashbarbie.com via the character "Gangsta Trash Barbie" and her white trailer trash friends.