American Epithets for "White"

Human beings are said to be the most intelligent animals on the planet. We can do difficult math problems, we have the ability to reason, and we have the ability to form and understand languages. Human beings act outside of mere instinct; we consider doing whatever it is that we want to do before we consider doing anything else. What shapes our interactions with one another is yet to be determined. This country is so diverse; people have differences ranging from person to person in reference to race, income as well as religion (Cohen 112). These differences, cause people, more times than often to feel it is necessary to promote our own images, even if this means demeaning another. One of the quickest ways we do this is through the use of epithets.

Epithets are derogatory words that are aimed at specific groups, usually categorized by race, gender or religion. It is often assumed that in America, white people do not receive any discrimination because whites are the "founders of America"; this is not true. 'Trash' and one of its derivatives 'white trash' are terms with the same influence and potency as the black derogate 'nigger', and often have the same usage.

'Trash' was originally used in the early sixteenth century. This word is of unknown origin but what history does tell us is that its early use was in the sense of 'refuse'. It was originally used to reference either cuttings from a hedge, a sugar cane stripped of its juice, or other leftovers. Ultimately its original use was to describe or reference materials that were of no use to anyone, ergo the root of the insult ("Trash." O 521).

It was first used to reference people sometime within the early 17^th century. One example of its early epithetical use can be found in Shakespeare's Othello ("Trash." O 521). When 'trash' is used in reference to people, it means a worthless or contemptible person ("Trash." S 227). 'White trash' bears the same stigma and same root meaning but is geared more toward the poor white population of the southern states ("White Trash" 1282). It is interesting to think that at some point in history, someone was so displeased with another person that they came up with the idea to equate them with a form of discard or waste. The history of 'white trash' is demonstrative of the inherent mean streak found in the human race. It has been seen in literary works such as The Country Girls by Edna O'Brien, a novel bearing two examples of the word being used insultingly. It can also been found in City of Spades and Absolute Beginners, two novels by British novelist Colin MacInnes, in the form of its derivative 'white trash' ("Trash." A 249).

In City of Spades, MacInnes says, ". . . a spot where fine young American coloureds can destroy themselves with female white trash peddled to them by West Indians and by my fellow countrymen. . ."(MacInnes 76). In this context white trash is being used to reference women who have no social lives separate from sitting at a bar where hard working men come to drink so that they can use them for their money. 'White trash' is being used to earmark poor white women in the most derogatory sense possible. This clear representation of ignorance, unfortunately, is not the extent of the literary use of 'white trash' in history.

National Review writer Charles Murray wrote an article concerning the rate of illegitimacy among whites based on statistics produced by the state of Ohio. Several times within his article he says that it is an unfair presumption that Americans make, when they say that if a child is illegitimate, or without a parent, that the child must come from 'white trash'. Murray, a respected writer, then states that ". . . census data cannot determine whether someone is from a 'good family' or 'white trash'" (Murray 31). In this sentence Murray is implying that white trash families actually exist, thusly justifying the use of derogatory terms to define and categorize people.

This article had such an impact on me when I was reading it that I felt compelled to conduct a survey of my own. I wanted to know what the people around me did to mentally classify 'white trash'. In my mind, if they were unable to define 'white trash', or found something wrong with the term the stigma must not be so bad. In order to be most direct with my results I asked five of my friends to tell me what they think of when I asked them to picture 'white trash'. The results showed me that the stigma extends much further than I thought. Some responses were: "They don't wear clothes that say, 'you and I' would wear" (Epifane), "A slutty person who has sex in trailers" (Levine), and possibly the most astounding and direct response "They just want to live on welfare to get through life . . . they just want to take what they can get" (Spero). The stigma is so strong that the people in my life are able to easily define, without second thought, 'white trash'. This shows me that this particular epithet has reached epidemic proportions, people do not even realize how insulting it is and that may be part of the reason everyone uses it.

One way to exhibit the ignorance of the true meaning of 'white trash' is to use its terminology and concept to capitalize upon. Trailer Park, a New York City Bar, decorated with poor white trash "must-haves" such as pink flamingos, a clothesline hanging over the bar (heavy with pantyhose and panties), a toilet seat indicating the hall to the bathroom, and groupings of lawn chairs instead of winged-back chaises, is designed to be a model or mockery of the lifestyle that stereotypical 'white trash' live ("Trailer Trashed"). Using the concept behind an offensive term is a clear demonstration that the degree of which 'white trash' is offensive is unknown. However, there are worse examples of well educated people not knowing the severity of its use.

'White trash' is also used in Papers on Language and Literature: a Journal for Scholars and Critics of Language and Literature in an article entitled "White Trash, Low Class, and No Class At All: Perverse Portraits of Phallic Power in Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood." The article's author, Linda Rohrer Paige, comments ". . . renowned for her characterizations of guilt-ridden and often violent 'sinners,' Flannery O'Connor has carefully painted ambiguous portraits of the poor Southern refuge, generally referred to as low class or as poor 'white trash'"(Paige 325).

This article provided me with the revelation that the term 'white trash' is the 'nigger' of white people. It holds the same stigma that 'nigger' did except that no one is shunned from using it at this point and time. It implies that a person's outward appearance and economic value is preventative of their being useful. It airs the stigma that they are unintelligent and cannot possibly learn. Although this is simply not true, it is still a belief that is running ramped, and it needs to be stopped.

We see the impact of the term 'White trash' in "Middle Class to Trailer Trash", an article written by Edward Morris in the journal The Sociology of Education. This article discusses how the stigma of 'white trash' has an effect in the classroom, specifically within the population of educators. Morris conducted a study within a school that was predominately populated by minorities. This study was used to investigate and uncover the perceptions of white children within this school by their teachers, black and white alike. As with most things in this world Morris' ethnographic data revealed that different teachers expressed different views of the family and class backgrounds of white students in this setting. These views were classified as ranging from "middle class" to "trailer trash" (Morris 99). Trailer trash, another term that is interchangeable with 'white trash' is not a term that an educator should use to classify their students. This study shows something unique about the term trailer trash. 'Nigger' was a term used by white people to derogate black people, but this study revealed that black teachers were fair in their judgments whereas, the white teachers were the educators classifying their students as 'white trash.' "The black teachers typically saw the white students as being middle class and good students, whereas the white teachers tended to view the white students as low income and unremarkable students. These perceptions of class background and academic ability stemmed from how the different teachers made sense of the unique situation of the white students in this predominately minority context" (Morris 100).

This study reveals that stigma behind being white and poor is out of control. Educators are people who are supposed to teach regardless of their students' status or their appearance. The epithet 'white trash' is more than just a term; this is made concrete by this study. 'White trash' is a stigma that sits within the minds of people everywhere. Educators sense the stigma and sometimes believe that their students cannot learn from them because their particular "situation" is preventative of this. This is implied by Morris in his statement that a teacher's perception of their students plays a profound role in shaping their students educational experiences. He goes so far as to say that their perception of their students as 'white trash' could compel their students to either stay in school (possibly to rise above this stereotype), or it could drive them away from the education process entirely (possibly because of a mix of discouragement and embarrassment) (Morris 100).

The term 'white trash' will always be derogatory. It labels a person worthless based on their outward appearance as well as the possibility that their behavior is substandard to the 'norm'. 'Trash' is the real part of the insult. The use of 'white' in the insult is present merely as a race marker; it is there in an effort to make the insult a little more potent, in my opinion. The use of 'white trash' in literature, however, does not go in just one direction. Although the number of literary works that are actually based on fighting the use 'white trash' are slim to none, there are many publications that are based on the concept behind the development of the term 'white trash'. This concept can best be summed up as the immoral mistreatment of others through the use of epithets. The book, the Good, the Bad and the Difference by "Ethicist" Randy Cohen lays out an overall theme that is meant to deter the insulting of any person. It would be easy for one to interpret the theme of this book, in its simplest form, to be "respect others." There could be no question of ethics, or the social etiquette behind a certain phrase, if a phrase is said or an act is performed with nothing but respect for others in mind.

Everyone is deserving of respect. ". . . People are to be understood according to their actual circumstances, not seen as a stereotypical member of a group. And they are to be assisted according to their perceived class. That is, offer your seat to any wary person, not just to the elderly" (Cohen 149). The real question is "what is true respect?" By my own morals true respect is more than just keeping overt insults to oneself (like saying things in reference to 'white trash'). My morals say that true respect is when one does not even let a negative judgment about someone cross their mind. As difficult as this is because American society is so quick to judge, my morals and my faith have taught me that looking at someone and labeling them is wrong. We are all human and therefore no one person or any single group of people is in a position to judge anybody else. By my morals I maintain that use of the phrase 'white trash' is self absorbed and demeaning because, it is nothing more than a selfish effort to place one's self on a plateau based on their conclusions drawn from their observations of the outward appearance and economic status in another. True respect is when you see a person as nothing less than a person, and you are not comparing them to yourself or anyone else in an effort to demean them, even if it is private.

Why do people need to use epithets in order to make themselves feel better? Nigger, by Randall Kennedy, works around a theme that could be interpreted as "epithets are fighting words," they are demeaning and they are wrong. They are the concentration of one's prejudices into one phrase and should never be taken lightly. Epithets are used by cowards to put other people down, much the same as a slap is used by a parent to put a child in their place. An epithet is nothing more than a verbal punch. They are verbal punches in the sense that an epithet insights a fight much the same as a punch in the face would. An offensive word can cause a person to feel a need to defend themselves, the same as a punch would, and the entire interaction between two people can become nothing more than disdain and animosity (a brawl). There is no use for words of this nature, because it goes against the respect that every person is due.

The reason that one could find 'white trash' to be extremely insulting and hurtful is because it is exploitive of the misfortunes of another. It is the responsibility of people to help each other, not judge one another; ". . . from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man" (New International Version, Gen. 9.5).

We, as people need to be aware of the severity of the way we think. When we look at people who are less fortunate and thusly behave differently from what is considered the norm, and we conceptualize them to be "people that make the Caucasian race look bad" (Epifane), we have moved to a level in which compassion is so far out of reach that we may no longer be perceived as human. The use and development of 'white trash' is demonstrative that the human race has taken a turn for the worst. Why do we have to treat each other so badly? Why is it that being less fortunate makes people subject to ridicule? It is sad to see that the most evolved race on the planet is the only race that is self destructive. It should not be so easy for people to look at a person and deem them to have the same worth as something that you can just toss to the side, something the world could do without. Every person is unique; uniqueness is what keeps the world from becoming boring. Deterring from the norm should not subject a person to ridicule but rather to praise because they have the strength to be there own person. If they are low income, if they dress differently, or even if they do things that society does not accept, they still should not be equated with refuse; they are still people.

Works Cited

Ayto, John. "Trash." Slang. 1st. 1998.

Chantrell, Glynnis. "Trash." Oxford Dictionary of Word Histories. 1^st. 2002

Cohen, Randy. The Good, The Bad & the Difference. 1st. New York: Broadway Books, 2002.

Dunkling, Leslie. "Trash." A Dictionary of Epithets and Terms of Address. 1^st. 1990.

Epifane, Kaitlyn. Personal interview. 08 December 2006.

Green, Jonathon. "White Trash." The Cassell Dictionary of Slang. 1st. 1998.

Levine, Dana. Personal interview. 08 December 2006

MacInnes, MacInnes. "City of Spades." Visions of London. Comp. Colin MacInnes. London: MacGibbon & Kee Limited, 1969.

Morris, Edward. "'Middle Class' to 'Trailer Trash'." Sociology of Education April 2005: 99-121. Education Research Complete. EBSCOhost. University at Albany University Library. 6 December 2006 .

Murray, Charles. "White Trash." National Review 38(1986): 30-34.

Paige, Linda Rohrer. "White Trash, Low Class, and No Class at All: Perverse Portraits of Phallic Power in Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood." Papers on Language and Literature: A Journal for Scholars and Critics of Language and Literature 1997: 325-333. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOhost. University at Albany University Library. 6 December 2006 .

Kennedy, Randall. Nigger: A Strange Career of a Troublesome Word. 1st. New York: Vintage Books, 2002.

Spero, Arlene. Personal interview. 08 December 2006

The Holy Bible, New International Version. International Bible Society, 1984.

"Trailer Trashed." New York Post [New York] 14 June 2003: 29.