When did white trash become normal?

[Katashi_itto]

Last edited Thu Dec 19, 2013, 12:58 PM - Edit history (1)

Just saw Duck Dynasty's comments. A book from, of all people a conservative commentator.

When Snooki, whose talents include getting sloppy drunk and throwing up on camera, made Barbara Walters’ “Ten Most Fascinating People” list a few years back, one could only ask: Was Octomom not available?

Last year, “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” which features a cornucopia of social ills, was TLC’s highest-rated show, attracting more cable viewers than the Republican National Convention, which had the misfortune to share the time slot with the charmers from Georgia. The show’s matriarch, June Shannon, has four daughters by four men, one of whose names she can’t recall.

White Trash is the new normal — and you don’t have to tune in to reality TV to rub elbows with pathologies that once stayed put in Skunk Hollow. White Trash Normal has invaded every nook and cranny of life, from table manners, to dress, to money management.

White Trash is the new normal — and you don’t have to tune in to reality TV to rub elbows with pathologies that once stayed put in Skunk Hollow. White Trash Normal has invaded every nook and cranny of life, from table manners, to dress, to money management.
Remember when bouncing a check was shameful? Now apparently it’s shameful for banks to charge overdraft fees.

http://nypost.com/2013/11/02/when-did-white-trash-become-normal/

[FatBuddy]

1. for those who forgot about poor white trash

if that ain't country, I'll kiss your ass.

[Dr Hobbitstein]

11. David Allen Coe!

[Mr Dixon]

2. SMH

Sad state of the country

[Skidmore]

3. When the nation's "makers" decided that

part of the contract with America should no longer be aspirational and that only their success should be rewarded. Rewarding success at lower levels creates competion at upper levels of society for the same wealth. If you can class people out of your strata, you are assured of risk-free wealth. Part of that is selling the notion that you are worthless to begin with. The sad thing is that we are all in this together and need figure out how to remove the fuel from the hands of those who stoke the fires of fear and divisiveness.

[daleanime]

38. +1

[Mopar151]

107. Well said - thank you!

This whole trend is nothing new - it's a big part of a lot of "entertainment" in the last 50 years. A blunt and rude example - If "Honey BooBoo" gives license to degenerate trash culture, then "Seinfeld" gave license to assholes everywhere. Jerry Seinfeld said that his carachters were "horrible people", who would sell out their friends for a cup of coffee or a parking spot. In tha case of a former co-worker (who at times reported to me as his supervisor) , he absolutely took it as license to pull all sorts of nasty, manipulative crap.
When Michael Richards had his big, nasty public meltdown (far more offensive than ol' Phil), where were the leigons demanding that "Seinfeld" be removed from the air, and condemming all situation comedies as glorifying liars, manipulators, and assholes?

[Kurovski]

158. Seinfeld was long done and over by the time Richards went off on his racist rant.

I'm not sure what all the false equivalence is about.

Richards could not get work for a long time, and some might say he STILL hasn't actually found any now.

I personally don't like people going on stupidly about my personal life, condemning me to hell and other arrogant fan-fiction horsehit that has--and continues-- to get people killed in this world.

What I'm saying is: Fuck'em if they can't take a joke AND then go and drag poor ol God into the equation.

No, just "fuck'em" their time has passed. we're on the other side now.

[sibelian]

4. I don't get it. Why are they bad?

What have they done other than not be part of some sterile fantasy of all-American poise, grace, muscular resolve, elegance, virility, sexiness and achievement?

I stared in amazement as everyone freaked out at Honey Boo Boo. I squinted and pondered and scratched my head and try as I might I couldn't find anything actually WRONG with her.

Poverty is a disgusting sort of sickness to be despised, now, is it?

Or is that only when it's white people?

[Egalitarian Thug]

8. It has nothing to do with poverty and everything to do with mean-spirited ignorance combined

with a completely false sense of adequacy propelled by a media fantasy.

[get the red out]

46. Honey Boo Boo isn't an example of mean-spiritedness though

They are actually the opposite, they are openly NOT prejudiced against anyone. Honey Boo Boo's gay uncle is adored. They may be very country, but they aren't hateful IMO. Shouldn't be lumped in with the Duck Dynasty folks.

[Egalitarian Thug]

49. All I know about any of them is what I'm unable to avoid, mostly here.

Whether or not one little kid is hateful or not is just an evasion of the underlying issue, the popularization and celebration of the aforementioned deficiencies.

[fishwax]

139. that's hardly the point that the OP article is making though

The article isn't complaining about these things because they represent mean-spirited ignorance, but because they don't meet her standards of refinement. I mean, normal people are now getting (GASP) tattoos!

As far as a celebration of mean-spirited ignorance, the OP article seems to fit the bill nicely.

[Iris]

227. I agree. And the line about bounced check fees is kind of telling as well. nt

[fishwax]

229. oh yeah--good point!

That was the first line that had me ing

[get the red out]

157. There are a lot of people who aren't cultured in this country

Our media goes through phases of utilizing various examples of these folks for entertainment and marketing purposes; these folks, by the way, are basically just people. All I tried to point out is that the OP has lumped the family on "Honey Boo Boo" in with the "Duck Dynasty" family because both live in the South and are not up to the cultural standards of the 1%. This is in error, Honey Boo Boo family members have shown very progressive attitudes toward gay people whereas the Duck Dynasty family is homophobic. To me that is important because at least one, very stupid show with no reason to exist, shows a Southern family that does not appear to be racist, homophobic, or held hostage by extreme religious beliefs. That aspect is refreshing.

There are also "reality" TV shows about people who get lots of tattoos, people who have loads of tattoos and rescue pit bulls, Alaskan women who go to Florida looking for men...... Just shades of America.

[Egalitarian Thug]

169. The Beverly Hillbillies was a comedy show, it was not something to aspire to.

It was real people that excelled in the profession of acting creating absurd, two-dimensional characters put into bizarre situations to make the audience laugh

This entertainment "phenomenon" is presented as real people that really are two-dimensional characters displayed to be either emulated and/or laughed at.

There is a fundamental, harmful difference between theatrical spectacle and the implied permission to both demean or just give up.

[sibelian]

182. It doesn't matter what people "aspire" to. What matters is what they ARE.

And if there's nothing wrong with them, then there's nothing wrong with them.

End of.

[get the red out]

191. I found the Beverly Hillbillies quite demeaning

Probably more demeaning than the recent rash of so-called reality TV shows that depict people who are "uncultured" because it was what Hollywood (and the rest of the country) thought of us people who lived in the South. I am, by definition a Hillbilly myself being from eastern Kentucky, and I have always lived in Kentucky. I remember watching that show as a kid being grateful that the family was supposed to be from Tennessee instead of Kentucky; at least that took some of the heat off my state for a minute. When I was in 7th grade we studied Kentucky history in school and the text book had the poorest looking, unwashed, dead-eyed family on the cover of the book; that was demeaning.

It' probably all harmful and has little use, except as entertainment for some people. But I have to watch myself because I'm so judgmental. I can get really upset at people who appear uneducated and I think drag the rest of us folks with a Southern drawl down. I can be very judgmental but the thing I have seen is that sometimes some value accidentally slips into what is probably meant to be a stereotype. The family on Honey Boo Boo is completely non-judgemental and very loving, also very hard-working. Families should aspire to exhibit those traits, IMO. On my own guilty TV watching pleasure, "Call of the Wildman", animals are rescued not killed; they are given value as living beings. WOW, a guy in Kentucky who doesn't want to shoot everything he sees, that's breaking a stereotype these days.

I'm trying to see things a little differently.

[FrodosPet]

60. They are working class and speak with a southern drawl

They must be Klan Baggers! Burn them with fire!!!



Yep, seems like everybody's gotta hate SOMEONE. So we gotta make sure to hate someone it is cool to hate!

[get the red out]

155. If people could hear my drawl when I post....

I would be in trouble! Born and raised in Kentucky and when I open my mouth I leave little doubt, LOL.

[Rhythm]

159. Same here... grew up in NC... live in WV

And even though i did theatre in high school/college, when i let my guard down, i sound like my relatives back home, which is only slightly less deep-south than Foghorn Leghorn.

[FrodosPet]

162. To a northern elitist's ears, southern drawl equals KKK

Personally, I admit I hate the actions and attitudes of arrogant people, regardless of their political viewpoints. But I don't hate the person themselves, nor do I wish harm on them beyond appropriate corrective punishment for egregious cases - I think education and steering social acceptability in a positive direction is much more humane and productive.

But sadly, even some (so called) progressives seem to fall in the "Burn 'em baby, burn!" camp.

[Kurovski]

161. +1

[xmas74]

186. It's the one of the bunch that is not hateful.

There is no homophobia on the show. Her gay uncle is clearly adored and the girls have been raised to not even give homosexuality a different thought, that it's ok to be gay and "just not a big deal", as Honey Boo-Boo herself as stated. I watched the first season with my child and saw no racism either. It's clear the family loves each other and will do whatever it takes to help each other reach their goals. Honey's goal? To be a princess, like so many other little girls. And how to get the goal? Through pageants, which her family encourages but also never allow to get too far out of hand.

I've always thought that Honey Boo-Boo was a show TLC put on to make a mockery of a family. Deep South, obese unwed mother, father who "looks like a redneck", overweight child, pregnant teenage daughter (who gave birth to a child with six fingers on one hand)-they thought they'd found a show that everyone could make fun of. What they didn't expect is that people would actually warm up to a family that truly loves each other and love spending time together. The father proudly works six and seven days a week to support his family and the mother is equally proud of saving money through extensive couponing. The entire family knows what its like to have nothing and try their best to do fundraisers to better the lives of others in their community. (It's a tradition with them to decorate their house and yard full of lights and have the father dress up as Santa. They open everything up to the community and ask for donations for the food pantry and Toys for Tots.) And the mother is smart with the money earned from the show. She refuses to allow the family to live off of the money, instead investing it equally for each of the daughters to be used for their college educations or other reasons in adulthood.

I'm not a fan of the whole redneck type shows on television but Honey Boo-Boo? I'll defend them.

[laundry_queen]

192. ^^^^THIS!

and I'll defend them too (and I agree with you about TLC's motives).

[xmas74]

195. TLC thought they had a running gag with the family.

They never expected to see a family that would get such a warm reception from the viewers. Most of the haters are people who've never watched a single episode.

I know families like this. The father works hard-damn hard-and is proud to be able to provide what he can for the family. There was an episode where they all dined out at a bbq joint. There were comments made about the amount of food the family ate and most were less than kind. What I saw when watching the episode was a father who was so proud to be able to make enough money that he could take his family out to eat on a weekly basis. You could see it in his face-he glowed with pride. And the family seemed happy to be together.

The mother is proud of how much money she can save. She shops sales, she coupons, she auctions and goes to discount sales. She uses the money saved to pay for pageants for her daughter. Her daughter's pageant gear isn't as expensive as the other contestants but she's proud of what she can buy her and her other daughters seem proud of their baby sister.

People say that Honey BooBoo is being taken advantage of by being thrust into the spotlight with this show. That is true to a point but otoh June is proud of saving the earnings from the show and investing in the girls' future. In what is basically a working poor family a chance-any chance-to pay for a child's college education is something to jump at. And June has said she wants all of her daughters to be educated women who contribute to society in a positive way. I can't blame her-if someone came along and said to me that they wanted to make a reality show about my family and that it would be enough to probably pay for my child's college I would definitely have to consider it.

[laundry_queen]

201. Agreed.

As a single parent, I would likely do the same thing if it was offered. I also agree with everything you wrote.

[xmas74]

208. We're in the same boat.

I'm also a single parent who would do anything to find the money to eventually pay for my daughter's education. If an offer like this existed I would definitely consider it. It would be open to discussion in the family-that's for certain.

[sibelian]

199. THANK YOU. I also thought the framing was disgusting.

They were ordinary, that's all. As if being ordinary is somehow wrong!

[xmas74]

206. They are hardworking folks

who are trying to raise their children in a way they deem proper. I've never heard about them being racist or homophobic, compared to other shows. They seem to be a family who loves each other and doesn't really care what the rest of the world says.

[Jamastiene]

221. Thank you! Well said!

I think Honey Boo-Boo and her family are all right people from what I can see. So many of the loud mouths on those other shows, who have been talking bad about gay people, just feed into the stereotype that all poor whites in the south must be bad. Honey Boo-Boo and her family seem to be the opposite of those homophobic ones, if you ask me.

[xmas74]

222. Her uncle, (her father's brother, I believe)

is very out and proud. He's been featured on the show a couple of times. The first time he was mentioned Alana (Honey Boo-Boo) was asked what "gay" meant. She basically said that it meant that he wanted to marry a man instead of a woman (remember, she's six) and that it wasn't a big deal-love is love. I believe he's in a long-term relationship, though his SO has never been on the show.

They do the best they can with what they have. They might not have much but they do have love for each other and respect for others, even if they are different. I can respect that.

[fishwax]

228. ah, that helps to explain why a right-winger like the author of the article would dislike that show

Not having seen much of the show, I appreciate your interesting and informative post.

[xmas74]

231. We don't watch much by way of reality tv

but it's one of the few that was actually quite appropriate for my child. Yes, they burp and fart and laugh about it. Yes, Momma June is a bit of a couponing hoarder (nothing dirty-she's just really proud of her stockpile). No, Momma June and Sugar Bear weren't married, though they are now. Yes, there was a pregnant teen daughter on the show and I'm sure that infuriated a few, because the mother had the attitude of "What's done is done, no point in brow beating her for an accident" and has pushed for her to further her education. And yes, they are all overweight or obese, except for Sugar Bear, though June recently lost nearly 100 pounds.

In the end, they are a family, they love each other, they love spending time together doing the silliest things, and it shows. They are also shockingly progressive for a "redneck" family featured on a show of this nature. Can rednecks be progressive? Absolutely-I know quite a few but they aren't usually the ones chosen for tv shows.

[Skidmore]

9. No. It is not what "they" have done. It is what has been sold to them

as success. Part of that is the wholesale shredding of the nation's educational system and a presentation of circus as a quicker way to success. Look, I grew up in an impoverished family too. We had a mother who taught us that education was valuable and essential to achieving upward mobility. She also taught us that presenting ourselves to the world with dignity was important too. You don't have to buy the circus image in either the "white trash" or the "Dallas" or any other kind of "trash" forms. Rewards for success have become greatly skewed by this conspicuous consumption, rampant capitalism on steriods that has been sold people over the years. When you pursue circus and media brokered definitions of success, focus is directed away from the more systemic and institutionalized problems of the nation and the world.

As for what is wrong with Honey Boo Boo. Nothing. She is a child. On the other hand, she is being exploited. And I don't really have the time to pursue that in depth now.

[sibelian]

34. That all sounds very reasonable...

I wish the article linked to in OP had made the points you just did. I am not all left with the impression that they regard the lightning conductors for these processes as legitimate people at all.

[Katashi_itto]

39. Nicely said!

[Le Taz Hot]

10. Thank you.

And it's too bad this thread title is allowed on this board. Referring to people as "trash" is particularly disgusting. Adding a skin color to it makes it racist. IMO.

[pintobean]

17. I agree.

[malaise]

21. + one million n/t

[Bluenorthwest]

22. This same poster engages in personal attacks against anyone who does not praise

Pope Francis or those who mention that Francis says gay households are 'an attack on God which comes from the author of all evil' and such. So the Pope's homophobia is protected and glorious but by the same token, some TV hick is worhty of being called 'trash' for saying the same things Francis says.
I am sick of the hatemongering Francis has made so deeply popular. Mocking the poor, mocking children and calling kids 'trash' is something I find to be seriously heinous.
How can folks attack the poor and children for how they look while claiming to be so super religious that they should be allowed to celebrate bigots on DU, in GD, all day long?
I don't get it.

[seabeyond]

27. he is also a poster that DEMANDs we all live in his trashy world of porn. a lot of ironic, i see,

in this poster.

[KittyWampus]

87. Maybe you can spare us of your appraisals of other DU'ers posting habits.

[Lizzie Poppet]

23. Well said.

Ridiculing "white trash" = the last acceptable bigotry

[Niceguy1]

30. and just as disgusting

if it was any other group this thread would have beem shut down a long time ago

[HappyMe]

56. Yup. Very easy to crap on the 'peons' below.

I just don't like sweeping generalizations. Racists and homophobes come from every walk of life. Every person has their views, and should be educated or encouraged to educate others accordingly.

[sibelian]

28. Thank YOU.

That's what *I* think.

[cali]

173. you are so spot on. hey, why not just refer to certain groups of people as vermin?

if trash is OK, then vermin must be as well.

[Demo_Chris]

29. Exceptional post. nt

[pecwae]

160. You already know

the answers to every question you asked.

[sibelian]

171. Do I?

I'm not sure that I do.

[seabeyond]

5. calls out the man that wants everyone to wallow in the trash with him. ya, when did we start

normalizing trash?

[Egalitarian Thug]

6. It was always normal, we just didn't celebrate it.

People used to feel embarrassed about it and strove to improve themselves and insisted that their kids did not follow them. Then, the media told them that it was OK to be incurious and ill-informed, that their lack was their heritage, that it is they, the ignorant red-necks that are the true or "real Americans".

[Paladin]

12. Bullseye, ET.

My friends and I had parents who did everything possible to keep us from being Duck Dynasty wannabes. What a shame there seems to be such present-day glorification of this sort of conspicuous ignorance.

[Egalitarian Thug]

47. Thanks, I don't think it's an accident. n/t

[grammiepammie]

74. White Trash

I agree completely. I am from the mountains (hills) of Pennsylvania = Philadelphia and Pittsburgh with Alabama in the middle. I was raised to believe in kindness and respect for others, that one of the most important things you can do for yourself is to get a good education. When I visit my hometown, I am shocked at what has happened and the attitude of people. I don't think I could ever go back. Education does not seem to be high on the list of what is important (they come from the "school of hard knocks". Guns, now that is their top priority. They might not have a lot of money (or health insurance, but who needs health insurance), but they have enough money to buy assault rifles (of course, everyone needs an assault rifle because the government is coming after you). They will vote against their own best interests. Corning Glass is a union company in my area and I have actually heard people say that the workers are making too much money. Instead of saying "why am I not making that much", they blame the unions for the people making too much. It is crazy.

[Ikonoklast]

151. Lots of truth in this post.

Those that revel in their ignorance, do little or nothing to make their own lives better but hate those that are maybe just a little better off than themselves because they actually did something towards accomplishing that goal, and will spend thousands on purchasing the latest high-powered rifle they just 'needed to have' although they already own ten and their children need to see a dentist quite badly, but they 'don't have the money'.

[BlueJazz]

76. To me, it's a realization that people actually watch that stuff. I'm in a quandary as to why?

It would be like going to Walmart to watch people shop. Yuck!

[Egalitarian Thug]

100. I have no idea whatsoever, but then, I couldn't even take the commercials.

I felt like I was under a full assault of dumb every 6 minutes. Even a well written show with good stories was impossible to enjoy and those shows only happen every decade or so.

[Awknid]

13. Yes, you hit it on the head!

[Berlum]

7. Corporate Media, Inc. (R) is pimping role models for the Proles of Tomorrow

This is what the Corpor-O-Borg, Inc. (R) wants: a scruffy, uninformed proletariat.

"Assume the position: do your job, suck up your beer and Empty TV, and keep your fat mouths shut while we ream you and your wallet. Smirk. Sneer." - Corpor-O-Borg, Inc. (R)

[Tom Ripley]

65. +1000

[Arugula Latte]

113. And then go ahead and die early from your obesity-caused diabetes, stroke, or heart attack.

You're not much use to us after you hit 50.

[Arugula Latte]

123. Wait, what?

I was echoing the view of how corporations look at their dispensable proles. "To us" was the view of corporations. I do NOT have this line of thinking personally - sheesh!

[seabeyond]

125. thanks for the clarification. i will delete. nt

[Arugula Latte]

127. Okay, thanks.

I know sometimes these threads get complicated with all the responses. I was just riffing on response #7.

[onehandle]

14. The minute that the Pilgrims stepped out onto Plymouth Rock.

Which never happened. They would have stepped onto muddy muck.

Which pretty much describes the yards of most of those people.

[Bluenorthwest]

15. I don't call other human beings 'trash'. Because they are not.

As you treat the least among us....Honey Boo Boo is a child. But let's call her 'trash' as well, for the region she comes from, her Mom's weight, and their lack of pretense. The only thing I have seen Honey Boo Boo say is that they support Obama. How awful!
The folks who attack others for being different are a tight group, they attack LGBT in the name of Francis, they attack children and the poor in the name of some odd idea of white purity vs 'white trash'...what lives they must lead to be so neeful of cruel and heartless rants.

[Le Taz Hot]

19. Thank you, Bluenorthwest,

on this we agree.

[Katashi_itto]

20. Paint a broad enough picture?

[Le Taz Hot]

24. Then maybe you can refine the definition.

What exactly are the criteria one has to have in order to be categorized as "trash?"

[snooper2]

214. I can help!

Here is example #1

[Bluenorthwest]

33. People are not trash. Why do you claim that they are trash?

Jesus said 'that which you do unto the least among us you do to me'. So why do you attack Jesus and call him 'trash' while also pretentiously praising homophobes like Francis under the guise of Christianity? You call Duck guy 'trash' for saying the same shit Francis says, you attack me for crticism of Francis, each time I speak the truth about him. How can one homophobe be 'trash' while the other gets your tireless defense? Do you think Francis whould approve of calling kids 'trash' to make some passing point? I thought he was Mr Love The Poor? Pope Lunch With Homeless?
I think some use Francis as excuse to be less than tolerant toward others.

[Katashi_itto]

36. I forgot the pope is behind everything

I simply point out you make a connection to the pope about everything

[Bluenorthwest]

48. I'm pointing out the stark raving contradictions in your postings

Your posts are contradictory of themselves. It is you who promotes the Pope one day and defend his homophobia then the next you call other people 'trash'. The Pope claims his authority is that of the 'Vicar of Christ'. Christ said that which you say or do toward the least among us is done to the Christ himself. Thus to call humans 'trash' is to call Jesus trash, and thus his 'Vicar' is Vicar of Garbage....
It is you who wants to butter your toast on both sides, which will get you greasy fingers and dropped toast.

[Katashi_itto]

68. You mean like the Duck Dynasty Patriarch that attacked the LBGT community. You know the group your

defending?

[sibelian]

86. ...sssoooo if a black guy calls me a faggot....

...

[Bluenorthwest]

137. What tripe. People are not trash. The difference between Duck Guy and Pope Francis is sartorial.

That is, they wear different costumes on TV. They believe the same anti gay bullshit.
You are often rude and attack me personally for my criticisms of the Pope's horrific anti gay statements, which you do not criticize. You are disingenuous.

[Katashi_itto]

185. Snicker, who is being disingenuous? Costumes...Seriously? Thats your difference? If you can't

identify the difference between the head of a religion of 1 billion plus followers and a TV show character. I think that says alot in it self

[Bluenorthwest]

230. You are free to compare and contrast Duck Pope to Francis Pope and show us the differences.

Francis has more money and more followers and more Euro Silk type outfits. Both express contempt for minorities they don't like behind a facade of religious blather. One is rightly mocked on DU, the other is praised because folks fall for good production design every time, apparently. Francis and Phil have the same beliefs and claim the same reasons for those hateful beliefs.
Feel free to offer counter points, but 'has more followers' just makes him more dangerous, not more honest, more ethical or more acceptable to thinking people.
What do YOU claim is the difference, other than 'Francis is richer and more popular'? What's the difference in their anti gay outlooks?
The two are twins and the differences are sartorial.

[idwiyo]

184. LGBTQ are not a "group" and Universal Human Rights is not some friggin 'fringe' issue

or wacky 'belief'. If one stands for equality, one doesn't condone homophobia, of all things.

One's 'religious beliefs' are definitely not an excuse for spewing hatred and preaching to others to do the same.

[idwiyo]

177. +1

[JustAnotherGen]

202. Amen

And having a 66 year old mother who was called 'white trash' - not because of her education (collegiate level), affluence (only child of a construction company owner in California in the 1950's - do that math), or background (family has long old roots in this country) -

But because she married a black man.


White trash is not a terminology I use. And - I thought I had that keyword trashed. Hmmm . . .

[Live and Learn]

217. +1 I abhor that term. nt

[Javaman]

16. when failin quitter was selected to be vp for gramps. nt

[HappyMe]

18. I think these kids are far trashier.

Rich Kids of Beverly Hills - read it and weep.

http://popcultureperversion.com/2013/10/20/get-to-know-the-cast-of-your-new-favourite-reality-show-rich-kids-of-beverly-hills/

[alcibiades_mystery]

25. So people on DU are praising an article stating that "elites" need to take the reins of culture

back from an "underclass?"

Whatever you might think of Honey Boo Boo, this Regnery Press offering is particularly noxious in its class arguments.

[smokey nj]

26. I suspect they didn't read the article.

ETA:
Isn't it ironic that it was published in the NY Post? Not exactly go-to reading material for the elite.

[JHB]

190. Conservative product placement

She's selling a book, and the op-ed is basically an ad for it. After someone buys it, who cares if they get offended: you already have their money.

Not that there's any shortage of people who will eagerly soak up examples of someone else's "trashiness" without ever recognizing that their own habits and attitudes could easily qualify for the term.

[Egalitarian Thug]

40. No, we are sufficiently intelligent to recognize that this is the result of manipulation by

these so-called elites. Some people have the capacity to extract the relevance from within the chaff. If you need help with this, you have only to ask.

Good luck.

[fishwax]

108. Indeed. She can keep her Toynbee.

[Eleanors38]

31. When they became the politically safest group to dump on.

Who wants to know what Plain Folk are really like? Just go with Li'l Abner & Hollywood Hillbillies.

Fart joke, little vaudeville, works everytime.

[Brickbat]

32. White trash? Social ills? Pathologies? "Stayed put"?

WTF is this shit right here?

[alcibiades_mystery]

37. It's unbelievable that this reactionary trash is being given thumbs-up on DU

This is Dinesh D'souza level culture war shit, like "Never trust a professor who doesn't wear a suit and tie" (so, no women professors?). She bags on a "30-something" scholar for having tattoos, fer chrissakes! I mean, what the fuck.

[redqueen]

102. Really? You find it unbelievable?

I sure don't.

[a la izquierda]

175. Oh dear, I'd give her the vapors.

I'm a 30-something intellectual (PhD and everything), with extensive tattoos.

The difference is, I'm a professor for a major university, and Ms Hays slings shit disguised as news for the New York Post.

[BlueStreak]

35. White trash has always been out there. It is the economics of cable that are different

There is a surplus of channels. The goal is the most eyeballs for the least amount of production dollars. White trash is perfect for that. The trashier the better. If a person is on the edge of being a hillbilly themselves, it is comforting to know there are greater hillbillies out there we can make fun of.

[myrna minx]

41. This OP is appalling. When did referring to people as "trash" become normal?

This is elitist and debasing at best.

[Katashi_itto]

43. You mean Duck Dynasty, Jersey Shore, Honey Boo Boo, depict mainstream?

[myrna minx]

52. I didn't say they were mainstream, did I? I think debasing humans as trash should never be"normal"

or acceptable.

[Katashi_itto]

53. So putting these people on cable and glorifying them is ok?

Giving the Duck Dynasty the opportunity the say bigoted things about the LBGT community thats fine?

[myrna minx]

57. Please don't deflect. My commentary is about referring to people as trash: it's debasing

and dehumanizing and ugly.

[Katashi_itto]

64. I am hardly deflecting. They are being glorified for profit.

[myrna minx]

67. So that justifies calling these people "trash"?

[Katashi_itto]

73. I would point out it was the NY Post that phrased it.

[sibelian]

80. ....aaaand, what do YOU think?

Pray tell?

[sibelian]

71. Uuuuh, unlike WHO ELSE on television?

If you please?

[myrna minx]

59. You've since edited - so I will respond to:

The hatred spewed by the Duck Dynasty person is horrendous - but that doesn't provide cover for people to debase other human begins by referring to them as trash.

[HappyMe]

119. Nobody here is saying that what the Duck Dynasty guy said is fine.

It's appalling and unforgivable.

What is being said that dumping all people from the South into a bin labelled 'white trash' is elitist horseshit. Claiming that because of what one guy said, an entire group of people should be condemned is judgemental to the point of being assinine. Each person should be responsible for their own opinion and beliefs. If that opinion is unacceptable, then that person should answer for it.

The few times I saw Honey Boo Boo and Duck Dynasty (putting Phil aside for now) are families that love one another, and stick by one another. Contrast that with the educated, successful women in the Real Housewives shows. They stab one another in the back regularly. They have been seen on the show getting drunk and beating the crap out of one another, if they aren't screaming mean things. There was one that bragged about a $20,000 pair of sunglasses. Using your reasoning, it would be fair to dump all educated, successful women (along with the author of the OP article) into a bin labeled 'drunken, vicious fakes'. Hmm....not cool, right?

[ForgoTheConsequence]

165. They do for me.

And lots of other people in flyover country. Maybe they don't depict YOUR reality, but that's another issue.

[liberal_at_heart]

98. I agree. Calling people trash is elitist and appalling.

[Comrade Grumpy]

150. About 1830. Ironically, first used by black slaves against white servants.

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

White trash vis-a-vis cracker, hillbilly, Okie, and redneck[edit]

In common usage "White trash" overlaps in meaning with cracker (regarding Georgia and Florida), hillbilly (regarding Appalachia), Okie (regarding Oklahoma origins), and redneck.[6] The main difference is that "redneck," "cracker", "Okie", and "hillbilly" emphasize that a person is poor and uneducated and comes from the backwoods with little awareness of the modern world, while "White trash" emphasizes the person's moral failings.[7]

History[edit]

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'".[8][9]

In 1854, Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote the chapter "Poor White Trash" in her book A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin. Stowe tells the reader that slavery not only produces "degraded, miserable slaves", but also poor whites who are even more degraded and miserable. The plantation system forced those whites to struggle for subsistence. Beyond economic factors, Stowe traces this class to the shortage of schools and churches in their community, and says that both blacks and whites in the area look down on these "poor white trash".[10]

By 1855 the term had passed into common usage by upper class whites, and was common usage among all Southerners, regardless of race, throughout the rest of the 19th century.[11]

White popular culture[edit]

Scholars in the late 19th and early 20th century explored the generations of families the authors considered disreputable, such as the The Jukes family and the The Kallikak Family (both were pseudonyms for real families).[12]

Ernest Matthew Mickler's White Trash Cooking (1986) enjoyed an unanticipated rise to popularity. The cookbook, which is based on the cooking of rural white Southerners, features recipes with names such as Goldie's Yo Yo Pudding, Resurrection Cake, Vickies Stickies and Tutti's Fruited Porkettes.[13][14] As Inness (2006) notes, "white trash authors used humor to express what was happening to them in a society that wished to forget about the poor, especially those who were white." She points out that under the humor was a serious lesson about living in poverty.[15]

By the 1980s there appeared fiction written by Southern authors who themselves claimed redneck or white trash origins, such as Harry Crews, Dorothy Allison, Larry Brown, and Tim McLaurin.[16] Autobiographies sometimes mention white trash origins. Gay rights activist Amber L. Hollibaugh says, "I grew up a mixed-race, white-trash girl in a country that considered me dangerous, corrupt, fascinating, exotic. I responded to the challenge by becoming that alarming, hazardous, sexually disruptive woman."[17]
Black popular culture[edit]

It is used among blacks as an attack against whites.[18][19] Use of "White trash" epithets has been extensively reported in the African American culture.[20] Black authors have noted that blacks, when taunted by whites as "niggers," taunted back, calling them "white trash,"[21] and the black parents taught their children that poor whites were "white trash".[22] The epithet appears in black folklore.[23] In it, slaves (when out of earshot) would refer to harsh overseers as a "low down" man, "lower than poor white trash," "a brute, really."[24]

In literature[edit]

Evelyn Greenleaf Sutherland's play Po' White Trash, published in 1900, exposes complicated cultural tensions in the post-Reconstruction South, at the heart of which is the racial status of poor whites.[25]

Zora Neale Hurston's Seraph on the Suwanee (1948) explores images of 'white trash' women. Jackson (2000) argues that Hurston's meditation on abjection, waste, and the construction of class and gender identities among poor whites reflects the eugenics discourses of the 1920s.[26]

Jim Goad's Redneck Manifesto (1997) explores the history of the pejorative term "White trash", as well as details the history and class issues related to the impoverished European diaspora in North America.

[pintobean]

42. Jury went 3-3. Anyone have alerter/juror comments? /nt

[Le Taz Hot]

54. Here it is:

REASON FOR ALERT:

This post is disruptive, hurtful, rude, insensitive, over-the-top, or otherwise inappropriate.

YOUR COMMENTS:

The term "white trash" is a racial slur and should not be allowed on DU. Besides, people aren't "trash," they're people.

JURY RESULTS

A randomly-selected Jury of DU members completed their review of this alert at Thu Dec 19, 2013, 08:18 AM, and voted 3-3 to LEAVE IT ALONE.

Juror #1 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: "White trash" is not usually hidden here.
Juror #2 voted to HIDE IT and said: People are not trash.
Juror #3 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: The "White Trash" part comes from the NY Post, not the op. Unless I am mistaken, we don't police other sites.
Juror #4 voted to HIDE IT and said: I have no problem with posts poking fun at right-wing idiots, but this OP isn't doing that. It's ridiculing people solely because they are poor and have what most of us would consider poor taste. Let this one rot in the pages of Murdoch's New York Post, where it originated.
Juror #5 voted to LEAVE IT ALONE and said: No explanation given
Juror #6 voted to HIDE IT and said: No explanation given

[pintobean]

61. Thank you.

Juror #1 - There's no time like the present. A lot of racism got a pass in our past. Some still does.

Juror #3 - It was brought here as an acceptable opinion. It's now on this site, which we do police.

[jsr]

44. Elitist crap from Charlotte Hays, Ayn Rand enthusiast

http://www.iwf.org/about/charlotte-hays

[Bluenorthwest]

63. Charlotte Hays on Michelle Obama:

"First Lady Michelle Obama is venturing out onto the campaign trail to shore up embattled Democratic candidates. Apparently, Lady Macbeth wasn’t available.
Mrs. Obama may emphasize being a mother — or mom, in the current parlance — but she is not comforting, and we remember that in the past she has made incendiary statements: the “first time in my adult lifetime I’m really proud of my country” remark springs to mind. She almost lived that down, but not quite: first ladies who fly to New York on Air Force One for “date night” need to make it clear that ’tis a very great country indeed that lets them have such a nice ride just to see a Broadway play."
http://dailycaller.com/2010/10/13/stiletto-nation-first-ladies-and-the-campaign-trail/

[Katashi_itto]

66. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. I would view th majority of teabaggers, with

their inability to perform basic critical thinking, crude belief systems fall in this category.

[madrchsod]

45. as long as i can remember and i`m 66 yrs old.

"white trash" or other derogatory phrases has been around but like most everything that was looked down upon when i was a kid is acceptable today.

[Brigid]

50. We need the "unrec" button back.

[Arkansas Granny]

51. When the corporate media realized there was money to be made from using them as entertainment.

If you watch the shows, you either identify with them or you're fascinated by them (kind of like a train wreck).

[Are_grits_groceries]

55. The BooBoos are a subset of Southern culture that gets confused with others.

If you were to meet the BooBoos and really talk to them, you would find that they are very gregarious AND nice people.
If you were in some kind of trouble, they would do everything they could to help you. You might not understand all that they said or understand every action, but they are not mean spirited people.

As for the Mama having 4 kids by 4 different fathers, that isn't confined to these people. My question would be how does she treat the 4 kids? Beauty pageants not withstanding, they seem to be loved and given what can be given.

I wouldn't put any of them in beauty pageants, but the money is being set aside for education. Whether they appear to value learning or not, they want HBB to better herself. None of them are stupid no matter what you assume them to be.

Honey BooBoo also has a gay uncle that she loves very much. He is welcome in that family and that says a lot about them.

The subset you better watch out for are the 'Deliverances'. Outwardly, they may appear to be the same as the BooBoos. However, if you are paying attention, they are a bubble or two off plumb. The hair on the back of your neck should rise anyway. Pay attention to that. You may also hear the faint strains of banjo music. Run, don't walk, as far away from them as you can get.

I have known people of both groups all my life. The first group would invite me to dinner and I would go. The second would invite me, and I would arm myself for a while. I don't want to be on their radar for any reason. If I were to go to dinner with them, I might not come back. PeeWee Gaskins was a 'Deliverance' and they have never found all the people he killed.

[Le Taz Hot]

69. ". . . they are a bubble or two off plumb."

Now THAT was funny! Great post, btw.

[jsr]

89. +1.

[xulamaude]

148. +1

[xmas74]

194. I know families just like them.

Good people. Maybe Mom's been around the block once or twice but the family is pure love and no one cares. They are the first ones to offer their pick up trucks for moving day ("Why spend money on a U-Haul? We have two pick ups and five kids to help!&quot and are the ones to discretely tuck a tissue in your hand when you cry in public-that is, if you refuse to follow someone to the restroom to cry it out on a friendly shoulder. Worried that your check just can't stretch for bills and food? They'll be over and give you some venison, maybe a wild turkey and some rice or pasta from the cupboard.

Mamma June and Sugar Bear are good folks and they're doing a good job raising their daughters to be grateful. (I say their daughters even though only one is his legally he calls them all his kids. Now that's a good man!)

[Capt. Obvious]

58. When WalMart began sprawling towards urban centers

[seabeyond]

62. ah. so now we "white trash" the customers of walmart cause they are poor,

and must make the dollar go as far as possible to..... EAT.

who else is "trash" in your opinion?

[Harmony Blue]

72. Actually in rural areas it is more cost effective to buy vegetables/produce and meats from the local

farmers than Walmart.

The only reason WalMart is popular is because of the ability to buy everything else you need along with food items. But unless you are looking for gluten free products you shouldn't bother with Walmart. The assumption that poor people don't know what good food looks like or are not educated is the biggest mistake ivory tower progressives make. They may be poor and lead a simpler life but it doesn't mean they don't understand concepts like paying a fair wage (Walmart doesn't).

Also I do not find what the original poster posted as offensive and most southerners down here don't act the way they are portrayed on these shows. Most non-Americans would label them as white trash and I wouldn't contest it but I would argue that to show some sympathy for their plight. However, if you reach that point you are making a series of choices that are detrimental to long term goals.

[seabeyond]

75. he joined the meme that walmart customers are white trash. are you defending that?

[Harmony Blue]

81. No need to defend what I observed

near the Florida/Georgia line.

[seabeyond]

88. so, you are supporting his position that walmart customers are "white trash"?

[seabeyond]

79. and another example. so to pretend it meant something else is disingenuous.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024198297#post76

[HappyMe]

84. Because everyone knows that people have

Saturday mornings off so that they can take their measly dollars or SNAP cards to the farmer's market.

[Dash87]

70. The NY Post author sounds like a massive tool.

Tl:dr version - I'm so much better than everyone, so stop offending me with your art and creativity, you underlings! Know your place in society! (Nose goes up in the air)

[MineralMan]

77. When did classifying people as "Trash" become normal?

I don't watch the TV shows mentioned here, because I don't like the shows. I do not, however, use them as any sort of example of what is "normal." That would be a faulty generalization.

The term "white trash" is just as racist as the term "porch monkeys." It, like all racist terms is a faulty generalization. DU is not about that, and should not be.

I encourage you to self-delete the opening post in this thread and to think about the way such faulty generalizations have been used to dehumanize groups of people.

[davidpdx]

180. Your post and the one below it are the best in the thread

Both of you make good points about the article in different ways.

[MineralMan]

209. Thank you.

[Live and Learn]

219. +1 nt

[independentpiney]

78. This may be the most disgusting elitist, classist article I've seen posted on DU

Did you read the article before you posted this? Do you agree with it's author that obesity is a product of lack of discipline, and that people shouldn't complain about exorbitant overdraft fees but instead feel ashamed of overdrafts?

Charlotte Hays is the author of “When Did White Trash Become the New Normal? A Southern Lady Asks the Impertinent Question” (Regnery Publishing), out this week.

Great publisher, they published the swiftboat and birther books as well iirc.

[gollygee]

83. +1

[Starry Messenger]

96. +2

[alcibiades_mystery]

97. Oh, the "intelligent DUers" who nod at this opinion column can determine that obesity and tattoos

are indeed tricks of the ruling class.

And that the right wing hack who wrote this asinine article provides "wheat" as well as "chaff."

Or something.

[sibelian]

111. +3

[tenderfoot]

156. +5

[johnp3907]

170. How many plusses are we up to? ++++++

The only White Trash I want to hear about:


(Winter is an albino, in case you didn't know. Hence the title)

[davidpdx]

179. A very good point

People should take a careful look at the sources they are using. I for one won't click on a link and contribute to traffic on that site. It isn't about censorship, but more about not spreading things from RW sites on DU. Once we start doing that we are no better than the people over on that other site. The fact is that the OP got suckered by the author into posting an article about her book.

I don't support racist, classiest, etc. and I sure as hell wouldn't post anything that would support those things. In my opinion DU members shouldn't do that either even if there is no specific rule against doing so. It's just common fucking sense.

Before someone asks, I don't support either The Duck Dynasty or Honey Boo Boo (I have seen one short clip of Honey Boo Boo so I have a basic understanding of the program, the other one I've barely heard of until recently).

[KittyWampus]

82. I bet this thread makes a few DU'ers feel really good about themselves. It's sick.

[FarCenter]

85. Since the colonies from Maryland to Georgia were settled by prisoners and indentured servants

The Brits transported the contents of their criminal and debtors prisons to the colonies.

After the American Revolution, they had to transport them to Australia.

[sibelian]

90. ....

What?

[FarCenter]

93. Penal transportation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_transportation

[sibelian]

147. You appear to be suggesting that familal descent from prisoners or indentured servitude earns

the label "white trash".

Is that what you're saying?

[FarCenter]

149. Culture is as unchanging as genes.

[Katashi_itto]

189. ?

[FarCenter]

212. "Since British trash was transported to the colonies" is the answer to your OP's headline

[4Q2u2]

91. Falling for the Hype

The writer is falling for the propaganda. None of these shows are the normal and most people know and realize it. They take circumstances twist it to the extremes and pump out their play-doh shows, trying to manipulate the viewers that this is some how real. The real normal would make for very boring TV, it is also part and parcel to the divide and conquer wealth gap in this country.
Denigrating groups of people to caricatures makes it easier to violate them. These shows are prop ably the only way a lot of wealthy Americans even get a glimpse a poorer Americans, and it helps develop their ideas as to who they think the other people are. Much like the portrayal of African Americans on TV for decades.
Lastly the writer falls for one of the worst personal flaws, Self Righteous importance. Like she is the designated Lord of what is right and proper conduct and how others should live their lives, and that others really give a fuck what she thinks.

[liberal_at_heart]

92. There is a big difference in being prejudice and just being rural. I grew up in Texas. I met

all kinds of people. Some were prejudice. A lot were the sweetest people I have ever met anywhere in the entire United States. My mom died young. My dad worked 12 to 16 hour days. The people in my neighborhood helped look after me. I will never forget the ladies at our tiny, local convenience store. They were the best. So, be careful when you talk about white trash. Not all rural people are white trash.

[Katashi_itto]

95. I lived in Alamogordo for a number of years, your quite right.

[MineralMan]

94. There are two copyright violations in this original post, as well:

First, the image pasted in from the NY Post does not include the copyright acknowledgement shown in the newspaper article. That acknowledgement reads:

"Mike Thompson (L) and June Shannon from the hit show "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo"
Photo: Noel Vasquez/Getty Images"

Second, the OP includes six paragraphs from the original copyright material and is a substantial portion of the content at the link. That violates the DU guideline of excerpting only four paragraphs.

Such copyright violations put DU at risk of legal action by the owners of the copyright. Again, I encourage you to self-delete your OP, for that reason, as well as the racist use of "white trash" in your post, despite it being the title of the original article at the link. I have sent a copyright alert to the DU Administrators, using the Alert Abuse button.

Thank you.

[Capt. Obvious]

140. And he posted it on your lawn

[ileus]

99. When PJs become formal wear.

[Township75]

101. About he same time poor uneducated black men began rapping about

The glories of crime womanizing doing drugs and killing people...but for some reason the equivalent word of white trash for blacks is a no-no. They are entertainment too and making big bucks.

This type of shit has always been here.

[JHB]

103. Hmm. Conservative "former gossip columnist" openly berates poor/working-class whites

Charlotte Hays is the author of “When Did White Trash Become the New Normal? A Southern Lady Asks the Impertinent Question” (Regnery Publishing), out this week

Her Bio:

Charlotte Hays gets up most mornings and contributes to the Inkwell, the weblog of the Independent Women's Forum. Hays joined the Independent Women's Forum in 1999 as editor of The Women's Quarterly. When the quarterly evolved into our web operation, Hays became a senior editor.

Known for her quick and irreverent sense of humor, Hays has appeared on cable television programs such as Politically Incorrect, C-Span's Washington Journal, and PBS's To the Contrary. A former correspondent for the National Catholic Register and a feature writer at The Washington Times, Hays has been fascinated by politics since covering local politics for alternative weeklies in New Orleans.

Hays likes to say she has a checkered past because she was a gossip columnist in a former life. She was a reporter for The New York Post's "Page Six" column and also wrote "Charlotte's Web," her own popular gossip column at both The Washington Times and The New York Daily News.

Hays has been described as a former gossip columnist at home in the world of ideas. She has been published in an eclectic list of magazines including The American Spectator, New York Magazine, Spy, National Review, Policy Review, Town & Country, Mirabella, The New Republic, and Crisis. She is especially proud of a series on politics and religion reported from Beirut and a prize winning interview with novelist Walker Percy for the National Catholic Register.

http://freshfiction.com/author.php?id=15376

[LibertyLover]

104. OMG - when the NY Post complains about white trash

you know that there is something wrong. The Post is the trashiest of the 3 NYC dailies and lives for trash.

[redqueen]

105. Interesting that you and a few others think classist sewage from the Post is insightful. nt

[LeftyMom]

106. On behalf of Camaro-Americans everywhere, that columnist can go fuck herself.

[Sissyk]

122. LMAO!

Love this! Camaro-Americans.

I relate!

[Katashi_itto]

126. Lol!!

[Lizzie Poppet]

203. Brilliant!

[Marr]

109. These shows are about mocking the poor.

I realize the subjects generally aren't actually poor-- but they function as stereotypes of the poor, to be laughed at. That stereotype hasn't changed much in centuries. They're lusty, they're emotional, they're crass. They deserve to be on the bottom, don't ya know-- they're stupid and inferior and lazy.

In that respect, these shows fill the same niche as a game show. They let the viewers feel superior.

[Katashi_itto]

112. I think it's that and more. Reality shows are this age's version of the Roman Gladiatorial Games

[lumberjack_jeff]

152. ... partly.

I think there's an element of self-deprecation too. Most people consider ourselves common and without pretense. I like my old cars and I don't cut my yard (not a lawn) until it inhibits egress. When I hear redneck jokes, I laugh because I see myself and my neighbors.

That said, I don't think I'm really celebrating the fact that my grass is tall, but acknowledging an idiosyncracy - both my own and that of suburban society that places such a high premium on "curb appeal".

But what do I know? I don't have cable TV, and wouldn't watch reality shows even if I did.

... but I have been contacted twice by two different reality tv producers for two different reasons. I'm probably too mundane for "reality" tv, I guess.

[hootinholler]

110. You are not worth the hide to tell you what I think of this

You should self delete this, all you have done is bring out the assholes.

[Burma Jones]

114. You are in sore need of a Joe Bageant lecture

Unfortunately, he's dead. Fortunately, he left us with a lot of writing.......

Go, and be elucidated......


http://www.joebageant.com/

[Katashi_itto]

117. Yes by god your right. I can see Honey Boo Boo, or Snooki churning out such winsome prose.

[Burma Jones]

121. You're, not your

If you're going to get huffy, your prose should be correct....

[Katashi_itto]

124. I'm not getting huffy. I just await with baited breath Honey Boo Boo's next literary masterpiece.

Hell, really almost anything not invoking cheeseballs you might consider a masterpiece from her.

[seabeyond]

129. having never watched the show myself, you are now dissing a child for her intellectualism, or

lack of?

any more disses to people?

[Katashi_itto]

130. You haven't watched the show? And making that Statement?

[seabeyond]

131. " baited breath Honey Boo Boo's next literary masterpiece." and you expectation of children

delivering literary masterpiece would be?

your words.

[Katashi_itto]

132. See #129

[seabeyond]

133. no thank you. you exhibit just another part of bigotry. nt

[Katashi_itto]

134. Lol!!

[Lizzie Poppet]

204. Yes...because classist bigotry is SO FUNNEH!

[HappyMe]

142. Since you are so awesomely superior, where

is your literary masterpiece? Surely you have one.

[Katashi_itto]

174. Actually I do. Took three years but I've 201 page script (long for a script ac

tually) but I don't think all the scenes will make final cut. We registered it last January and are slowly working through pre-production on it now. Myself and my co-partner he and I wrote it.

[Bluenorthwest]

193. Breath held in anticipation is 'bated' not 'baited'.

It is a form of the word 'abate' meaning to weaken or to decrease in strength. I wonder if Honey Boo Boo knows the difference? She might....

[Katashi_itto]

200. -- George Takei

Many fans asked for my thoughts on the "Duck Dynasty" controversy. They pressed and pressed, but I refused to quack.

But I can't duck this issue forever. I don't really care feather someone on a reality show said something about gays that didn't fit the bill. He's entitled to his opinion, even if it's for the birds. But the network also is worried about flocking with its base, so if it feels it should drake him over the coals for making his fowl comments, so be it.

So that's migrate opinion.
-- George Takei

[Iggo]

116. I don't know when it became normal, but it started during Reagan.

[lumberjack_jeff]

118. I'm conflicted about this offensive article.

On the one hand, it's about as classist an argument as I've ever seen here.

On the other hand, there's obviously a theme in modern entertainment that holds these self-destructive behaviors up as exemplary of normal.

[Katashi_itto]

120. Agree, when I read the article, it managed to hit both sides of the coin at once.

What made it worse was it came from an obviously RWer.

[LongTomH]

153. Agreed! The issue should be the dumbing down and coarsening of modern entertainment.

Remember when The Learning Channel was actually educational and Arts & Entertainment was actually 'arts.' Discovery Channel has joined the downward slide. Today, they're running a 'Fast and Loud' marathon;' as far as I can determine without actually watching, it's about souped-up cars, what we used to call "Hot Rods.'

And, don't even talk to me about 'The Hysteria Channel!" It's all Nostradamus, ancient aliens and Bible prophecies.

Everything has moved to the lowest common denominator and kept moving downward.

[Delphinus]

183. Yes!

Morris Berman's book, The Twilight of American Culture, was what I thought of when I read through this piece posted.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

128. Sideshows have always existed in some form

Reality television is just that.

[Throd]

135. Apparently, it's OK to vilify poor people if they are white and not as sophisticated as you.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

164. Absolutely.

And then they wonder why they lost the working class vote. Paying lip service to the working poor out of one side of their mouth and insulting them out of the other.

[fishwax]

136. this column is elitist nonsense

This is not surprising, I suppose, given the writer's credentials.

[SiobhanClancy]

138. God,I feel ignorant....

I'd heard of Duck Dynasty,but thought it was probably a children's show about a family of ducks!

[Arcanetrance]

141. If we really wish to start labeling people as trash

Maybe we should start with those who would go as low as writing for the post.

[spinbaby]

143. They seem nicer than the Kardashians

I've not seen the ducks, but I have seen an episode of Honey Boo Boo and the family struck me as quite nice and quite supportive of each other. The Kardashians, on the other hand, just make me shudder.

[Zorra]

144. Conservative RW christianity, combined with ignorance/lack of education combined with mass AM RW

hate propaganda radio and Fox News propaganda, has created a large group of poor, white, hateful conservative republicans in many rural areas throughout the country. This has been exacerbated by the continuous deliberate dumbing down of Americans that began during the Reagan era, and which we are still struggling against conservatives to overcome to this day.

Shows like Duck Dynasty are propaganda devices used to generate billions in profit for the unscrupulous, while at the same time keeping the sheep on the path. Duck Dynasty is a mind wipe.

Rural folks were a prime target, a gullible market, a ripe fruit just waiting to be picked, eaten, and stored by the Reagan/RW/Corporatist cabal that began deliberately destroying America back in the early 80's.

I grew up in the country and still live in the country, because I love nature and can't tolerate being separated from it for very long. I remember when AM hate radio first became prevalent during the early years of the Reagan administration. We couldn't get a whole lot of stations, so basically we were forced to either listen to stations that promoted RW hate, religion, or little else, listen to nothing at all. There was no XM/Sirius, and no internet, and we were pretty much out of range of progressive FM. This, naturally, increased peer pressure on everyone to become a hater. Especially kids; if you are smart, and different, in a rural classroom, you have a very difficult row to hoe until you are old enough to leave.

The targeted group in the OP has largely been "created". While I believe the author of the OP writes like a RW elitist exceptionalist who does not seem to be any more aware than the people who she is writing about, and who she has never really met in the flesh, she does have a partially valid point. But I saw firsthand the RW rural monster get assembled. I still see the monster every day, and it really is extreme RW, mean, ugly, and dangerous. It is a fanatically religious, ignorant, extreme RW, violent, brainwashed, gun worshiping, clueless, and very dangerous group of people.

True, it's really not cool to call any group of people trash. Real down home country people are some of the finest kind on the planet, some of the best people I've ever known. But it is stupid and destructive to deny the existence of the dangerous group. I see them fairly often. A few days ago I was told that Obama is creating a list for organ transplants, and this was preventing a relative of the person who told me this from getting medical care. I hear really deranged lies about Obama and Democrats all the time from this group of people. They simply do not have the background and awareness to separate bizarre superstitions and myths from reality in many cases. These poor folks are clearly living a very powerful delusion.

I'm openly LGBT, and this group frightens me. When RW christians say they don't judge people, and leave it up to God to judge, they are almost always lying; they use this lie as a device to mask their own hate and bigotry towards others from themselves. This self-deception why they can't understand why people call them hateful when they hate us for no reason.

And they are all republicans/tea party. Every. Single. One. Of. Them.

Don't get me wrong; there are some common sense, aware, very kind country people who are/were smart enough to see through the manipulation. Unfortunately, however, most kids who are smart and aware enough not to yield to the constant conservative bullshit and peer pressure in rural areas take off for a far away college if they can swing it, or they just leave, and never come back, leaving a self-perpetuating and expanding cycle of rural ignorance and shallow, mean spirited RW superstitions behind them forever.

There's a reason why so many rural areas always vote republican, and I tried to explain some of the reasons why from a local POV, so please, don't shoot the messenger here.

Hopefully, someday we can counteract these deluded people who constantly vote against their own interests, and will be able to fund a massive national education effort broad and focused enough to wipe away much of this enforced ignorance from the face of our land.

Eliminating wealthy private interest RW ownership and control of an MSM used for profit and deliberate propaganda purposes would be another major step in eliminating ignorance and superstition in our country, especially in rural areas, as well.

The short story at the link below is pdf.

Obstinate Uncle Otis

[mnhtnbb]

178. My husband has southern relatives that fall into this group--although not 'white trash'--

they are supportive of the Duck Dynasty mindset.


It's really hard to comprehend. Most of them are college educated. Yet they cling
to the bigoted beliefs passed on to them from listening to right wing Bible thumpers
every Sunday.

Hubby's brother in law started listening to Rush years and years ago. He and his
wife (hubby's sister) were visiting us in Nebraska in the 90's and the BIL asked
me for a radio so he could listen to Rush in the guest room! Really put me in an awkward spot.
I gave it to him...because hubby didn't want to be less than gracious.

These are kind folks who would do anything for family...BUT they don't get the concept
of a larger community being the same as family. They consistently vote Republican.
All three of their sons have had financial difficulties...and one recently filed for bankruptcy.
They criticize "Obamacare" endlessly...yet both of them have Medicare and the sister
recently had aortic valve replacement surgery. We have two gay sons--which, I'm not
sure that hubby has ever talked about with his sister--and yet two of their female relatives
have been openly hostile on their fb pages to 'gays'. I hid the feed from one of them some
time ago and just last night hid the feed from the other as she was promoting "Support
Robertson" stuff on her wall.

It's a puzzlement. Hubby is really ambivalent about spending any time with these relatives.
His sister and her husband helped him out tremendously when he was young, but he
can't stand their politics. It's really a puzzlement how people can be so nice to someone
personally, and so hateful toward other people.

[11 Bravo]

145. When it obtained the 2008 Republican Vice-Presidential nomination?

[Gothmog]

146. I have tried and was unable to watch the Honey Boo Boo show

Again, I do not understand the appeal of this show. I also do not understand the appeal of the Duck show.

[Faux pas]

154. Multiplied exponentially

with the dub's dumbing down of Amurka.

[ForgoTheConsequence]

163. Its always been normal for me.

However, even on this website I've seen lies and made up accusations about middle America.



Good luck with your "Democratic" party made up of nothing but JCrew shopping upper middle class academics.


Some of us get a little greasy and dirty at work during the day, stay away from us if that disgusts you so much.

[Codeine]

188. DU has a nasty side when it comes to the working class. nt

[ForgoTheConsequence]

166. That Duck Dynasty bigot has a Masters degree.

So I guess all academics are homophobes.

[Lizzie Poppet]

205. And was a multimillionaire prior to the show.

That's the irony about this whole brouhaha (and this festering shitstain of a thread): the guy's a fake redneck

[Hoyt]

210. Just another bigot making a living pandering to right/white wing, like Rush Limbaugh, etc.

[Nuclear Unicorn]

167. At least you'll always have Pajama Boy to look up to. n/t

[Corruption Inc]

168. TV isn't "normal", it's propaganda targeted at specific audiences

Anybody dumb enough to believe any of the lies on TV is their targeted audience too. LOL.

[MadrasT]

172. Elitist drivel.

Where I come from, so called "white trash" IS normal.

My mama had fits over my "white trash" friends and I told her that guess what, they are just people too, and just because they don"t have perfect grammar and live in mobile homes doesn't mean they are lesser humans.

25 years later she told me how much of an impression that made on her when I said it (at about age 19).

Pfffft... I would rather hang out with "white trash" than snobs who think their shit doesn't stink.

[GreenEyedLefty]

176. The genre "reality TV" is the bane of our existence.

I had a whole lot more to say, but I'll leave it at that.

[bobGandolf]

181. "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo”, " Duck Dynasty" etc.

Unfortunately, this is the crap that sells. Says a lot about our country....none of it good.

"... which features a cornucopia of social ills..." LIKE THIS PHRASE...

[Codeine]

187. I grew up in a trailer in Wyoming. I'm poor.

By any normal measurement I'd be considered "white trash," but I'd still give you a righteous public upbraiding that would leave your head spinning if you ever had the audacity to refer to me that way to my face.

This is classist, reactionary bullshit, and you should be ashamed for having posted it. The fact that you are not ashamed is more telling than you realize.

[pipoman]

196. DU should have a prohibition against

using the racist term "white trash"...anyone who writes it or quotes it for purposes other than to discuss the racism of it is a racist by proxy imho..

[Capt. Obvious]

207. That doesn't go far enough

Anyone who even types it out in quotes is a racist by proxy.

[spanone]

197. as all things in america: WHEN IT BECAME PROFITABLE

[Romulox]

198. I think this is a deeply ignorant post that speaks more to the deficiencies of some DUers,

than to the objects of their disdain.

Perhaps we need to start by reviewing the difference between television and real life...

[Hoyt]

211. I agree the terminology is wrong, but I've been bombarded by Facebook support for this bigot

that displays real life hatred. I can't defriend them fast enough.

Robertson is not an isolated example of ignorance, hatred, pseudo-Christianity, and bigotry.

[rdharma]

213. Why the outrage over the term "white trash"?

After all, that's what this bigot, Phil Robertson, called himself in the GQ interview.........

"I never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person," Robertson claims. "Not once. Where we lived was all farmers. The blacks worked for the farmers. I hoed cotton with them. I'm with the blacks, because we're white trash."

He adds, "They're singing and happy. I never heard one of them, one black person, say, 'I tell you what: These doggone white people'—not a word!... Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues."

I wonder if Phil was intentionally "playing the bigot" to grab media attention. Think about it....... The guy is a multi-millionaire and isn't stupid. I think his "ignorant comments" got the reaction and attention that he wanted.

[northoftheborder]

215. I don't hate any reality shows.

To me they are boring, uninteresting, unentertaining, and not informative.

I saw a show on PBS the other night about the early crime dramas on TV. There were so many, some better than others, but fun to watch. "Dragnet" being one my favorites! And even the westerns some of them were really good. Comedy shows, Carol Burnett Show, ---- there just used to be something worthwhile and entertaining on every night. Now, with a few exceptions, television is a wasteland of nothingness. And most of the nothingness is "reality shows".

[Orsino]

216. If this were normal, reality TV couldn't sell it to us.

No, it's spectacle.

[DreamGypsy]

218. When, exactly, did we become white trash???

For all you Fred-heads out there:

Fred Eaglesmith and the Flying Squirrels, from 1997 -

[SoCalDem]

220. When media moguls decided to stop paying for real writers/actors/directors/sets, etc

and when mega-mergers bought up the "small" niche channels that catered to a select few.

They had TONS of airtime to fill, and there was NO shortage of people willing to humiliate themselves for cash.,

Some watch those shows, laugh, & say.. "Wow, look at those lowlifes".. But like watching a demolition derby, cannot wait until the next one..

Some watch & say.."Hey, WE could get our own show ..those people are just like us".

Some do not watch (my family), and get irritated at the loss of once-great channels as they flagrantly seek the lowest common denominator.

The makers of those shows LOVE the money made from these shows, as some turn these freaks into "stars"...

[hifijohn]

223. its sad but true

Once you leave the large cities and venture out into america you pretty much realize its all wall to wall trailer trash.look at the enormous popularity of pro wrestling and the jerry springer show.

[Quantess]

224. Must everything we see be about upper middle class people?

Do we always need to see comfortable people in very nice homes doing expensive things, being presented as "normal"?

[Vashta Nerada]

225. White trash is celebrated in our society and something many people aspire to be.

Why, I don't know. Many people are perfectly content being part of the lowest common denominator, where stupidity, homophobia, bigotry, and racism mingle together.

[merrily]

226. "Famous" (or "notorious") does not = "normal."

Reality shows, which seem to have proliferated after the Hollywood writers' union strike some years back, are not showing us "normal." If they were, no one would watch.

[PowerToThePeople]

232. It has been coming for some time

Results of the right wing assault on education.

Results of the right wing assault on science.

Results of the right wing.

[bettyellen]

233. when did calling human beings trash become okay at DU? This OP is awful, spreading hatred and

sowing division among the 99%. Exactly what the 1% wanted you to do.