Do you consider the term "trailer trash" an ethnic slur?

[hedgehog]

My perception is that most people who live in trailers and/or trailer parks are low to middle income whites just getting by. The ancestry may be a mix of Anglo, Irish, Italian, Native American etc. but it's the socio-economic class that matters. The kids who live in the trailers tend to be very shy about it and with good reason. I've seen the abuse heaped on them by the kids from "better" classes. "Trailer trash" is an ugly term that paints everyone who lives in a trailer. It shouldn't be used by decent people.

[swag]

1. No, that's a classist slur.

[GiovanniC]

13. It's Downright "Housist"

[Shell Beau]

2. I think it is a mean thing to say, but ethnic slur?

I don't think so. Just my opinion though.

[hedgehog]

9. My point is that using the term reinforces a societal prejudice

against people who live in trailers. If they weren't trash, they wouldn't be living in a trailer. It takes away the focus from issues like a living wage, decent housing prices etc. if we can blame the victim. My guess is that it's an extension of the Southern "poor white trash" which apparently applied to any white who wasn't rich.

[Shell Beau]

23. I get your point, but

I don't think it has to do with ethnicity. As said below, more to do with economical class.

[northzax]

30. but on the flip side

you can be european without being eurotrash. so you cna live in a trailer without being trailer trash.

[sniffa]

3. yes... but white trash isn't

[southlandshari]

31. Ahem.

:spank:

[Catshrink]

4. Where I live, it's the only affordable housing left.

Generally the preferred term is "manufactured homes" rather than trailers. A trailer implies the home can easily be hauled away and set up in another location. Manufactured homes are "planted" and although they can be moved, they are meant to be permanent.

[Shell Beau]

6. Yeah, that is all some people can afford.

[Bluzmann57]

5. Agreed

People are people. Some good, some not so good. Hell, the guy who used to live next door to me is in the Iowa State penal system for sexual abuse of a child. This ain't a trailer park we live in, just a neighborhood. But yet, he's considered by folks on this block as trash. He is, but not "trailer trash". As you say, there are people who just want to get out from under rent so they live in trailers. Nothing wrong with them, they may not have the credit and/or cash to buy a house.

[xmas74]

7. Classist, not racist.

I've lived in them and I've felt humiliated for doing so by those who were of my same race. Other ethnic groups didn't make the same comments. It always came from whites aimed at white who they considered to be a "lower class".
As for anyone who refers to someone who is just trying to survive as "trailer trash" I have a phrase just for them: "Piece of white trash b*tches!"

[Shell Beau]

10. That is a much better description.

It has to do with class, not race.

And I don't mean etiquette type class! Money type class.

[xmas74]

12. Someone who had been raised w/ proper manners

would never make a comment about someone else's abode, no matter how humble. They would be polite and understanding that not everyone lives the same way that they do.
It's a form of class warfare that trashy nouveau riche pass down to their snotty, condescending monster children who will in turn pass it down.

[Shell Beau]

17. Yep, you are right!

[xmas74]

18. Thank you.

[eyepaddle]

8. I'd agree with that.

Although as someone who grew up in a trailer park, I ca say with authority that I did in fact have a lot of, very ill informed neighbors....sigh.

On edit: I meant to agree wioth the classist definition.

[SmokingJacket]

11. Not ethnic, but an unbelievably nasty slur and unliberal.

My grandmother lived in a trailer. She lived in California her whole life, worked as a secretary and was widowed and divorced... how could she afford a house? But there was nothing trashy about her.

The implication is that people who can't afford a house are lower life-forms. That's stupid, and wrong.

Of course, I don't like calling anyone trash, for that matter, unless they've done something to earn my wrath.

[RebelOne]

14. I consider it a personal slur.

I live in a mobile home and I resent the term "trailer trash." I have a good job with a fairly decent salary and full benefits, a nice car and my mobile home is paid in full. I do not have any mortgage payments, only a lot payment. I think a lot of people who use that term probably don't even have jobs.

[hedgehog]

16. I got on to this because someone referred to Paula Jones as

"trailer trash". I don't think we'd use anti-Semitic slurs to refer to Wolfowitz or the N word to refer to Clarence Thomas. I don't think "trailer trash" belongs on this forum in any context because the slur spreads to anyone who lives in a trailer.

[Gormy Cuss]

15. trailer trash is elitist

Trailer trash refers to the stereotype of people living in the old decrepit mostly single-wide trailers either out in rural areas or packed in like sardines in a park with no landscaping sited next to an industrial area or other such unattractive surroundings. These were always populated by people with little money (who else would want to live there?) and in some areas they were poor whites, some areas were other races/ethnicities. Those single-wides were movable, although most of them never did.

Newer trailers usually take just one trip, from factory to home site. That's part of why they were renamed 'manufactured homes.' Most double wides look like any other small house from the inside and are well insulated. Skirting and decking on the outside can dress them up even more, with passerbys often unaware that they're trailers. In rural areas it's often cheaper to buy a double-wide than pay to build a house of the same size. Outside of tornado/hurricane zones they are quite sturdy.

None of this matters to elitists, because trailers are an easy target for derision. Most of the time the people who use this term have never been in a trailer --- just ask. They're talking out of their hats.

[Rabrrrrrr]

19. Not at all ethnic. It's a behavior-based slur.

For people who live in trailers AND act like trash, that's trailer trash.

I don't think it's a slur when it's earned.

It does, sadly, tend to get used to mean "Southerner" or "Ignorant redneck" or "Any poor person" and a few other things. Which it shouldn't be.

It should be reserved solely for the people who have earned it, and not be misused.

[RebelOne]

20. The majority of people who live in my mobile home park

are not ignorant rednecks. They are mostly young couples who are working toward buying a home and also there are many retired people. The management here is very strict and if there is any type of disturbance, the sheriff's dept. is called. Also, we are required to keep our homes in tiptop shape, otherwise we are fined. And yes, I am in Georgia, in the South. The majority of people who live in mobile homes are not foul-mouthed, beer-swilling, ignorant rednecks.

[Rabrrrrrr]

22. I know, that's why I said it's behavior-based,

and that's why I said it's too bad the term is used to mean "redneck" or "southerner".

I have family who lived and grew up in trailers, and some who live in them now. For the most part, they're decent, intelligent people, and so are most of their neighbors.

Not sure why you were arguing with me on this one.

[hfojvt]

21. in usage I do not believe it is behaviour based

The person being labeled is usually presumed to BE trash, not because they act like trash, but because they live in a trailer, and it certainly becomes a slur against all people who live in trailers. If they are acting like trash, why bring the trailer into it at all, except as a way to paint the "typical" trailer resident.

[Shell Beau]

24. It is a low-blow.

Some people are somewhat ashamed for living in a trailer. People want to get them where it hurts most.

[hfojvt]

27. "there ain't no shame in being poor

but there may as well be."

"Lifesytles of the rich and famous" is all about glorifying them and their opulence. Lifestyles of the poor and obscure is about lifting them out of obscurity and exposing every weakness in how the kids live.

[Shell Beau]

35. It is sad that if you are poor,

you are considered less of a person. Horrible really!

[Ariana Celeste]

26. I agree. I lived in a trailer for years.

Nobody I know would consider me trailer trash, unless they only looked at the surface. So I lived in a trailer for a few years; I drank a lot; I dropped out of highschool. But I strived not to be ignorant. I take every chance I get to learn. I would do anything I could for a person in need. Anyone who could look past the surface could see this in me.

There was only one person in my trailer park that I could consider trailer trash- she was the woman who would get shitfaced and leave her trailer in search of someone to scream at. She was the woman who would let her young children run around wild; children who got kicks out of throwing objects at cars on the rural highway that passed our park by. She was the woman who, one night, shit faced drunk, ran outside her trailer naked and screaming until someone got her back inside. On the surface however, you would see a nicer trailer- definitely a better model then the rest of us. You would see a shiny new minivan, and a brand new car for her teenage son. You would see a woman doing well for herself and her children. But those of us who lived there saw the beast come out at night. She was the parks trash.

Everyone else I met there were great people. We had a friendly Mormon family a few trailers down. An old man two doors down who would walk the park picking up trash that kids dropped. We had an elementary school teacher who tutored kids. Great people.

Edited for a missing word.

[Redstone]

41. Thank you for pointing that out. In all the rush to get indignant,

everyone seems to overlook the simple point:

"Trailer trash" means trashy people who live in trailers.

Doesn't have anything to do with non-trashy people who live in trailers.

Pretty simple, actually, but jeez, simple doesn't give people a chance to get indignant, does it?.

Redstone

[scarlet_owl]

25. No, but it offends me. I live in what could be considered a

"trailer park". There are some trailers, but there are lots of homes like mine. A manufactured home is the only way we could be homeowners and it pisses me off when people pull that classist shit. The folks around here are good people. They are quiet, considerate, and very friendly. I think it's trashy to go around and call people names just because of their housing.

[BlondieK143]

28. It offends me.

I lived in a trailer for 12 years. My aunt lives in one, my grandmother lives in one, and my dad used to. "Trailer trash" automatically assumes that everyone in a trailer is trash, and that's just not the case. It's a bad stereotype and anyone who's ever had to live in that situation probably has been offended by it at some point in time. There are a lot of decent, hard working people that live paycheck to paycheck and can't afford a 'regular' home so this is the best option for them. It doesn't make them any less of a person and it certainly doesn't make them trash.

[Redstone]

29. Oh, fuck. Didn't we just go through all this like THREE DAYS AGO?

Over in GD, which I would advise is a better place for this kind of endless-argument-sparker anyway?

Sorry to sound cranky, but jeez...enough is enough. For me, anyway.

Redstone

[ronnykmarshall]

32. Time for this ....

[Redstone]

34. My sentiments exactly.

Redstone

[terrya]

36. I thought we went through this back several months ago...

with a departed DU'er. :puke:

[hedgehog]

38. Sorry , but I just saw the phrase come up on LBN.

I think a lot of people use it without any idea how offensive it is.

[Lilyhoney]

33. I found this link

http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Redneck

Down at the bottem of the page is another link http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/White-trash

[StopTheMorans]

37. no, and this is a poor attempt to start a flamewar

:thumbsup:

[name not needed]

39. no

although this is a disgrace to flamebait.

[arwalden]

40. Absolutely Not.