7/9/2017 3 Comments "White Trash"I’m not a big fan of the policing of words. Certainly, I eschew slurs of all stripes. Other words inhabit a gray area--they originated with one culture, but have become part of the larger conversation, and there’s much debate over who may use which word. But the phrase in my crosshairs today is one that many white people--and some minority folks--toss around. They do it without thinking about what it really means. They do it without considering how it judges and dehumanizes.
White trash. If anyone’s ever called me this, it’s not been in my earshot. But I meet a few of the checkboxes. I’m from Kentucky, and I slip in and out of a Southern accent. My legal address was once in a trailer park. My family’s been party to substance abuse. Both my parents and I divorced and remarried, and the last name of my sons differs from mine. But even if other qualifiers make me exempt from the “white trash” label, this isn’t about me. It’s about the judgment inherent in the phrase--both words of it. A human being is not “trash” because their quantity of tattoos or partners is unacceptable to you. Nor is “trash” made with housekeeping habits, grammar, or profanity use. If you disagree with their choices, fine--but know their choices are usually a product of their environment, and they’re probably already aware of the consequences. Calling someone trash does not improve their situation. It lessens yours because they cease to be human to you. Let’s look at the qualifier “white.” If you label certain white people as “white trash,” the inference is that nonwhites are always trash. “But that’s not what I meant.” Read between the lines. Inherent in the idea of “white trash” is the concept of people on a ranking ladder, and the implication that those with brown skin are always on a lower rung. Or, that they should be. I can’t stomach that. “But if I say white trash, people know what I’m talking about.” Why does everyone need a label? And who put you in charge of the label machine? Many of the students I teach in Cincinnati’s Price Hill neighborhood are urban Appalachians--children and grandchildren of mountain people who crossed the river, looking for work. Their culture differs from that of mainstream America. I’m a cultural hybrid. There are times I identify with my students, and there are times I struggle to understand them. But it’s pretty hard to reach and teach people that you see as “trash,” or the product of “trash.” During my first year of teaching, a veteran teacher stopped by my room after dismissal and fumed, “I got a s---- bunch of kids.” I blinked, trying to contain my shock--but it was a valuable lesson for me. My 22-year-old self noted that her class’ behavior failed to improve during the year. As we thinketh in our hearts, so are they….in our eyes. If your goal in life is putting a foot on the head of others to lift yourself up--by all means, keep using the phrase “white trash.” But if you hope to make a contribution, treat people as people and keep the trash in the can.
3 Comments
Natalie
7/23/2017 11:11:18 am
You hit the nail on the head here in so many aspects! I feel sorry for people that hand these names out to others and wonder what has happened to them to make them this way. I'm so blessed to be raised without these labels by my parents and hope I am doing the same in my house.
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7/23/2017 02:31:32 pm
Thank you, Natalie. So nice to know other parents and educators who feel the same way.
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7/23/2017 03:08:09 pm
I forgot to post a link to historian Joshua Wilkey's excellent post on This Appalachia Life, "My Mother Wasn't Trash": https://www.thisappalachialife.com/single-post/2017/05/10/My-Mother-Wasnt-Trash
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Elena Vale WahlI blogged much more when my kids were small. Hoping my quality supplants quantity. Archives
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