• American who killed Indian man in Kansas bar sentenced to life
    43 replies, posted
I would probably say good riddance to all white trash tbqh. Being White Trash is not a product of genetics that you can't control; you can't choose to be white, but you can choose to be white trash
Even though the guy was basically white trash for all intents and purposes. A gun-toting drunk scumbag looking for a fight taking literal shots at minorities while screaming GET OUTTA MY COUNTRY. He's basically a sixpack of pabst blue ribbon away from being the physical embodiment of that subset of people.
For a Frenchman you seem to have a finger directly on the pulse of the non-coastal states
Pretty sure everybody thinks the convicted guy is an evil fuck who deserves his sentence so there's not gonna be much discussion about that. I doubt anyone here disagrees with the sentence, but there is discussion to be had about the term "white trash". It's definitely a mine-field of a topic because some people will think you're a snowflake if you're offended by it, so I'll try to make an earnest case here about what I think of the term. Generally the way it's used is a racist, but mostly classist term. It's got a history of racist and classist use, and I recommend reading the Wikipedia article on it for more info about the origin and use of the term over time: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_trash Its history is somewhat intertwined with the use of nigger in colonial-reconstruction United States and onwards. While definitely not the same in terms of offensiveness, historical connotation and gravity, the term is used in nearly the same instances as nigger would be if the person in question was black - referring to some inferior, lack of class, poor, immoral person of a certain skin color, usually used by bigots. Again I emphasize they're not equally offensive and don't have the same historical connotation, but I've seen people describe both terms in the same way. Anectodal example: my grandmother would use the n-word to describe black people who were "lazy, had no class", and were implied to be immoral or criminal, but she would always clarify that "not all blacks are niggers, just those kinds of people." She would frequently call white kids in the same area white trash, for the exact same reasons, but would emphasize the lack of class rather than race because she was white. In most cases she just used both terms to describe people she didn't like of a certain color or thought they were deserving of the word - a slur. I've seen people describe themselves as white trash, but it's used similar to redneck, and to me that's a way of neutralizing it's offensiveness and reclaiming the word. In a way it's kind of like nigga - I doubt a black guy would appreciate being called a nigger by another black guy he didn't know (especially in an accusatory way), but if they were friends or family it's more of a term of endearment they might use. Same thing with white people - I have a friend who used to live in Florida who endearingly refers to himself and his family as white trash, but got in a fist fight in a bar because someone called him white trash. I really don't like the term. I wouldn't call anyone white trash, and if someone referred to me or my family that way I'd consider them a bigot. I would recommend other people not use it, but I'm not the speech police. I just want people to know the history of the term and understand what's implied when you use it. I know I'm coming off as some hippie talking about 'offensiveness' but it's definitely a hurtful term with history behind it. Then again if your intent is to really hurt someone and piss them off it's an effective word to use.
leave it to facepunch to derail itself about two words in the english dictionary
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