Date: Wed, 24 Aug 1994 20:51:09 -0500

From: Natalie Maynor maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]RA.MSSTATE.EDU

Subject: Re: What is a Racist Term?



I didn't respond

according to script, because my immediate reaction was that "poor white

trash" is as much a social putdown, applied by whites above the line to

those perceived to be below it, as a racial one used by blacks for whites.



I've always thought of it as a term used by whites, not by blacks. I can

see how it might be construed as racist, however -- suggesting that "white

trash" is a special kind of trash -- that regular trash is not white?

--Natalie (maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ra.msstate.edu)