Nowadays the term "white trash" might bring to mind the foul-mouthed guests of "The Jerry Springer Show," with their bad hair, narrow-minded politics and trailer park neighborhoods...just some of the stereotypes associated with poor, white, non-urban Americans. But the phrase was around long before TV.
It was first used in the mid-1800's to describe poor white people who didn't own land. As a social class, they were regarded by other whites as economically worthless and expendable as garbage--indeed, "white trash."
Calling someone "white trash" is still a putdown that means low-class. (It irks some blacks, too, because of the implication that they are the "regular" trash.) But it can also be a source of pride, sort of a working class badge of honor for "real" white Americans, living without pretense and embracing their roots without shame.
By now the label has also firmly rooted itself in pop culture, in a tongue-in-cheek celebration involving everything from recipes to mullets. Punk rockers and stars like Kid Rock have embraced white trash culture, and now's there's even a Trailer Park Lounge and Grill in New York City.
