Lily-White sensibilities! Gee, didn't know I had any of those!
The term is overused. If cupcake, wop, and dago are considered to be offensive, racist terms then why not white trailer trash? If I implied that all leftists are upper crust then I apologize. What I attempted to point out was the contradictions in a philosophy that attempts to gain respect for one group while scupcakeing at another. From the tone of your post about the trailer-trash board game I was uncertain about the point you were trying to make.
Condescending!? Me!? In what way? For stating my belief that any system that extends favors to one group but not to another is morally bankrupt? What part of that statement do you disagree with? I'm sorry that anything I said threw you into such a rage. Do you not agree that all poverty-stricken families deserve the same consideration? A perfectly level playing field that extends aid to all that need it is the only fair one.
My life hasn't been as hard as yours. I'm glad that you have achieved success in life despite all the obstacles that you mentioned. But if you are going to quote "war stories" then I have a few from my own family to relate.
My mother was the child of a share-cropper in south Arkansas. In the fall of 1934, after one of the worst droughts on record, my grandfather cleared $25 on the sale of his cotton. Hardly enough to feed a family of seven for an entire winter. He and his brother pooled their money and bought a coon dog and spent the winter hunting coons and selling their hides, which at that time brought $10 a hide. The next year they bought a small farm of their own with the aid of a government loan. There was no money to build a new house, so an old barn that was already on the property was torn down and the lumber used to construct a home. While construction took place, the family lived in a tent. During the Depression my grandfather did not have the five cents it took to buy a pair of bootlaces. Instead he laced his boots with baling wire or string.
My father's family was in much the same condition. The children of both families did not wear shoes to school. The one pair that they had were worn only on Sundays. They lived in wood-frame houses with so many cracks between the boards you could see the chickens scratching around outside the house. Wood-stoves provided the only heat and there was no electricity, only coal-oil lamps. Store-bought clothes were a luxury so all clothing was hand-made.
By the time my generation came along things had improved somewhat. I do remember living in a three-room apartment in the back of a small country store on the "colored" side of the tracks. Many of my first friends were Black. I can remember stealing cold sodas from the old metal Coca-Cola drink box to give to an elderly Black-gentleman who was my friend. We would sit on the wooden benches out front and drink them and talk. I was pre-school age at the time. His name has been forgotten among the other misty memories of that time more than forty years ago. Since that time I have had, and continue to have many black friends. The school that I teach in is a small rural school located in the eastern delta region of Arkansas. The school population is almost evenly divided between Black and White, and the majority of them are impoverished. I love and respect all of them.
You are not alone in the world, sir. I attempted to point out in my first post that I considered the term "white-trailer trash" to be just as bigoted and racist as cupcake, or wop, or dago. It was never my intention to be condescending. There are upper-crust leftists in this country who stridently defend affirmative-action type programs and yet have little sympathy for the poor who do not belong to a minority. There are upper-crust rightists who feel the same way. Damn all of them! Why should the poor of any color be treated as if they are invisible?
Regards, Shuckins
