Rainbow trash

Recently during dinner, I tried to explain the intricacies of "white trash" to a cosmopolitan, out-of-state friend. You see, she had never met "white trash." Thus, throughout the meal, she kept asking for more details, questioning my responses and second-guessing my descriptions. \nAs www.wikipedia.com explains, "In full historical context, the term (white trash) is difficult to define, and any definition must be considered with respect to the context in which the epithet was applied."\nI tried to give a rather politically correct answer to my friend's questions (if that's possible in a matter like this). "White trash," I explained to her, was not a matter of socioeconomic issues but rather a condition of the mind characterized by stupidity, ignorance and racism. \nDespite what I thought was a rather intelligent answer, she smugly shut me up with one final question: "Well, Asma, don't you think trash could come in any color? Who's to say there's only white trash in the world?"\nHmm ... a valid criticism, especially because my explanation didn't seem race-conscious.\nThus, once again, I turned to wikipedia.com.\n"It has been debated why there is no comparable term commonly used for other races, such as black trash or Latino trash. One suggestion is that it is a form of reverse racism," the online encyclopedia suggests. \nThe pervasiveness of white trash makes it extraordinarily difficult to define. From the Ewells in Harper Lee's "To Kill a Mockingbird" to "Roseanne," images of poor, uneducated, lower-class whites have filtered into the mainstream media and left a lasting imprint upon our national, racial psyche. To use and abuse the image of "white trash" has become almost acceptable. While other racial, ethnic or religious slurs are de facto forbidden from print and prohibited in impelling stereotypical descriptions, white trash is commonly and openly used as mockery by both whites and non-whites alike. \nThe discrepancy in labeling and usurping race has led some to deem our national psyche in need of surgery, or at least, a little therapy. How can we (as a society) openly mock the idea of white trash in movies, books, TV shows and common conversation but fret over using any other racial slur? Perhaps, we've acknowledged that white trash is not a racially demeaning word.\nWhile some may take pride in their "white trash" heritage, as Ernest Matthew Mickler has in writing his "White Trash Cooking" recipe book and subsequent "White Trash Cooking II: Recipes for Gatherin's," I tend to think people like Mickler are in the minority.\nWe've become selectively desensitized to issues of race, and consequently think that inserting the word "white" in front of trash is nothing more than a nominal vocabulary concern. \nBut I beg to disagree.\nShallow thinking is not a product of race or economics, nor is it a label to brand upon the underprivileged social classes. \nPerhaps, in the great spirit of American tradition, while trying to explain white trash, we should turn to political correctness. \nIf trash is to be defined as a matter of prejudice and insularity, then I must confess, I've met my share of rainbow trash.