I also have to disagree with this to some extent. Sometimes the references to white privilege do imply class privilege, and this needs to be pointed out.

Also white upper-middle class bloggers and other progressives will do this, or make seemingly self-deprecating remarks about white people in general, and in this way diffuse a lot of the blame for the oppression of others onto a whole race. And by making these statements they get to seem superior to the inferior whites who think they’re better than other people (redneck racists, whatever). A neat trick!

This was a great thread, there are a lot of good ideas here.

Yes, the entire point of the post is that ALL anti-privileges are bad, and it doesn’t matter who’s got it the worst, and that having one privilege doesn’t cancel out the fact you’ve got several anti-privileges working against it. I agree that when “progressives” mock poor whites or any other group (white feminists of means have often left out women of color, women who aren’t heterosexual and disabled women in addition to poor white able-bodied heterosexual women) they are not living up to the label of progressive and must have it pointed out to them. Some of them will learn from it and we’ll all be better off. Others will refuse to learn, but in showing up their hypocrisy, we’ll reduce the hurt they would have caused.

Good for you! I have also decided it’s time to start speaking up more. I wrote to a radio station recently for referring to a woman who was describing her brother’s experiences with meth as “a piece of trailer trash” and I’ve been thinking of complaining about the Jay Leno show. He uses the term “white trash” frequently as well as using poor whites for humor constantly.

“though I’m dissapointed that many of the comments seem to be intent on trying to say that class or race are worse oppresions.”

Who has done this? This accusation always seems to come up. I’ve tried a number of times to bring up the issue of class on feminist and academic and science blogs in cases where I think it’s being ignored, and I am always accused of denying other privileges or claiming class privilege is the most important when I have not even said anything close. I also get called a “loon” and have had “trailer” jokes made about me in response. It’s ridiculous to deny class privilege. That is the point being made. And scapegoating is not progressive! “Progressives” who mock lower-class white people lose all credibility (and we shouldn’t let them get away with it).

One thing that I do get a bit riled about though is when people talk about issues that are fundimentally about class and economic standing as if they are soley about race. I have seen a campaign against a university putting up it’s fees where it was talked about how this was racist as it would reduce the number of people of colour being able to attend. I don’t know if there were other campaigns running alongside this that talked about class issues, but it did seem like the people running this campaign had forgotten that the reason people are exculded in this example is how much money they have, not the colour of their skin, and poor white folks seem to be being ignored.

It’s important to remember that it’s much easier to be aware of one’s oppressions than one’s privilages, so someone might see their oppression as a person of colour as more important than another person’s oppression as being considered “trash”, but forget their own privilage as a middle class person with an education, in the same way that a poor white person may see class as the most important issue but not notice their privilage as a white person.

And I want to make this perfectly clear: Whenever our class is referred to as “trash” and punished for our conditions of poverty, it is not only poor rural whites that are being abused, it’s poor urban whites too.

Having rown up in a Philadelphia ghetto of poor whites, I have found a stronger sense of belonging, a greater shared understanding with my poor brothers and sisters in the heart of Appalachia, and in the “podunk” towns of the Midwest than I feel around middle/upper class people of any race.

That said, I think it is incumbent upon us to call people out on their class bigotry whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head — as it did on the January 30, 2009 episode of the “reality TV” show, “Wife Swap”, featuring Stephen Fowler, a wealthy British immigrant who easily gained US citizenship by virtue of his wealth and marriage to a wealthy American ‘trophy’ wife. I called him on his class prejudice for his abuse of a poor Midwestern woman who was his temporary wife on the show. If anyone wants to read my letter to Stephen Fowler, I have it posted on this Google page:
http://jacqueline.homan.author.googlepages.com/home

http://twitter.com/JenniferKesler

And yeah, we certainly need a word other than trash – I used it with quotes in an attempt to emphasize just how harshly other white people speak of my class.

The rich are manipulating us to keep us down. They did this back in slavery, giving the poor whites a few “privileges” so that they would stop rebelling with the slaves…..and stop the threat of an over-throw of the rich plantation owners.

Bad mistake for the poor whites to turn their backs on the slaves because this was the start of the “pitting against” each other…..by two groups that did, and still do need each other.

Now, they are manipulating us again by making a poor black higher on the social class then a poor white, and giving them a few “privileges”, hoping we’ll continue to fight amongst ourselves and they will continue to rule and continue to gain all the wealth

The rich have figured out (very brilliantly) how to manipulate us & have us fighting with each other over stupid reasons such as race , class, religion, or just to get basic rights! We need to get smarter then the rich…realize what they are doing and then do something about it! There are way more of us then them!

Great article, but can we start another word for poor whites besides “trash”?