recovering_fan wrote:Earl wrote:In the meantime, I'll just say that William Adams is white trash.
I have to disagree here. Adams was a judge, so he clearly was not "white trash." I'm guessing his office and career paid well enough to place him high in the middle class.
Oh, no.
I want to be sure I'm not misunderstood by anyone. I was not making a comment about one's social status based on income. What I meant by the expression "white trash" is someone who has not been socially deprived (such as being born poor, etc.) and has had opportunities others didn't have, but is low class, morally speaking -- specifically, is vulgar and lacks moral standards or any concern about dignity. There are poor people or blue-collar people who have high moral standards while there are also rich people who lack any sense of decency. I was not meaning to put down any social class based upon income.
I spent my teenage years in one of the most affluent areas of the country. Many of my school classmates were jerks, and so were their parents. The fact that they came from affluent families didn't mean they were any less vulgar.
Considering the theme of this website, I'll say the following: One of my friends who graduated from high school the same year I did in the same district once told me about a scandal involving one of the leading football players at his high school. The player started dating a shy girl whose family had just moved to the district. She was unaware of his bad reputation. Soon there were allegations he had raped her. Since he was a star player who would be playing football at one of the leading universities of this state, a coverup seems to have been conducted. Interestlngly enough, the girl's family moved out of the district overnight. My friend (who, incidentally, was not a nerd, but was a "cool" person) also told me that football players at his high school were allowed to bully other students. Once, one of the upperclass players deliberately slammed the door of his locker on his right hand between classes. Although identified to the school nurse, the player was never disciplined, as far as my friend knew. Another one of those players, who was someone I had admired in junior high, regularly tormented a
mentally retarded guy -- which, when you think about it, is particularly reprehensible. His punishment? He was merely suspended from school for a few days. Probably was like a vacation to him. Why am I saying this? This all happened in an affluent district, but just because the area was affluent didn't mean that the moral standards were particularly high.
As far as William Adams is concerned, when I said he was "white trash," what I meant to say was that the way he reacted toward his daughter was vulgar and that he acted like a trashy jerk instead of a gentleman. I was not saying he was from a poor or blue-collar background. Decent guys, as opposed to this character, are found in all social classes.
Edit: Considering the racial implications of the expression "white trash," I should have just called him trash.
As I said, some rich people are trash. It's a matter of the character of the individual, not his economic background.
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