White trash

In the interest of compiling a complete history of white trash, I have researched all of the names used in conjunction with this phenomenon and the dates they were first used. Some had been in use in England prior to this date, but this is the first known recorded usage of these terms in North America. (I must say that it brings a tear to my eye to be of such service to my white trash heritage.)

bumpkin.........1570
yahoo...........1726
cracker.........1766
yokel...........1812
poor white......1819
redneck.........1830
white trash.....1831
clayeater.......1841
dirteater.......1844
sandhiller......1848
cowboy..........1849
hayseed.........1851
buckwheat.......1866
rube............1896
hillbilly.......1900
hick............1920
bubba...........1922
sharecropper....1923
peckerwood......1929
Okie............1938

The majority of people whom we consider "rednecks" or white trash are actually descendants of indentured servants that were brought to America to work in the plantations, they were looked upon with all the respect that was given to slaves at the time. They have since been used as a scapegoat by modern society, discrimination against them is common and socially acceptable, it's unfortunate but I myself have fallen into this trap.

One interesting factiod is missing from this node - specifically, that the term 'white trash' is what was known as 'black slang'. The black slaves owned by white landowners did not get along well with the white house-servants that they worked alongside. 'White trash' was a disparaging (to say the least) term for a white man who was low enough to take a job as a servant - a job that was clearly so low that a free man would not take it.

"The slaves themselves entertain the very highest contempt for white servants, whom they designate as 'poor white trash.'"
-- Fanny Kemble, journal, Jan. 6, 1833

Since its coinage in the early 1800s, white trash has not evolved much at all. It is most often used in America, where it refers to a poor, blue-collar worker, especially one who lives in an unkempt trailer park and talks with a strong southern accent. In other words, it is a particularly rude word for the already impolite 'redneck'. It is generally recommended that you do not use this term.