Update: CatM gets straight to the point in comment below:
They only say "ghetto trash" Because they know there is no possible "plausible deniability" for saying "nigger."
Did you all see the episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm" where Larry David befriends a black rapper who calls Larry "my nigger"? All through the show he calls Larry my nigger and at the end of the show Larry asks him, "Am I still your nigger"?
I only bring this up to show that some people would say, given this example, that the term nigger does not apply to black people exclusively, and thus it is not a slur against black people. In fact, if you are affended by me calling you a nigger, or if you are affended by the term itself, it is YOU who is the racist, NOT ME!
Such is the logic of Jim Robinson, owner of Freerepublic.
Read on.
From his posting on Freerepublic this afternoon and his piss poor FAIL of an attempt to exonerate his website.
Poor white trash live in trailer parks. Poor white trash live in slums. Poor white trash also live in ghettos. Many people who aren't even poor white trash live in trailer parks, slums, barrios and ghettos.
"Dressed like someone from the ghetto" can't possibly be a "racist" insult unless you're assuming all black people and only black people come from ghettos. If you are making that assumption and are personally insulted by such comment, then look around. You may be a racist.
See, the term "ghetto" can't possibly refer to black people any more than a term like "preppie" refers to young rich whites who drive BMW's. Because obviously there are a lot of blacks out there named Biff who love the shit out of knit sweaters and refer to their parental peeps as "mummy and poppy." Lots of them! Just because we don't see them doesn't mean that they don't exist!
Are there white people in da hood? Well of course there are, albeit a relative handful (and I've never heard of any white folks living in the projects, but to stretch a point...). Were there white sharecroppers? Of course there were. But that is completely beside the point. When people use or hear the term ghetto, in almost any context, they identify with African Americans almost exclusively but especially when the term is used as a perjorative to describe an African American. This is so elemental -- Why does this shit even need an explanation?
Robinson's next point is just as ridiculous:
Racism? Monkey sounds? Right. Do a google search on "Bush Chimp" and see what pops up.
George Bush is just as much a human being as Michelle Obama. And just as American. The only difference is George Bush is proud to be an American and proud to defend his country while Michelle Obama was ashamed of America for her entire adult life. Defend America? Right. The Obamas wouldn't lift a finger to defend America. They'd rather destroy it and destroy all it stands for.
Bush is a monkey. Bush is a chimp. Bush is a gorilla. Bush is a subhuman knuckle dragging mongrel. He sometimes makes funny monkey faces, even funny monkey sounds. We all have. I have. You have. Michelle Obama has. Monkey see, monkey do. Get used to it!
Get used to our racism! You insulted our boy so that gives us carte blanche to hurl racist insults at Mahlia and teh First Baby Mama!
Note to freepers: There's such a thing as context and reading between the lines. It's possible to hear or read the term "ghetto trash" and not be offended. A lot of it depends on who says it and how they say it. I shouldn't have to illustrate the obvious, but when anyone reads the commentary at Freerepublic and sees terms like "ghetto trash" and "ghetto whore" surrounded by invective against the first family, it doesn't take a brainchild to conclude that these terms aren't intended to be affectionate and are most definitely racist whether Jim Robinson cares to acknowledge it or not.
Anyway, Keith if you are reading I have a candidate for your Worst Person: Jim Robinson, owner, Freerepublic, aka America's one-stop shopping expo for ignorance and racism.