[Ads-l] Slight Antedating of "White Trash"

[Shapiro, Fred]

In 2014 Bonnie Taylor-Blake posted a remarkable antedating of "white trash," which now stands as the OED's earliest citation.  I have now found a slightly earlier printing of the same occurrence.  I am posting the earlier citation.  I want to emphasize that this anecdote strongly supports the suggestion by OED and others that the term "white trash" was originated by African-Americans.

white trash (OED 23 June 1821)

1821 Harrisburg Chronicle 28 May 2/4 (Newspapers.com)

An incident that happened in Harrisburg a few days ago, viz. — a black man had been advertised in some of the newspapers and was taken up as a runaway from Maryland ... a considerable number of people of colour, both male and female, assembled, who generally seemed reluctant to part with him their associate and friend ... I happened in the vicinity of one who spoke the English language tolerably well, she was at no loss for words, nor sparing in throwing out her aspersive epithets.  She had gone a certain distance with the man who was forced away, and on her return accompanied by her son, who stopped almost opposite where I stood, to talk with a white boy nearly his own size.  She, the mother, on missing him, turned round, and observing how ill he was paired, like a fury vociferated, with a curse upon her son, "why do you lag behind?  Come along, and do not stand there spending your precious time, in company too, and conversing with WHITE TRASH."  On hearing the phrase WHITE TRASH, as it was altogether new to me, when taken in her sense, I seemed as if bitten by a tarantula or stung by a gallinipper. ... this lady of colour had as good a right and it was as natural for her to say WHITE TRASH, as it would be for myself or any other of my colour to say BLACK TRASH.  LIBERTY AND EQUALITY.

Fred Shapiro








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