white trash 的词源

1824年，最初在南方的非裔美国人方言中使用。

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

奴隶们对白人仆人抱有极高的蔑视，他们称这些人为“可怜的白人垃圾”。[范妮·肯布尔，日记，1833年1月6日]

[T]he term [poor white] is rather loosely applied by Northern writers even to mountaineers and to small farmers who live on a precarious footing. But in the Southern conception, not everyone who is both poor and white is a "poor white." To the Southerner, the "poor white" in the strictest sense is a being beyond the pale of even the most generous democratic recognition; in the negro's term, "po' white trash," or so much social débris. [Robert Penn Warren, "The Briar Patch," 1930, footnote]

[可怜的白人]这个词在北方作家中使用得相当宽泛，甚至包括那些生活在艰难境地的山区人和小农。但在南方人的理解中，并不是所有贫穷和白人结合在一起的人都算是“可怜的白人”。在南方人的眼中，“可怜的白人”在最严格的意义上是一个连最宽容的民主认可都无法接受的存在；在黑人看来，就是“可怜的白人垃圾”，或是一些社会的残余。[罗伯特·彭·沃伦，《荆棘丛》，1930年，脚注]