dirty whitie (tightie) trash

i can't say i like the term 'dirty white trash'. i don't. for those of you who don't know the term, it's a slang used to describe people who are generally white, who are generally poor, who might generally live in trailer parks and who are generally seen on talk shows like jerry springer.

i can't say I like the term. I don't like labels like this, they degrade and marginalize a group of people for nothing other than the way they live - in other words for their culture and their context. it's weird though. why do some people actually identify themselves as white trash. they build websites. they proclaim it on live television. they flaunt it. i don't know why.

this picture. now this is over the line. dirty whitie tightie trash. i was walking down broadway in denver and came across this action. talk about a label. i started laughing at the darkness, the shadows, the fly doing what flies do on dirty underwear lying in the middle of a sidewalk.

seriously though, respect for each other means labels have no real place for us. labels may define a culture or a context for making explanation more simple, but have no place for the degradation of human life. cultures are labeled all the time. asian, american, european, african. south american. inuit. yet when these labels begin to define the people themselves, we lose the essence of the culture. to say "all people born in the united states are arrogant" is a label based on a culture that simply isn't true. to say "all people born into the middle eastern culture are terrorists" simply isn't true. these labels are used more as an excuse to oppress people than to lift them up. that's not to say descriptions of culture and context are wrong.

in fact, culture and context are probably the two of the most important labels outside of the Gospel itself. i can understand that in the midst of culture or context one may project labels without even knowing it. (e.g. you are conservative, you are liberal, etc...) it seems to me though, labels should only be used for making truth statements. you either are or you aren't. you are white or you an american or you are five foot ten. you are a follower of christ or you aren't. even the label 'christian' has been distorted and confused over time.

anyway - the point, though very random, which all started from seeing some underwear on the street - is that context and culture are of vital importance no doubt, but it MUST be preceeded by the Gospel itself. culture, context, relevance - they are nothing unless first the Kingdom. labels that degrade, harm and oppress serve no one. i hope you agree.