In an opinion piece at the New York Post, author Charlotte Hays laments the apparent rise and glorification of so-called "white trash" behavior in popular culture, particularly on television shows like Here Comes Honey Boo Boo.
Asking if the depictions are the new normal, the author of the newly released, When Did White Trash Become the New Normal? A Southern Lady Asks the Impertinent Question, calls for its rejection. She implores Americans to return to manners, aspiration and responsibility.
"White Trash is the new normal — and you don’t have to tune in to reality TV to rub elbows with pathologies that once stayed put in Skunk Hollow," she writes. "White Trash Normal has invaded every nook and cranny of life, from table manners, to dress, to money management."
Part of the problem, she writes, is that "We modern philistines tell ourselves that rejecting the customs and conventions of a stuffy, old elite will release creativity and bring about a renaissance. Nothing could be further from the truth."
Read more at the New York Post.