It’s fun to hate and look down on people we think deserve it and yes it was entertaining, but looking back after the turmoil we’ve been through – was it worth it?

About 10 years ago Top Gear had an episode that went viral, where they painted provocative (to Southerners) slogans on their cars and then got chased out of a filling station in the middle of trailer park nowhere by rock throwing country boys.

When I saw that as a newly-minted liberal, or progressive or whatever I was – I wasn’t sure what I was, only what I wasn’t – I was livid with rage. At Top Gear.

Not that I identified with the rock throwers. I knew what they were. I hate the term “white trash” that just reinforces their bitterness and keeps them hating, but let’s say poor ignorant white people. (I have my own problems with the word white, but I’ll save that for later.)

I hated those types when I was a kid. Guys who lived up to the stereotype, who would throw down at the drop of a hat, drink their futures away, mistreat their wives and kids, blame others for their self-sabotage. But at least I respected them enough to know they could be dangerous.

The guys in Top Gear were joking about trying to get each other killed. And then were surprised that it almost happened. If you lived down here you would know that absolutely could get you killed.

What did they expect? Humiliating people like that on their home turf is insane, even if you think they deserve it. Deep down they may agree they deserve it. Which makes them even more dangerous.

If you’re not going to try and improve their lot, LEAVE THEM ALONE.

I’ve expressed that sentiment before to my liberal friends and they never seem to get it. One friend’s response was “fuck ’em.” I don’t know what to say at that point. But if that’s the attitude our society is going to have, don’t expect anything to change for the better.

People who do understand those people are dangerous – and like it – will swoop in and use them for their own purposes. Condescending and humiliating media portrayals of poor white Southerners like that Top Gear episode helped get us where we are today.