I was previously unaware, but is the phrase "blue collar worker" actually a code for something else?

[elocs]

You know, like, "Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, know what I mean, know what I mean?" It makes me wonder about its connotation and implication, considering how it being used in Indiana.

I am a blue collar worker (my collar is actually "blue"), so I am curious.

[msongs]

1. despsite your hidden agenda, it just means not working in certain professions nt

[barb162]

26. How do you know there's a hidden agenda?

[napi21]

2. Far as I know, it dates back to the days when all executives and office workers

wore white shirts, and the guys in the factories wore blue shirts. I honestly never looked at it as a slam of any kind but a different group of people.

[Freedom Train]

3. No.

"Blue collar worker" means "blue collar worker".

[mrreowwr_kittty]

4. It shouldn't have a hidden meaning

But lately it seems to be code for "uneducated white racist".

[okasha]

18. As used by Obama supporters, yes.

n/t

[mrreowwr_kittty]

21. Whereas Clinton supporters use dog whistles, winks, and nudges

To signal to the racists.

[okasha]

30. You mean the kind of thing Obama used

to dredge in the homophobes in South Carolina with Donnie McClurkin and continues to use with his proposals for a "set of basic rights?"

Homobamaphobia's such a lovely thing. :sarcasm: But his adoring disciples give him a pass on it, every time.

[mrreowwr_kittty]

33. And you Hillbots always give your Queen a pass on her homophobes

Hillary's Donnie McClurkins

And no, Hillbot, it's not diiiiiifferent because they didn't perform at a concert or whatever other lame-ass excuses you guys always come up with for Her Majesty. A bigot is a bigot is a bigot, and if you allow known bigots to publicly support your campaign, in any capacity, you are enabling them.

So why do you give her a pass on this?

Furthermore, why didn't she come out with a public statement during the whole McClurkin fiasco? Surely, that would have been an excellent opportunity for Her Majesty to come out and prove her support for the community by denouncing McClurkin, dontcha think? Yet she was strangely silent. Wonder why....Could it be because of her own associations? Or could it be that she didn't want to risk being seen as too supportive to the LGBT community?

Where was Hillary's statement?

**Edit to add: How did you like it when Bill was running ads back in '96, touting his support for DOMA? How about when he advised John Kerry to support anti-gay initiatives in swing states? Why do you think Hillary will be any different?

[Avalux]

24. Explain?

My roots are blue collar and my dad is a brilliant man although not college educated. Please provide an example of Obama supporters using the term "blue collar worker" as a slur because I haven't done so and haven't seen it from others either.

[seabeyond]

5. i see it as respectfully as white collar, just identifying distinctions between two groups

i do not see it as a wink wink, nudge nudge and dont want to see it made as such in any pc manner. we need our blue collar workers and one of the hugest problems i see in this nation is the lack of respect and loss of the blue collar worker in our society, ... or their value where their pay has diminished.

[Evergreen Emerald]

6. its "Racist!" 11111 this is hugh

[True_Blue]

7. Unbelievable!

Lemme guess - you're an Obama supporter right? I can't stand much more of this unity Obama is bringing us.

[Honeycombe8]

8. To Pat Buchanan, it's codespeak for "white working class." And others like Buchanan.

To me, though, it is referring to laborers, people who make their living by working with their hands. To me, it is not just male ditchdiggers...it includes waitresses, hotel maids, construction workers, factory workers, etc.

Pat Buchanan seems to think these people are white. Whenever I pass construction crews on the street, though....or see the workers in hotels and restaurants....they seem to me to be mainly Af. American or hispanic, but also includes whites and Asians and other races/ethnicities.

But yes...to some whites (particularly white, middle aged or older men), this is codespeak for the white working class (read that as "white like us" is what they mean).

[elocs]

11. Yes, this was the connotation in which I heard "blue collar" referred to on a PBS talk show.

I only heard it for the first time last week. Sorry, no agenda, hidden or otherwise. I just wondered if I was out of the loop on something which many others understood as an implication as to what it means. I am very familiar as to its traditional meaning, but things often do not retain one simple meaning. No use in pretending otherwise.

[SoCalDem]

32. "blue collar"..."working class"..."values voter".."Reagan Democrat".."working poor"

all Clintonian/Buchanan/Dobbs/Blitzer/Rush/Hannity et al for "non-black/low-education level" voters..(the very groups that are LIKELY to contain anti-black/racist/bigoted blocs of voters..

It would not "do" to just come out and say "We need all you racist/KKK/immigrant-bashing folks to vote for US in the primaries..we don't care who you support in Nov..but come on down & vote for us just this once..m'kay"?

[ksoze]

9. Another Obama Uniter at work

you should nudge yourself into reality.

[saltpoint]

10. What is it you think it's a code for?

I've taken it to suggest folks whose work requires clothing more suited to factories, for example, rather than offices.

[elocs]

12. On a PBS talk show this last week I heard that "blue collar" was a code phrase for

"white working class". I had never heard that before and I wondered if I was one of the few who did not know it could be meant that way.

[saltpoint]

13. Maybe I'm off-target but I took it as an economic and class reference

to the sort of work one does, without suggestion of racial background.

[CrispyQ]

14. Salary vs hourly.

I think it used to be more of a class distinction. The salaried white collar workers, management types & educated workers, made significantly more than the blue collared workers. Then unions started negotiating things like overtime, shift differentials & holiday pay. My father-in-law never got over the fact that some of the men in the factory made as much as he did. Of course, they did physical labor in a dangerous environment & worked many more hours than he did, but he didn't factor that. I think it was a major irritant for many in manager/leadership positions.

Now we're starting to see some lower level management & office jobs going the way of the blue collar jobs -- outsourced. Eventually there will be two classes - the very rich few & the masses. The rich wallow in their excessive consumption, ignorant of what will happen to them when the masses are cold & hungry. There will not be walls tall enough or strong enough to keep them out.

I am amazed at how people continue to vote against their best interest. :crazy:

[jody]

15. Agree and workers in the service sector are not usually considered blue-collar workers. n/t

[whistle]

16. Explained here...

<snip>

Origin of Term Blue Collar Worker

The term blue-collar is derived from uniform dress codes of industrial workplaces. Industrial and manual workers wear durable clothing that can be soiled or scrapped at work. A popular element of such clothes has been, and still is, a light or navy blue work shirt. Blue is also a popular color for coveralls, and will frequently include a name tag of the company/establishment on one side, and the individual's name on the other. Often these items are bought by the company and laundered by the establishment as well.

The popularity of the color blue among persons who do manual labor is in contrast to the ubiquitous white dress shirt that, historically, has been standard attire in office environments. This obvious color-coding has been used to identify a difference in socio-economic class. This distinction is growing more blurred, however, with the increasing importance of skilled labor, and the growth of non-laboring, but low-paying, service sector jobs.

Blue-collar can also be used as an adjective to describe the environment of the blue-collar worker: for example, a blue-collar neighborhood, job, restaurant, bar; or, a situation describing the use of manual effort and the strength required to do so.<1>

<MORE>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-collar_worker

[PBS Poll-435]

17. As a blue-collar worker, You have

Far less hope and, by far, smaller dreams.

Hence - , under the bus...

[TheDudeAbides]

19. What is a blue collar democrat?

Sounds like you guys don't know many blue collar Democrats!
Let me tell you about the ones I know because they are a pretty unique group of people.

Many are highly educated; even graduate degrees.
They understand the pitfalls of capitalism.
They choose lifestyle, family, time and community service over money and the corporate lifestyle.
They are a happy group of people partly because they have chosen lifestyle over money.
They are frugal and manage their money carefully in order to have free time.
They are distrustful of people who cannot look them in the eye and answer their questions.
They are a curious bunch, and they have the time to carefully research subjects that are important to them.
You'll find them working in bike shops, as carpenters, building furniture, sanitation crews,
social workers, teachers, family businesses, etc.
They are egalitarians.
They are passionate about things (like books, sports, music, politics, etc) outside of their "jobs".
They don't like mean people.

[writes3000]

20. The OP is correct. Some MSM are using that term and not so subtly implying...

that "those people" are racist.

I'm not saying that they are racist but I do think the media is "wink-wink-nudge-nudging" this message.

[elocs]

22. Thank you. I was beginning to think I had misunderstood how it has been recently used. n/t

[barb162]

29. I think many commenters on TV and other media use it in a

derogatory way. It's really worse than annoying. I don't like it one bit. It's as if a person with a PhD is somehow better than a blue collar worker or that the blue collar worker's vote is somehow worth less than others.

[barb162]

28. Agreed. I don't like the term because I get the feeling

MSM and others use it in a derogatory way, as if blue collar workers are somehow not as bright as non- blue collar people, that they're racist, etc.

[Avalux]

23. Denotes those who wear a uniform to work, instead of a suit and tie.

My dad wore his blue uniform with his name on the left side to work every day; he was an electrician.

[TheDudeAbides]

25. No, according the MSM, it's an income bracket

[Avalux]

27. That kind of goes along with it.

Those without college educations typically don't make as much.

[BlueStateGirl]

31. I always thought it meant people who worked in factories, or

construction, or really any kind of physical labor. As opposed to those who work in offices and wear white collared shirts.

But inthis primary I have learned that if one is speaking about Barak Obama or his campaign, anything can be a racist code word.

[GetTheRightVote]

34. blue collar = not office worker/management types