I'm starting to be even more convinced in my head that they are. Because bogan isn't really a class thing. At least, not in Australia. There's bogans everywhere in all class levels. And it's definitely not gender related. But to lay out where I think it ties in with race:
1) It's inherited. Sure, you can come from a bogan background and then assimilate the values of the dominant culture, and go on your way, and it may be easier than some more typical racial groups, but you can pass as white too. I'd say there's a definite community of bogans who marry each other and raise little bogans. I get the feeling it's even more pronounced in the US and the UK with "white trash" and the white housing estate groupings respectively 2) They suffer social stigma as a result of their "bogan-ness" 3) They have their own language. (Or, at least, there are distinctly bogan phrases and accents). 4) They have distinct artworks (this is mostly UK though) as well as distinct forms and representations in literature and film. 5) There are internal class differences. A rich bogan drives a brand new v12, and a poor one drives a 1970s Kingswood. 6) There are distinct ways in which it interfaces with gender and sexuality. A gay bogan, for instance, has sex with blokey men. 7) They have distinct social traditions (utes, B&Bs, etc.) 8) The have websites. No, really.
They're not black in that some/most of them don't have dark skin. But skin colour is irrelevant to race discussions really, because "blackness" and "whiteness" are usually just terms that describe power roles, rather than specifying who occupies them (to be "white" for instance isn't really to have white skin, it's to have the right kinds of backgrounds and attitudes). And bogans occupy the right sorts of social positions, with the right kind of power disjunctions and other cultural expectations.
no subject
1) It's inherited. Sure, you can come from a bogan background and then assimilate the values of the dominant culture, and go on your way, and it may be easier than some more typical racial groups, but you can pass as white too. I'd say there's a definite community of bogans who marry each other and raise little bogans. I get the feeling it's even more pronounced in the US and the UK with "white trash" and the white housing estate groupings respectively
2) They suffer social stigma as a result of their "bogan-ness"
3) They have their own language. (Or, at least, there are distinctly bogan phrases and accents).
4) They have distinct artworks (this is mostly UK though) as well as distinct forms and representations in literature and film.
5) There are internal class differences. A rich bogan drives a brand new v12, and a poor one drives a 1970s Kingswood.
6) There are distinct ways in which it interfaces with gender and sexuality. A gay bogan, for instance, has sex with blokey men.
7) They have distinct social traditions (utes, B&Bs, etc.)
8) The have websites. No, really.
They're not black in that some/most of them don't have dark skin. But skin colour is irrelevant to race discussions really, because "blackness" and "whiteness" are usually just terms that describe power roles, rather than specifying who occupies them (to be "white" for instance isn't really to have white skin, it's to have the right kinds of backgrounds and attitudes). And bogans occupy the right sorts of social positions, with the right kind of power disjunctions and other cultural expectations.