Tophat and Beanie Whites

In Borealian society and politics, the terms Tophat Whites and Beanie Whites refer to a cultural divide in Ullelfrborg between right-wing ("Tophat") and left-wing ("Beanie") among ethnic Borealians in the plurality-Omenian city. The term derives from the 1982 Ullelfrborg riots during the late stage of the Years Outside the Fence, which occurred after Markús Cæsarsson, a young gay Borealian man wearing a Beanie, shot and then was shot by Gaddi Hugleiksson, a middle-aged Borealian man wearing a tophat, allegedly assaulted and intended to rape an ethnic Omenian woman; during the subsequent riots, large numbers of young Borealians wore beanies in solidarity with Cæsarsson and marched, rioted, and attacked conservative Borealians alongside Omenians, notable for being "a race riot in which races fought side by side," in the words of the Ullelfrborg Tribune, a notable occurence in a period marked by severe rioting, especially racial and communal rioting.

In subsequent decades, beanies and tophats, already associated with progressive and LGBTQ Borealian youth and the conservative upper-class in the 1970s would be widely adopted by Borealians throughout Ullelfrborg. Howecer, these coverings gradually and partly lost their antagonizing, militant character as the chaos of the Years Outside the Fence drew to a close. Necertheless, the term remains in use as markers of the two major, very different cultures of ethnic Borealians in Ullelfrborg; however, the dichotomy between the two social groups has declined in Ullelfrborg, alongside the political polariziation of the Years Outside the Fence and as large numbers of middle-class, politically moderate and liberal Borealian professionals have migrated to Ullelfrborg, rejecting the radical politics of either camp. These professionals have sometimes been called Scalp Whites in response, for their lack of either hair covering, but the term has not entered into popular usage in the way Beanie and Tophat Whites have.

Tophat Whites

In addition to their conservatism, Tophat Whites are usually stereotyped as long-time Ullelfrborg residents, their families having lived in the city for generations, mostly from before the city became majority-Omenian in the early twentieth century. Tophat Whites largely hail from the long-time Borealian upper-class, both the bourgeoisie and the ancient Borealian aristocracy, and residing in medieval upper-class neighborhoods in Lower Ullelfrborg, especially Capitol Hill, which, unlike the rest of the city, neither became majority-Omenian in the early twentieth century nor saw the White flight and substantial construction of social housing that majority-Omenian, largely working amd middle-class neighborhoods did. Tophat Whites are usually considered to be supporters of either the center-right Druidic People's Party or far-right People's Party.

Beanie Whites

By contrast, Beanie Whites are traditionally stereotyped as having been born and raised elsewhere in Ultima Borealia but having migrated to Ullelfrborg in their youth, attracted to the city by its thriving subcultures, arts and party scenes, social progressivism, and radical left-wing politics. The Beanie Whites are viewed as hailing from a variety of class backgrounds - though only occasionaly upper-middle class and rarely if ever upper-class - but as being downwardly mobile and belonging to the working-class or the poor. The Beanie Whites are also very heavily, though not exclusively, LGBTQ, and the perceived social progressivism and tolerance of Ullelfrborg as compared to the rest of the country was historically a major pull of the city to Beanie Whites, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. During this period, the Beanie Whites were largely young, and while this narrative frequently holds in popular conecptions of this demographic, this age skew is much less the case now, as the Beanie Whites from this generation are now middle-aged. Furthermore, many other stereotypes of Beanie Whites during the 1980s and 1990s—especially their low class status—are decreasingly the case now, as many Beanie Whites from this generation have now joined the professional class and the urban decay characterizing much of Ullelfrborg, especially Lower Ullelfrborg, during the Years Outside the Fence is no longer the case, thanks to the city's rapid growth and gentrification. Furthermore, while dring the 1980s Beanie Whites and ethnic Omenians, especially from working-class backgrounds, had a sense of strong solidarity, today that sense is significantly diminished, thanks both the the decline of communal tensions since the 1980s and critiques of Beanie Whites as first-wave gentrifiers. Nevertheless, the Beanie White label remains popular in Ullelfrborg, both by members and non-members of this group. Strongly associated with left-wing politics, especially radical, revolutionary politics, Beanie Whites are sometimes considered to be nonvoters or supporters of the Communist Party (which, despite its name and use of Marxist-Leninist symbolism, gradually transformed into a social-democratic party and largely ethnic Omenian and immigrant political machine, albeit a fairly left-wing one, over the course of the twentieth century), but are much more frequently depicted as supporters of the libertarian socialist and green Green Party.