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Does the term redneck refer to a culture or race?

What does redneck refer to


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Correction.

Any southern whites. At least coming from people even so close as this very forum who generalize the entire south (not just the poor) as rednecks.

Well, then those folks are using the term incorrectly. It is a slur towards poor southern whites.
 
Since this topic started over a comment I made, I think you also should know that I got the phrase "red neckitude" from an episode of King of Hill where Dale builds a 39 ft tower, since 40ft would violate zoning laws, which later collapses into Kahn's front yard where he then calls a cop to arrest Dale for "reckless red neckitude."
 
It derives literally from someone who works in the sun and therefore get sunburn on his neck while toiling outside. It has evolved to mean the laboring class which of course would include all races.

When the democrats make statements about rednecks they are in fact showing their disdain for the labor. I for one do not know how union members can tolerate being governed by people with such disdain for them.
 
Since we are talking about current usage, I know lots of rednecks who have never even been to the south. The rural areas in the north are full of them. I do like Foxworthy's defintion: A glorious lack of sophistication.

It's not a racist term. It's classist.

Is "asshole" a sexist term? I rarely hear women referred to as "assholes".
 
Since we are talking about current usage, I know lots of rednecks who have never even been to the south. The rural areas in the north are full of them. I do like Foxworthy's defintion: A glorious lack of sophistication.

It's not a racist term. It's classist.

Is "asshole" a sexist term? I rarely hear women referred to as "assholes".


I don't know; I know some women who think "*****" is a sexist term (when used as an invective), regardless of whether it's applied to a male or female.
 
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Growing up in the west as I did, the term Redneck didn't mean southern at all. It meant western rural -- ranchers, cowboys, farmers and the like. It wasn't really even a statement on class so much as it was state of mind.
 
Growing up in the west as I did, the term Redneck didn't mean southern at all. It meant western rural -- ranchers, cowboys, farmers and the like. It wasn't really even a statement on class so much as it was state of mind.

Gardener--I can so relate to that. The current (southern) "redneck" terminology didn't really come into play for me until Foxworthy made it his cash cow.

:2wave:
 
Growing up in the west as I did, the term Redneck didn't mean southern at all. It meant western rural -- ranchers, cowboys, farmers and the like. It wasn't really even a statement on class so much as it was state of mind.

Yeah, I grew up in Texas in the 80s, and never heard the term.
When I was growing up, country-bumpkin type folks were referred to as "hicks" or "kickers" (short for ****-kickers). There was one other popular term; I forget what it was now, but it wasn't "rednecks".
I think it started with an H, and was two syllables. It's right on the tip of my tongue.

Anyway, those were to describe ignorant country-folk, and I don't recall ever hearing a term, during my youth, to describe poor or working-class people in general.
"Trailer-trash" and "ghetto" both entered the popular lexicon in the mid-90s, long after I was already grown.

In my personal experience, I've found "redneck" to be a mostly self-applied, tongue-in-cheek label, which is worn with a modicum of pride by rural working-class Southern conservatives.
 
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http://www.law.umaryland.edu/marshall/usccr/documents/pressrel67.pdf

There's your proof.

Also this story makes me sad to be from Georgia, where they are still having segregated proms in this one county. Also in the story it states that the school wasn't integrated until 1971.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/magazine/24prom-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Damn if thats true thats pathetic and sad indeed. A total disgrace to what america is or atleast TRYING no to be.
 
I don't know; I know some women who think "*****" is a sexist term (when used as an invective), regardless of whether it's applied to a male or female.

I know people who think that "niggardly" is a racist term, but it isn't.
 
Damn if thats true thats pathetic and sad indeed. A total disgrace to what america is or atleast TRYING no to be.

We had two proms when I went to school. One for everybody and one for blacks.
 
Damn if thats true thats pathetic and sad indeed. A total disgrace to what america is or atleast TRYING no to be.

Yep it's true. Granted it mainly happens in very rural towns where they can go under the radar of most people. But it does become a story every now and then. I remember a few years back they integrated the prom at another school that had segregated proms, and some people got all angry about it, and basically everyone was amazed that people cared so much about them being seperate. It's amazing how progressive Atlanta is, and how ass backwards the country can be.
 
We had two proms when I went to school. One for everybody and one for blacks.

Not sure what you are saying here?
Did you have two proms one for "everybody" including blacks and one for blacks or one for everybody BUT blacks and one for blacks?
 
Yep it's true. Granted it mainly happens in very rural towns where they can go under the radar of most people. But it does become a story every now and then. I remember a few years back they integrated the prom at another school that had segregated proms, and some people got all angry about it, and basically everyone was amazed that people cared so much about them being seperate. It's amazing how progressive Atlanta is, and how ass backwards the country can be.

wow truly sad and it is shocking that a large enough group of people can be so dumb still
BUT this is also true in reverse and with just about every group out there, all groups have their extremist, but at this point its more shocking that people still want segregated proms, pathetic. Even more sad a school goes along with it.
 
Yep it's true. Granted it mainly happens in very rural towns where they can go under the radar of most people. But it does become a story every now and then. I remember a few years back they integrated the prom at another school that had segregated proms, and some people got all angry about it, and basically everyone was amazed that people cared so much about them being seperate. It's amazing how progressive Atlanta is, and how ass backwards the country can be.

I read an article in TIME back in the early 90s about a small town in Alabama or somewhere that canceled prom entirely because they had a rule (at their public high school) about mixed-race couples not attending, and students were refusing to follow the rule.
One student was taking the matter to court; she was biracial, and found it unfair that as the daughter of a white mother, she was considered "black" and was unable to attend with her white boyfriend.

This was not exactly going on "under the radar"; everybody in the town apparently knew about the no-race-mixing policy and approved of it. It was presented as a policy to prevent fights and disorderly conduct at a school function.
 
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Oh I realize this, but in the major cities and rural areas of the south it was done under gun point with federal troops in the 1950's. It didn't occur fully until the 1970's in the north. That was my entire point about making the south pay for leaving the Union, while ignoring the racist past of non-southern states. It ties in nicely on why redneck is perfectly acceptable as a bigoted remark while all others are off-limits.

You see no irony from your complaint and the fact that your avatar has a Confederate symbol in it, yet you call yourself The Patriot?

You have your interpretation of what the Confederate flag means and obviously don't care what others think. But you expect people to accept your definition of redneck as a racist term.

Why do YOU get to define everything for everyone? Why do we have to accept that your flag doesn't represent racism and treason and is anti-American and we also have to accept that "redneck" is a racist term. Where is it written that you get to define all social symbols for everyone?
 
Redneck originally referred to southern white farmers working in the sun, getting the back of their neck burned.

Now it has many connotations - white trash, trailer trash, unsophisticated southern whites, uneducated poor whites. It's both a class distinction--lower income whites mostly south and southwest, and a derogatory term for the south.

It's also associated (in an overgeneralized way) with bigotry.
 
Redneck originally referred to southern white farmers working in the sun, getting the back of their neck burned.

Now it has many connotations - white trash, trailer trash, unsophisticated southern whites, uneducated poor whites. It's both a class distinction--lower income whites mostly south and southwest, and a derogatory term for the south.

It's also associated (in an overgeneralized way) with bigotry.

I personally have never heard the term used- by anyone, of any race- to describe all whites of every social class.
I have heard the term "nigger" used to describe all blacks, though, from the President of the United States on down.

Ergo, i do not believe it's a racist term, but a classist one.
It's used to describe poor whites, uneducated whites, and sometimes southern whites (who are assumed, in this scenario, to be uniformly poor and uneducated).
 
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Since this topic started over a comment I made, I think you also should know that I got the phrase "red neckitude" from an episode of King of Hill where Dale builds a 39 ft tower, since 40ft would violate zoning laws, which later collapses into Kahn's front yard where he then calls a cop to arrest Dale for "reckless red neckitude."

From what I read you made the comment in jest, so I have no problem.

The reason I jumped on this is because a lot of people, generally, use the term as a way to snipe southern people in a bigoted way.

It's a thinly veiled attempt by, some people, to be intolerant of others based on factors outside of their control.
 
From what I read you made the comment in jest, so I have no problem.

The reason I jumped on this is because a lot of people, generally, use the term as a way to snipe southern people in a bigoted way.

It's a thinly veiled attempt by, some people, to be intolerant of others based on factors outside of their control.

I have no problem "being intolerant" of people who wave confederate flags around in my face.
The south has a recent history that it's hurtful to me to be reminded of. And I'm not even black.
Thank God, because if I were, I doubt I'd be able to contain my rage.
 
Yep it's true. Granted it mainly happens in very rural towns where they can go under the radar of most people. But it does become a story every now and then. I remember a few years back they integrated the prom at another school that had segregated proms, and some people got all angry about it, and basically everyone was amazed that people cared so much about them being seperate. It's amazing how progressive Atlanta is, and how ass backwards the country can be.

Except of course that doesn't happen often at all.
It is a rare exception.

Should I use time I was denied service at a restaurant in Atlanta as an example of the whole city being prejudiced against white people?
 
I have no problem "being intolerant" of people who wave confederate flags around in my face.
The south has a recent history that it's hurtful to me to be reminded of. And I'm not even black.
Thank God, because if I were, I doubt I'd be able to contain my rage.

So it's ok to make broad based insulting remarks because some people wave confederate flags?
Of course the majority of us "Rednecks" have never and will never use race as a way to discriminate against people and that the majority of us were never involved in violent segregation policies.

By all means though, if you can't let go of the past, it will show me that the truly ignorant hold a grudge against people who didn't do anything and they do it for decades.
 
Except of course that doesn't happen often at all.
It is a rare exception.

Should I use time I was denied service at a restaurant in Atlanta as an example of the whole city being prejudiced against white people?

All I can say is, if you're brown, I hope you never visit the all-white town of Vider, Texas. Especially not after dark.

There is plenty of systematic racial discrimination- and systematically condoned racial violence- going on in plenty of isolated pockets all over the south.
Less in the large cities, more in rural areas and small towns.
 
So it's ok to make broad based insulting remarks because some people wave confederate flags?
Of course the majority of us "Rednecks" have never and will never use race as a way to discriminate against people and that the majority of us were never involved in violent segregation policies.

By all means though, if you can't let go of the past, it will show me that the truly ignorant hold a grudge against people who didn't do anything and they do it for decades.

IMO people who wave the Confederate flag are no better than people who display the Nazi swastika in a place of honor.
 
From what I read you made the comment in jest, so I have no problem.

The reason I jumped on this is because a lot of people, generally, use the term as a way to snipe southern people in a bigoted way.

It's a thinly veiled attempt by, some people, to be intolerant of others based on factors outside of their control.

But "Southern" isn't a race. It's a geographically-based culture and is, in and of its self, multi-racial. So "redneck" can't be a racist term.

So, in a way, you've proven my point.
 
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