Honky (also spelled honkey) is a racial slur used to refer to white people, predominantly heard in the United States. The first recorded use of "honky" in this context may date back to 1946, although the use of " honky-tonk" occurred in films well before that time.

Etymology

The exact origins of the word are generally unknown and postulations about the subject vary.

Hungarian

Honky may be a variant of '' hunky'', which was a derivative of '' Bohunk'', a slur for various Slavic and Hungarian immigrants who moved to America from the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

in the early 1900s.

Wolof

Honky may also derive from the term "xonq nopp" which, in the West African language Wolof, literally means "red-eared person". The term may have originated with Wolof-speaking people brought to the U.S. It has been used by

Black Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

as a pejorative for white people.

Other

Honky may have come from coal miners in Oak Hill, West Virginia. The miners were segregated; Blacks in one section, English-speaking whites in another. Foreigners who could not speak English, mostly whites, were separated from both groups into an area known as "Hunk Hill". These male laborers were known as "Hunkies". The term may have begun in the meat packing plants of Chicago. According to Robert Hendrickson, author of the ''Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins'', Black workers in Chicago meatpacking plants picked up the term from white workers and began applying it indiscriminately to all whites.

Notable uses

''Honky'' was adopted as a pejorative in 1967 by black militants within

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC, often pronounced ) was the principal channel of student commitment in the United States to the civil rights movement during the 1960s. Emerging in 1960 from the student-led sit-ins at segrega ...

(SNCC) seeking a rebuttal for the term '' nigger''. The Department of Defense stated in 1967 that National Chairman of the SNCC,

H. Rap Brown Jamil Abdullah al-Amin (born Hubert Gerold Brown; October 4, 1943), formerly known as H. Rap Brown, is a civil rights activist, black separatist, and convicted murderer who was the fifth chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee ...

, told a Black audience in Cambridge that "You should burn that school down and then go take over the honkie's school" on June 24, 1967. Brown went on to say: " America don't come 'round, we got to burn it down. You better get some guns, brother. The only thing the honky respects is a gun. You give me a gun and tell me to shoot my enemy, I might shoot Lady Bird." ''Honky'' has occasionally been used even for white allies of African Americans, as seen in the 1968 trial of

Black Panther Party The Black Panther Party (BPP), originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense, was a Marxist-Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, Califo ...

member Huey Newton, when fellow Panther Eldridge Cleaver created pins for Newton's white supporters stating "Honkies for Huey". "Father of the Blues" W. C. Handy wrote of "Negroes and hunkies" in his autobiography.

Use in music

In the 2012 rap song " Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ft. Wanz, "Damn, that's a cold ass honkey!" is used in reference to Macklemore and his secondhand clothes.

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

, who is also a white American rapper, uses the line "He looked at me and said, 'You gonna die, honkey!'" in 1999's "

Brain Damage Neurotrauma, brain damage or brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating t ...

." " Play That Funky Music," a 1976

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

hit by Wild Cherry about a rock band adapting to the rise of disco, substitutes "honky" for "white boy" in the final chorus of the uncensored version. The British band Hot Chocolate used "honky" and "spook" in their controversial 1973 hit single " Brother Louie" about an interracial relationship as the terms chosen by the respective fathers to slur their child's newfound lover. Other uses of "honky" in music include " Honky Tonk Women" a 1969 song by the Rolling Stones, ''Honky'' (an album by

Melvins Melvins (sometimes The Melvins) are an American rock band formed in 1983 in Montesano, Washington. Their early work was key to the development of both grunge and sludge metal. Initially, they performed as a trio but later also sometimes appeare ...

), '' Honky Reduction'' (an album by Agoraphobic Nosebleed), MC Honky ( DJ stage persona), '' Honky Château'' (an album by

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

, the first track on which is " Honky Cat"), '' Talkin' Honky Blues'' (an album by Buck 65), and ''Honky'' (an album by

Keith Emerson Keith Noel Emerson (2 November 1944 – 11 March 2016) was an English keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He played keyboards in a number of bands before finding his first commercial success with the Nice in the late 1960s. He became ...

). '' Honky's Ladder'' is a 1996 EP by The Afghan Whigs. The Chicago style of polka music is also known as honky polka. The etymological connection remains unclear, but the word " honky-tonk" occurs often in country music, referring since the late 19th century to working-class nightclubs where country music is played. In 2022 Hank Williams Jr. released a blues album Rich White Honky Blues.

Use in television and film

In film, there were some movies using "honky" without any derogatory connotation. '' Honky Tonk'' is a

1929 This year marked the end of a period known in American history as the Roaring Twenties after the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ushered in a worldwide Great Depression. In the Americas, an agreement was brokered to end the Cristero War, a Catholic ...

American

musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwoven into the narrative, sometimes accompanied by dancing. The songs usually advance the plot or develop the film's characters, but in some cases, they serve merely as breaks ...

starring

Sophie Tucker Sophie Tucker (born Sofia Kalish; January 13, 1886 – February 9, 1966) was an American singer, comedian, actress, and radio personality. Known for her powerful delivery of comical and risqué songs, she was one of the most popular entertaine ...

. And '' Honky Tonk'' is also a

1941 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January–August – 10,072 men, women and children with mental and physical disabilities are asphyxiated with carbon monoxide in a gas chamber, at Hadamar Eu ...

black-and-white Western film starring Clark Gable and Lana Turner. The phrase honky-tonk refers both to a particular type of rowdy country music played live at bars and to the type of bar in which such music is played. ''Honky'' is a 1971 movie based on an interracial relationship, starring

Brenda Sykes Brenda Sykes (born June 25, 1949) is an American actress who made a number of films and appeared in television series in the 1970s. She was discovered on ''The Dating Game''. Life and career Sykes was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, the daughte ...

as Sheila Smith and John Neilson as Wayne "Honky" Devine. ''Honky Tonk'' is also a 1974 Western film starring Richard Crenna and Margot Kidder. Additionally, ''

Honkytonk Man ''Honkytonk Man'' is a 1982 American comedy-drama musical western film set in the Great Depression. Clint Eastwood, who produced and directed, stars with his son, Kyle Eastwood. Clancy Carlile's screenplay is based on his 1980 novel of the same ...

'' is a 1982 drama film set in the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

Clint Eastwood Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the "Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "''Doll ...

, who produced and directed the film, stars in the film with his son, Kyle Eastwood. In a sketch on '' Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''), Chevy Chase and Richard Pryor used both ''nigger'' (Chase) and ''honky'' (Pryor) in reference to one another during a "

racist Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

word association interview". During this period, Steve Martin (as musical guest and stand-up regular on ''SNL'') performed a rendition of " King Tut" which contained the word ''honky'' in its lyrics. On the TV series '' Barney Miller'', Season 5, Episode 8, "Loan Shark", Arthur Dietrich gives an etymology of the word "honky", claiming it was "coined by Blacks in the 1950s in reference to the nasal tone of Caucasians". On the TV series '' The Jeffersons'', George Jefferson regularly referred to a white person as a honky (or

whitey Whitey can refer to: People * Whitey Alperman (1879–1942), MLB player * Richie Ashburn (1927–1997), MLB player and broadcaster * Whitey Bimstein (1897–1969), boxer and boxing trainer * Whitey Bulger (1929–2018), crime boss of organized c ...

) as did

Redd Foxx John Elroy Sanford (December 9, 1922 – October 11, 1991), better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Foxx gained success with his raunchy nightclub act before and during the civil rights movement. ...

on ''

Sanford and Son ''Sanford and Son'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on the NBC television network from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977. It was based on the British sitcom ''Steptoe and Son'', which initially aired on BBC One in the United ...

''. This word would later be popularized in episodes of '' Mork & Mindy'' by Robin Williams and Jonathan Winters. These and other shows, as exemplified by the controversial '' All in the Family'', attempted to expose racism and prejudice as an issue in society using the subversive weapon of humor. However, the effect that this theme had on television created both negative and positive criticism and the use of anti-racist messages actually escalates the use of racial slurs. The presence of higher education may countermand this effect.

References

{{Ethnic slurs Pejorative terms for white people