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''Redneck'' is a derogatory term chiefly, but not exclusively, applied to white Americans perceived to be crass and unsophisticated, closely associated with rural whites of the
Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...
.Harold Wentworth, and Stuart Berg Flexner, ''Dictionary of American Slang'' (1975) p. 424. Its meaning possibly stems from the sunburn found on farmers' necks dating back to the late 19th century. Its modern usage is similar in meaning to ''
cracker Cracker, crackers or The Crackers may refer to: Animals * ''Hamadryas'' (butterfly), or crackers, a genus of brush-footed butterflies * '' Sparodon'', a monotypic genus whose species is sometimes known as "Cracker" Arts and entertainment Films ...
'' (especially regarding Texas, Georgia, and Florida), '' hillbilly'' (especially regarding Appalachia and the Ozarks), and '' white trash'' (but without the last term's suggestions of immorality). In Britain, the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' definition states: "A poor, white person without education, esp. one living in the countryside in the southern US, who is believed to have prejudiced ideas and beliefs. This word is usually considered offensive." People from the white South sometimes jocularly call themselves "rednecks" as insider humor. By the 1970s, the term had become offensive slang, its meaning expanded to include racism, loutishness, and opposition to modern ways. Patrick Huber, in his monograph ''A Short History of Redneck: The Fashioning of a Southern White Masculine Identity'', emphasized the theme of masculinity in the 20th-century expansion of the term, noting, "The redneck has been stereotyped in the media and popular culture as a poor, dirty, uneducated, and racist Southern white man."


19th and early 20th centuries


Political term for poor farmers

The term originally characterized farmers that had a ''red neck'', caused by sunburn from long hours working in the fields. A citation from provides a definition as "poorer inhabitants of the rural districts ... men who work in the field, as a matter of course, generally have their skin stained red and burnt by the sun, and especially is this true of the back of their necks".Frederic Gomes Cassidy & Joan Houston Hall, ''Dictionary of American Regional English VOL.IV'' (2002) p. 531. Hats were usually worn and they protected that wearer's head from the sun, but also provided psychological protection by shading the face from close scrutiny. The back of the neck however was more exposed to the sun and allowed closer scrutiny about the person's background in the same way callused working hands could not be easily covered. By 1900, "rednecks" was in common use to designate the political factions inside the Democratic Party comprising poor white farmers in the South. The same group was also often called the "wool hat boys" (for they opposed the rich men, who wore expensive silk hats). A newspaper notice in Mississippi in August 1891 called on rednecks to rally at the polls at the upcoming primary election: By , the political supporters of the
Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...
Democratic Party politician
James K. Vardaman James Kimble Vardaman (July 26, 1861 – June 25, 1930) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Mississippi and was the Governor of Mississippi from 1904 to 1908. A Democrat, Vardaman was elected in 1912 to the United States Senate i ...
—chiefly poor white farmers—began to describe themselves proudly as "rednecks", even to the point of wearing red neckerchiefs to political rallies and picnics. Linguist Sterling Eisiminger, based on the testimony of informants from the Southern United States, speculated that the prevalence of pellagra in the region during 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 ...
may have contributed to the rise in popularity of the term; red, inflamed skin is one of the first symptoms of that disorder to appear.


Coal miners

The term "redneck" in the early 20th century was occasionally used in reference to American coal miner union members who wore red bandanas for solidarity. The sense of "a union man" dates at least to the 1910s and was especially popular during the 1920s and 1930s in the coal-producing regions of West Virginia, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania. It was also used by union strikers to describe poor white
strikebreakers A strikebreaker (sometimes called a scab, blackleg, or knobstick) is a person who works despite a strike. Strikebreakers are usually individuals who were not employed by the company before the trade union dispute but hired after or during the str ...
.


Late 20th and early 21st centuries

Writers Edward Abbey and Dave Foreman also use "redneck" as a political call to mobilize poor rural white Southerners. "In Defense of the Redneck" was a popular essay by Ed Abbey. One popular early Earth First! bumper sticker was "Rednecks for Wilderness". Murray Bookchin, an urban leftist and social ecologist, objected strongly to Earth First!'s use of the term as "at the very least, insensitive". However, many Southerners have proudly embraced the term as a self-identifier. Similarly to Earth First!'s use, the self-described "anti-racist, pro-gun, pro-labor" group Redneck Revolt have used the term to signal its roots in the rural white working-class and celebration of what member Max Neely described as "redneck culture".


As political epithet

According to Chapman and Kipfer in their "Dictionary of American Slang", by 1975 the term had expanded in meaning beyond the poor Southerner to refer to "a bigoted and conventional person, a loutish ultra-conservative". For example, in 1960 John Bartlow Martin expressed Senator John F. Kennedy should not enter the Indiana Democratic presidential primary because the state was "redneck conservative country". Indiana, he told Kennedy, was a state "suspicious of foreign entanglements, conservative in fiscal policy, and with a strong overlay of Southern segregationist sentiment". Writer
William Safire William Lewis Safire (; Safir; December 17, 1929 – September 27, 2009Safire, William (1986). ''Take My Word for It: More on Language.'' Times Books. . p. 185.) was an American author, columnist, journalist, and presidential speechwriter. He ...
observes it is often used to attack white Southern conservatives, and more broadly to degrade working class and rural whites that are perceived by urban progressives to be insufficiently progressive. At the same time, some white Southerners have reclaimed the word, using it with pride and defiance as a self-identifier.


In popular culture

* Johnny Russell was nominated for a
Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pr ...
in for his recording of " Rednecks, White Socks and Blue Ribbon Beer", parlaying the "common touch" into financial and critical success. *Further songs referencing rednecks include " Longhaired Redneck" by David Allan Coe, " Rednecks" by Randy Newman, " Redneck Friend" by Jackson Browne, " Redneck Woman" by
Gretchen Wilson Gretchen Frances Wilson (born June 26, 1973) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She made her debut in March 2004 with the Grammy Award-winning single " Redneck Woman", a number-one hit on the '' Billboard'' country charts. The ...
, " Redneck Yacht Club" by Craig Morgan, " Redneck" by
Lamb of God Lamb of God ( el, Ἀμνὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ, Amnòs toû Theoû; la, Agnus Dei, ) is a title for Jesus that appears in the Gospel of John. It appears at John 1:29, where John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims, "Behold the Lamb of God wh ...
, " Redneck Crazy" by Tyler Farr, " Red Neckin' Love Makin' Night" by Conway Twitty, "Up Against The Wall Redneck Mother" by Jerry Jeff Walker, and " Your Redneck Past" by
Ben Folds Five Ben Folds Five is an American alternative rock trio formed in 1993 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The group comprises Ben Folds (lead vocals, piano), Robert Sledge ( bass guitar, backing vocals) and Darren Jessee (drums, backing vocals). The gr ...
. *'
Picture to Burn "Picture to Burn" is a song by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, taken from her self-titled debut studio album (2006). Swift and Liz Rose wrote the track, which was produced by Nathan Chapman. The song was released as the album's four ...
' by
Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bo ...
is another successful country song using the word 'redneck', this time in a negative way, where the narrator calls her ex-boyfriend a 'redneck heartbreak'. * Frank Zappa's song "Lonesome Cowboy Bert" which appeared on the soundtrack of "
200 Motels ''200 Motels'' is a 1971 surrealist musical film written and directed by Frank Zappa and Tony Palmer, and featuring music by Zappa. An international co-production of United States and the United Kingdom, the film stars the Mothers of Invention, T ...
" performed by The Mothers used the term. *Comedian Jeff Foxworthy's comedy album '' You Might Be a Redneck If...'' cajoled listeners to evaluate their own behavior in the context of stereotypical redneck behavior. *Redneck is mentioned several times on Texas-based animated sitcom '' King of the Hill'' by
Hank Hill Hank Rutherford HillSeason Five, Episode Ten: Yankee Hankie (at time 04:42 of 22:30) Birth Certificate has his name listed as Hank Rutherford Hill (born April 15, 1953) is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Fox animated tel ...
's antagonistic neighbor Kahn.


Outside the United States


Historical Scottish Covenanter usage

In Scotland in the 1640s, the Covenanters rejected rule by bishops, often signing manifestos using their own blood. Some wore red cloth around their neck to signify their position, and were called rednecks by the Scottish ruling class to denote that they were the rebels in what came to be known as The Bishop's War that preceded the rise of
Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three Ki ...
. Fischer, David Hackett. (1989) '' Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America''. New York:
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print book ...
.
redneck (1989); ''Oxford English Dictionary'' second edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Eventually, the term began to mean simply "
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their n ...
", especially in communities along the Scottish border. Because of the large number of Scottish immigrants in the pre-revolutionary American South, some historians have suggested that this may be the origin of the term in the United States. Dictionaries document the earliest American citation of the term's use for Presbyterians in , as "a name bestowed upon the Presbyterians of Fayetteville (North Carolina)".


South Africa

The exact
Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gr ...
equivalent, , is used as a disparaging term for English people and South Africans of English descent, in reference to their supposed naïveté as later arrivals in the region in failing to protect themselves from the sun.


See also

*
Florida cracker Florida crackers were colonial-era British and American pioneer settlers in what is now the U.S. state of Florida; the term is also applied to their descendants, to the present day, and their subculture among white Southerners. The first crac ...
* Georgia cracker * Old Stock Americans * Stereotypes of white Americans * Culture of the Southern United States * Country (identity) *
List of ethnic slurs The following is a list of ethnic slurs or ethnophaulisms or ethnic epithets that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnicity or racial group or to refer to them in a derogatory, pejorative, or ...
*
Class discrimination Class discrimination, also known as classism, is prejudice or discrimination on the basis of social class. It includes individual attitudes, behaviors, systems of policies and practices that are set up to benefit the upper class at the expense of ...
* Bogan, Australian term * '' Plain Folk of the Old South'' * Redlegs – poor whites that live on
Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estima ...
and a few other Caribbean islands * Yokel * White trash


References


Further reading

* Abbey, Edward. "In Defense of the Redneck", from ''Abbey's Road: Take the Other''. (E. P. Dutton, 1979) * Ferrence, Matthew, "You Are and You Ain't: Story and Literature as Redneck Resistance", ''Journal of Appalachian Studies'', 18 (2012), 113–30. * Goad, Jim. ''The Redneck Manifesto: How Hillbillies, Hicks, and White Trash Became America's Scapegoats'' (
Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publi ...
, 1997). * Harkins, Anthony. ''Hillbilly: A cultural history of an American icon'' (2003). * Huber, Patrick. "A short history of Redneck: The fashioning of a southern white masculine identity." ''Southern Cultures'' 1#2 (1995): 145–166
online
* Jarosz, Lucy, and Victoria Lawson. "'Sophisticated people versus rednecks': Economic restructuring and class difference in America's West." ''Antipode'' 34#1 (2002): 8-27. * Shirley, Carla D. "'You might be a redneck if ... ' Boundary Work among Rural, Southern Whites." ''Social forces'' 89#1 (2010): 35–61
in JSTOR
* West, Stephen A. ''From Yeoman to Redneck in the South Carolina Upcountry, 1850–1915'' (2008) * Weston, Ruth D. "The Redneck Hero in the Postmodern World", ''South Carolina Review'', (Spring 1993) * Wilson, Charles R. and William Ferris, eds. ''Encyclopedia of Southern Culture'', (1989) * Wray, Matt. ''Not Quite White: White Trash and the Boundaries of Whiteness'' (2006)


External links

*
Poor Whites — The Georgia Encyclopedia
(history) {{Authority control American regional nicknames American slang English words Pejorative terms for white people European-American culture in Appalachia History of subcultures Rural culture in the United States Slang of the Southern United States Stereotypes of rural people Stereotypes of the working class Stereotypes of white Americans Working-class culture in the United States Socioeconomic stereotypes