Talk:Redneck/Archive 1

message: Since Wikipedia is not a dictionary, why shouldn't I simply delete this article?  Is there anything interesting whatsoever that can be said about rednecks for an encyclopedia, or are we limited to what would be contained in a dictionary of slang? --Larry Sanger
you shouldn't delete this article because i came to this encyclopaedia specifically
to find out the historical origins of the word 'redneck' - please tell me what
dictionary, other than the FULL edition of the OED, would contain this information?
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You should not delete it because it's fixed now.
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I agree! --LS
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..added more specific Navy Jack flag and hyperlink since this is the flag that is commonly displayed in the south as the 'Rebel Flag' (adds a bit more history/flavor for this article) --Drakcap 04:27, 2 May 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Old talk

message: In the northern US, I've heard redneck used to refer to poor whites, not necessarily rural, who have a sunburned neck from working outdoors (for example, construction workers).  In fact, before Jeff Foxworthy, I don't remember hearing the term used to refer to southerners or rural people ("hick" being the more commonly used epithet for the latter).  How widespread is this usage?  Is anyone else familiar with it? CyborgTosser 07:00, 23 Sep 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: There are plenty of rednecks in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Indiana.  It's not just a regional thing.  It's a cultural thing.  There's a reason Larry the Cable Guy sells out stadiums nowhere near Georgia. Dubc0724 21:43, 2 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: in the northern US

message: "red necks" of 1921 coal mining unionization efforts in W.Va.
In a book published in 1969, Howard B. Lee, former Attorney General of West Virginia (1925-1933), states that the men who were part of an organized effort to unionize the West Virginia coalfields in 1921 were called "Red Necks" because the men wore red hankerchiefs around their necks.  The organizers wore the red hankerschiefs as a way to tell friend from foe.  Lee goes on to say a local lawyer told him that during the era those union organizers jailed were indentified on the jailhouse roll via the initials "R.N." being placed beside their names, as an abbreviation for "Red Neck."
In response to CyborgTosser's question...
The use of term to identify "good ol' boys" dates back before the era of Jeff Foxworthy.  During the early 1970's, while attending college in West Virginia, the term redneck was used by practically every student at the college I attended. For example: a bar identified as being a "redneck bar"
meant that drinking establishment wasn't a "safe place" for blacks or other minorities, or for white male students with "long hair", to enter.
--Wva-usa 16:06, 24 Oct 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Coal miners

message: Redneck, because it can be negative (not always, though) and refers to skin color and discoloration, mostly due to economic status (working outside, originally), is a term that must be classified as racist - a racist epithet. Users of the term, both negative and positive each may have reasons to delete this fact so they can continue to use the term freely, but their opinions that redneck does not refer to race and skin color are NPOV, and not fact - besides, nothing prevents them from using the term if they wish, but by definition, it is a racist term.
*see below
Gringo300 04:50, 17 October 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: redneck in popular culture is generally racist. So yes, why there is no mention of this is interesting. Given that only white people can have a "red neck", which is where the slur caem from, it is pretty obviously de facto racist.68.187.117.71 09:21, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: [[Redneck is Racist Epithet]]

message: Arguably, the term redneck is CLASSIST as much or MORE so than it is racist. The people who are described as rednecks are disproportionately poor. Historically, the word was used disproportionately by the rich.
The rich tended to be lighter skinned because they didn't have to work out in the sun (or work PERIOD!).
The poor had to work out in the sun, and thus had darker skin- suntans and sunburns, including on the neck, thus REDNECKS.
Gringo300 10:51, 23 Jun 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: arguably, classist, too