By Neal Wooten
I watched the movie Hillbilly Elegy, and there’s a scene where the main character explains his family came from the hills of Kentucky. When he said they still visit his family there, another man said, “You’re probably thinking, ‘Who are all these rednecks?’” The main character was offended. And I was offended that he was offended. I tell people, “Where I’m from, we embrace that term.”
Sadly, there are a lot of derogatory terms to describe other groups of people. But what makes them derogatory is that these offensive terms were created by the crude people using them to degrade others. That’s not the case with “redneck.” We created that term.
“Redneck” came about in the late 1800s to characterize farmers, or any blue-collar worker who worked outside, because sunburn made their necks red. By the early 1900s, it continued to be a term of honor depicting hardworking men of the South. The same group was also known as “Wool Hat Boys” for their contradiction and opposition to rich men. Politicians even called upon rednecks to rally support for their causes.
Between 1912 and 1936, coal miners of the Appalachia region even went as far as to wear red bandanas around their necks to not only proudly display their redneck heritage but so they could include every ethnicity as well because being a redneck is about a way of life.
Unfortunately, a lot of people today have their own ideology about the term. Even the first definition of “redneck” on dictionary.com is: “An uneducated white farm laborer from the South.” But history shows that it was not about race, and being educated or not had nothing to do with it. I know a lot of very educated farmers, and I would’ve matched my dad up against Stephen Hawking any day when it came to math.
Their second definition is worse: “A bigot or reactionary.” What? Sure, you will find bigots and reactionaries in that group, but you will find them in every group. That’s like saying the definition of a person is a minor under the age of twelve. Not accurate. In other words, all kids are people, but not all people are kids.
I don’t think you can get more redneck than I. My neck literary stays beet-red. And I consider myself to be very educated and extremely intelligent. (And yes, somewhat egotistical.) Plus, I’m confident that I don’t have a bigoted bone in my body.
The bottom line is, it’s our word, created by our forefathers, and you can’t decide what you want it to mean. We decided long ago and have never altered it. That’s why I’m proud to be a redneck.
