Why do people think redneck is the same as being Southern? (how much, versus)

[wildberries61]

Originally Posted by domergurl

It doesn't help when you have folks like Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy doing their bits ...

Well they are redneck right!!

[wildberries61]

Probably the same reason they call Idahoians redneck!! People just like to label and half the time they are calling you something you are from being!!

[Ozarks21]

Originally Posted by Amavel

It's the same reason why if you live in NYC or LA you're labeled as a liberal.

There's no difference... except that being called a liberal doesn't directly discount your intelligence?

It certainly calls your good judgment into question. I would take offense.

[sprtsluvr8]

Originally Posted by vasinger

Im tired of people thinking that redneck and southern is the same thing it isnt. Southern is laid back and in many ways more genteel than the North. Southerners are taught to have proper manners, and be hospitable. Also, we speak slower and not through our noses like some do in the North. Rednecks are just a class of people. But when I tell people Im from Virginia, they start making "redneck" jokes. Why?

The best way to break a stereotype like 'southern = redneck' is to be certain that we don't FIT that stereotype. There will always be ignorance in every corner of the world regarding every issue known to man. Some people are just knowledge-challenged. But I like to think that when I meet people and they are aware I'm from N.C., they also notice that I'm not backwards, redneck, uneducated, etc...although I do drive a Dodge Ram, but I'm not into racing (sorry NASCAR fans) or 'rasslin' (not sorry wrestling fans) or hunting (no desire to kill anything). So far no one has ever approached me from that perspective, but I realize the stereotype still exists...as do many other stereotypes that target all kinds of groups. So we as southerners should be mindful of not offending any of those unmannerly, nasal-talking, liberal yankees...

The south definitely doesn't corner the market on rednecks or ignorance, just as northern states aren't unique in their rudeness. There are plenty of people born right here in Atlanta who could compete at the highest levels of rudeness. On the other hand, I've seen some rednecks while driving thru upstate New York that made Georgia rednecks look like school marms. The stereotypes just don't apply anymore, if they ever really did. So y'all quit it!

[vasinger]

Being a yankee myself, I know better than to think that Southern and redneck are one in the same.

In fact, I kind of had the impression of a more Aristocratic south. When I saw the movie Gone With The Wind, it left an impression on me.

Of course, I know Gone With The Wind was just a book and a movie, but lets face it, stereotypes are loosely based on facts. And while there are southern rednecks, there are plenty of people who fit the redneck discription up where I grew up, believe me !

I did meet many a Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara when I was in the South.

But the thing I didnt understand was why the Southerners I met were still fighting the Civil War. Where I live nobody even talked about it. The Revolution, maybe.

But I went to school in Virginia for 4 years, and you never forget it.

And Ive been to other parts of the South too, and its the same thing.

I just wonder why they cant get over the Civil War thing. It happened over 150 years ago.

[MoMark]

Originally Posted by Ms.Charlotte

The same reason Southerners stereotype Northerners. Ignorance.

I grew up in NJ and never really heard anyone mock Southerners. That is, until I went back to visit for Thanksgiving. All I heard from friends and family was fake Southern drawls and sentences starting with exaggerated "y'alls". It was very annoying.

"y'all" is the singular, and the plural form is "all y'alls"
I lived in southeast Virginia for one year and I definitely consider it southern.
I love Carolina accents though. They're sophisticated and charming.
There are some Southern accents I find disagreeable just like some Northeast accents I find disagreeable, but I won't mention them or where they are. It's not worth it. It's just a personal perception, taste.

My aunt from Galveston used to talk like this:
"Mercyyyyyyyyy!! C'mon in all y'aaaaaaaalllllls n' sit dOWWWWWn ere. Whatch all y'alls wanna drink now?...."
She was originally from North Dakota. I always had to stifle a powerful urge to slap her down.

[vasinger]

I think Virginia and Georgia accents are best.

But my least favorite are Alabama accents. And I mean of offense to anyone from Alabam.

Mississippi- on the other hand flows as smooth as molasses.

[Blue Grass Fever]

North Carolinas' accents are thicker than syrup. That's the dang truth too! Try to imagine someone talking with a sticky substance in his/her mouth and that is a North Carolinan for you.

On the subject as whether a redneck and a southern go hand in hand, no way! All one needs to do is travel to Michigan in some parts of the state and it'll entirely dismiss the notion.

I couldn't tell you why people think a redneck and a southern are one in the same. Mass media with a sprinkling of ignorance, maybe?

[Southlander]

Originally Posted by barbedwire

...But the thing I didnt understand was why the Southerners I met were still fighting the Civil War. Where I live nobody even talked about it. The Revolution, maybe. But I went to school in Virginia for 4 years, and you never forget it. And Ive been to other parts of the South too, and its the same thing. I just wonder why they cant get over the Civil War thing. It happened over 150 years ago.

Did your great-great grandfather fight in the Civil War? Other male relatives? Was your family burned out of their home during the war? Starve? Lose most of their possessions? Their livelihood? Even if they never owned a slave? Do you dig up minnie balls when you dig a hole for a shrub? Do you live less than an hour away from a major battlefield? Do people call you "redneck" and literally step away from you when you speak a few words? We are still acutely aware of the war because it took more than 130 years to recover from it. I suggest you go back and study U.S. history a bit more.

[Southlander]

Originally Posted by vasinger

I think Virginia and Georgia accents are best.

But my least favorite are Alabama accents. And I mean of offense to anyone from Alabam.

Mississippi- on the other hand flows as smooth as molasses.

OK...since you insist, offense taken .
Actually, each state has a variety of accents. (Not just the Southern states, any state). I suggest that you might find accents of south Alabama (known here as LA, as in "Lower Alabama" ) more agreeable. Those accents are a little more like New Orleans. Many of the people in the northern part of Alabama came here from Georgia and North Carolina, and more recently, from many other parts of the country and world.