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Redneck? The term came back in the late 60's when long hair became the trend. Those folk were called Hippies! The short haired, all American, Country lovin', God fearin' workin' man got his neck sunburnt workin' outside. He was not poor, lazy, fat or dirty. That's what we call trailer trash: ain't got nuthin' and don't want nuthin'! Rednecks are respectable. They're upstanding.They can shoot and hit the target (gun control), ain't afraid to fight (especially for family and Country), go to Church on Sunday (except opening weekend of deer season), And are just good ol' boys! Rednecks!!
I live in Bolivar, MO and I hear alot of people that do take pride in calling eachother redneck. I also do agree with alot of the posts saying that redneck is a good ol boy that loves to hunt, fish, help friends, and serve his country. I love to hunt, fish, etc. I have also served my country in the military and love it more dearly than any other country and would die for it. The funny thing is that I am half oriental and half "white" Now people around can't seem to get past that part and rarely find out that I am more "redneck" than most of the "white trash" that lives here in Bolivar. I meet too many individuals that would rather associate with Meth dealers that are "white" rather than to lower themselves with a half-breed like me but the white trash is sadly that way.
Are you saying that you are bothered by the fact that you are half Asian and cannot get yourself stereotyped as a redneck? Now that's funny. I went to school with a Korean girl who loved steroetypes - Asians are intelligent and hardworking as the stereotypes go. Could be worse for you.
What i'm saying is in response to what the other individuals are posting. Redneck is simply a term that has become abused and probably often confused with white KKK trash. I think that the more diversified the area becomes the more confederate white trash flags we see flying around trying to "mark their territory". People can say its about heritage and not hatred but c'mon, the war is long since over and really, what was the civil war fought over?!!? That's right.... slavery. Oh I wish I was in the land of cotton.... So guess what for white trash? MS13 (Latino gang), and based right here in Ozark, is moving up from the South and other diversified groups are coming in from the coasts. Thats right, gays from the west, liberals from the East and so on.. Sooooo, I would think that ol' time small towners better learn to share nice or they are going to find themselves living in a real sad reality.
I couldn't disagree with you more about the civil war and the Confederate Flag. Just because the universal symbol of Christianity, the cross, has been coopted by the KKK doesn't make the cross a symbol of hatred. The same holds true for the Confederate flag.
Slavery was one tree (granted, a large tree) among the greater forest of Constitutional issues leading to the Civil War. The South was correct on those broader issues and those who fought deserve to be honored.
MY MY MY! Ive been busy for a few days and I find some fun discussions going on that I been a missin! OK where to start? well first off, the person who said redneck was from working outside was right! that is indeed the origin of the term,the sunburn on the back of the neck... Second, Garth? saw the truck pic, I just might have to adopt you! I'm developin a rite fondness for ya! Third, as a former civil war re-enactor I can tell you that the Civil War was not fought over slavery! Search the records of any confederate state and you can see by the discussions in the state governments that is was well known that slavery was not going to be around much longer in this country. The writing was on the wall and the southern states knew it. The issue was whether or not they had the right to orchestrate the transition from slavery to free workers by themselves. The war was fought over States Rights. It was a disagreement whether the federal government could tell a state government what to do according to the constitution. Constitutional arguments are a topic for another thread as is the Civil War. There are many good books about the conflict if anyone wants to really find out what happened.
Yes I drive truck! I use it to pull my RV as well as several other trailers from 10 feet long to 55 feet long. I don't have the funds to own a fleet of cars for every purpose and I am sure that many others don't either. So they drive the truck! whether it is a trip for groceries or to pull a trailer that most city dwellers would never be able to handle! I would love to have a little two seater for me and the wife when we go out and about, and maybe a sedan when I want to take the dogs along or go out with friends but it is not practical. One good dependable vehicle that covers all needs is more practical.
Oh yeah, I consider myself to be a "redneck" and I have hair halfway down my back! And I am Proud of the term as it is rightly applied, meaning a person of the land who works outside and is not ashamed of it!
"If you drive a Dodge diesel 2500 4x4 to the grocery store...You just might be a redneck!"
Last edited by Indy4570; 03-20-2007 at 12:49 AM..
Reason: correction
mmmmmmmmmmm I guess I'm a redneck.
What a great discussion! As a girl growing up here in NE Indiana, my father worked 40 hours a week in a factory. When he wasn't working there we went out and cut wood to burn in our coal and wood burning furnace. One of my jobs was piling brush from the cuttings, unloading the wood when we got home and then throwing down into the basement and stacking it up. It was hard work for us kids, I also helped my mom do the laundry. We had an old Maytag wringer washer with double rinse tubs and we hung our clothes out on a clothesline. Most of my clothes were hand-me-downs from friends. We went fishing and dad and my oldest brother went hunting for the meat we ate. Mom had a huge garden that I helped weed and helped when it came canning time. We made jelly from our grape arbor (dad made wine..mmmm).
Now, at 52 I still consider myself a redneck. I live in a pole barn (til I get move to MO). I have a composting toilet, I heat water on my stove to do my dishes, I use a garden hose to fill my washing machine to do laundry and I love the smell of my clothes when hung out on a clothesline (takes me back to my childhood). I do have a dryer and I use it in the winter. I don't think there is anything wrong with shopping at Good Will. You can get some really great clothes there and why pay enormous prices for something that you can get for a few bucks!
I love to go hunting, fishing and have great big cook-out parties. Hubby and I had one a few years back and we had over 300 people show up. People brought food, drinks, and one friend who worked at a Fireworks place set a fireworks show that lasting over a half hour. The party started on Friday night and we had people camped out til sunday! One friend even road his horse in on friday and camped all weekend, giving kids rides on ole' Dusty.
I'm pretty much broke, but I have my hubby, my dogs and cats and my pick up truck and I am very happy. And I love country music... I am proud to be a redneck!
P.S. Another thing I did growing up was go with my dad and big brother and help them shear sheep. My job was to tie the wool into bundles after they sheared a sheep.. I loved every minute of it. (well, except the sheep ticks )
Last edited by mamagator54; 03-20-2007 at 07:52 AM..
Reason: need a p.s.
A redneck, originally, was a farmer, because he would get a red neck from working out in the sun all day. Now it has changed so much that some believe it is a derogatory word, and the definitions are always varied. I grew up believing that my dad was a redneck as well as my husband, but they are not farmers. So what makes them a redneck? I don't know. My dad worked for the phone company; my husband was a construction worker. The both drank beer and drove a pickup, which is needed for hauling things. They both love country music. My husband has a college education. My husband is not racist nor against homosexuals. If I am a redneck because I drove a pickup and listened to country music; then I don't know? Because I have a college education and am not a racist, etc. Now I love second hand stores, but I also buy clothing from L.L.Bean and Eddie Bauer. But if I could find what I buy in those catalogs at a second hand store I would rather get things second hand.
We are not obese, I have traveled to other countries, I shop at Wal-Mart often, and due to good restaurants in Oklahoma I often end up at one that has terrible food. I watch TV programs, but I also read good literature. My dad was really considered a redneck, and I never heard him use the N word, neither do we because we respect and like African Americans and other races.
Well, I have also heard my husband argue with his friends over whether a Ford of Chevy is best, and the Chevy is what he has always driven, although now he has a beat up Ford for hauling and A Toyota 4-Runner for other things.
I have met a lot of what people here that are called Rednecks, and they are really good people. The only people that I really try to stay away from are racists and fundamentalist Christians, that is, if they are into trying to save me. Other than that, I have two friends that are fundamentalists, but we have come to the understanding that I can't be saved and if you try again, you may not be my friend anymore.
Now Jeff Foxworthy may have something in his jokes. I lived in the Panhandle of Florida for a while, and before I moved there I laughed at his jokes; after moving there I thought that he wasn't funny anymore. The panhandle was called The Redneck Riviera. It was poor, people lived in trailers, and so did I, but their yards were trashed out; they were highly uneducated, their only interests were hunting and fishing, and they didn't make their kids go to school and were proud of it. (Not all uneducated people to me are rednecks.) I couldn't relate to any one of them, and I tried. We made friends with a couple, and his wife flat out told me that she was inbred. I also found out that they were really racist. The week we were moving our African American friends came to visit, and they happened to have shown up, and the eyes rolled. Now if that is what a real redneck is, I don't know, but to me that is the closest thing to it.
My definition of a redneck largely comprises of someone who wears Dixie Outifitter t-shirts(and other shirts bearing the Confederate flag) owns a Confederate flag and very racist. The other aspects such as the pickup truck, trailers, not knowing much about other things outside of the South can apply to anyone but particularly applies to redneck.
The American Civil War (1861–1865) was a major war between the United States (the "Union") and eleven Southern slave states that declared their secession and formed the Confederate States of America, led by President Jefferson Davis. The Union, led by President Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party, opposed the expansion of slavery and rejected any right of secession. Fighting commenced on April 12, 1861, when Confederate forces attacked a federal military installation at Fort Sumter in South Carolina.[1] The four slave states of the Border South did not secede originally, although secession governments in Kentucky and Missouri were later recognized by the Confederacy.
During the first year, the Union asserted control of the border states and established a naval blockade as both sides raised large armies. In 1862 large, bloody battles began, causing massive casualties as a result of new weapons and old battlefield tactics. In September 1862, Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation[2] made the freeing of the slaves a war goal, despite opposition from northern Copperheads who tolerated secession and slavery. Emancipation ensured that Britain and France would not intervene to help the Confederacy. In addition, the goal also allowed the Union to recruit African-Americans for reinforcements, a resource that the Confederacy did not dare exploit until it was too late. War Democrats reluctantly accepted emancipation as part of total war needed to save the Union. In the East, Robert E. Lee rolled up a series of Confederate victories over the Army of the Potomac, but his best general, Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, was killed at the Battle of Chancellorsville in May 1863.[3] Lee's invasion of the North was repulsed at the Battle of Gettysburg in Pennsylvania in July 1863;[4] he barely managed to escape back to Virginia. In the West, the Union Navy captured the port of New Orleans in 1862, and Ulysses S. Grant seized control of the Mississippi River by capturing Vicksburg, Mississippi in July 1863,[5] thus splitting the Confederacy.
By 1864, long-term Union advantages in geography, manpower, industry, finance, political organization and transportation were overwhelming the Confederacy. Grant fought a number of bloody battles with Lee in Virginia in the summer of 1864. Lee won most of the battles in a tactical sense but on the whole lost strategically, as he could not replace his casualties and was forced to retreat into trenches around his capital, Richmond, Virginia. Meanwhile, William Tecumseh Sherman captured Atlanta, Georgia.[6] Sherman's March to the Sea destroyed a hundred-mile-wide swath of Georgia. In 1865, the Confederacy collapsed after Lee surrendered to Grant at Appomattox Court House; all slaves in the Confederacy were freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. Slaves outside Confederate control were freed by state action or by the Thirteenth Amendment.
The full restoration of the Union was the work of a highly contentious postwar era known as Reconstruction. The war produced about 970,000 casualties (3% of the population), including approximately 620,000 soldier deaths—two-thirds by disease.[7] The causes of the war, the reasons for its outcome, and even the name of the war itself are subjects of lingering controversy even today. The main results of the war were the restoration and strengthening of the Union, and the end of slavery in the United States
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mmmmmmmmmmm I guess I'm a redneck. 
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