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"Culture of Phoenix". Oxymoron right there. Please don't make it out to be some cultural bastion. It is more redneck than it is cosmopolitan.
"Hard-pressed" to find rednecks in Phoenix proper? You really that clueless?
I didn't say AZ is more like TX than CA. Demographically yes- but overall no. Learn how to read. More importantly, learn how to comprehend.
I never said Phoenix was the most cosmopolitan but that doesn't mean it's redneck. There is a middle ground. Phoenix is mostly made up of people from the Midwest, East, and CA. It wasn't settled by a bunch of Okies. If you think the typical person in Phoenix is some country music listening good ol boy you don't know anything about the area. I think politics plays a role in this stereotype. Yes it is too conservative for my taste but the culture is more like OC or San Diego with a good dose of Utah if you follow me. It is nothing like the Bible Belt.
Ive lived in TN and AZ, and the "redneck" things you refer to are FAR different in AZ than the south. Driving a lifted truck, listening to country music, etc, is different in AZ than the south. The trucks in TN were lifted just for mudding, often cheaply with body blocks to fit bigger tires. Here in AZ the lifted trucks are often very expensive trail rigs used for rock crawling, driven by well-educated individuals. Rednecks dont buy $35K Wrangler Rubicons then proceed to dump an additional $10K in suspension mods.
Umm... OK? Rednecks are rednecks, and the ones I was talking about definitely weren't wealthy, "well-educated individuals". They were lower-middle class suburban mooks with mullets, backwards ball-caps, and wife-beaters for the most part.
Dallas has a little more international flair and more African-Americans, but Phoenix is overall demographically more similar to Dallas (heavily white & Hispanic) than the CA cities (which are more racially balanced).
Ummm....Dallas is nowhere near as white/hispanc as Phoenix is. The Dallas area has a lot more Asians as well.
Lets look at it statistically. Ill provide a full demographical analysis of Texas, Arizona, and South California metro areas below. Numbers are from the 2012 ACS:
Los Angeles Metro Area:
Hispanic: 44.9%
White: 31.1%
Asian: 15.2%
Black: 6.2%
International Immigrants in 2012: 81,508
Countries that contributed over 1,000 new residents to Metro Area: Armenia, China, El Salvador, Guatemala, India, Iran, South Korea, Mexico, Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam.
San Diego Metro Area:
White: 48.7%
Hispanic: 32.7%
Asian: 11.4%
Black: 4.4%
International Immigrants in 2012: 18,893
Countries that contributed over 1,000 new residents to Metro Area: Iraq, Mexico, and the Phillipines.
Riverside Metro Area:
Hispanic: 48.4%
White: 35.4%
Black: 7.2%
Asian: 6.4%
International Immigrants in 2012: 14,547
Countries that contributed over 1,000 new residents to Metro Area: Mexico and Phillipines.
Houston Metro Area:
White: 39%
Hispanic: 36%
Black: 16.8%
Asian: 6.9%
International Immigrants in 2012: 31,738
Countries that contributed over 1,000 new residents to Metro Area: Mexico, India, Vietnam, China, Nigeria, and Pakistan.
Dallas/Fort Worth Metro Area:
White: 48.6%
Hispanic: 28%
Black: 15%
Asian: 5.7%
International Immigrants in 2012: 28,010
Countries that contributed over 1,000 new residents to Metro Area: Mexico, India, Vietnam, Burma, and Nigeria.
Austin Metro Area:
White: 54%
Hispanic: 31.9%
Black: 7.1%
Asian: 5.1%
International Immigrants in 2012: 5,897
Countries that contributed over 1,000 new residents to Metro Area: Just Mexico.
San Antonio Metro Area:
Hispanic: 54.4%
White: 35.5%
Black: 6.3%
Asian: 2.2%
International Immigrants in 2012: 5,712
Countries that contributed over 1,000 new residents to Metro Area: Just Mexico.
Phoenix Metro Area:
White: 58%
Hispanic: 29.9%
Black: 4.8%
Asian: 3.6%
International Immigrants in 2012: 12,805
Countries that contributed over 1,000 new residents to Metro Area: Just Mexico.
Tucson Metro Area:
White: 54.3%
Hispanic: 35.4%
Black: 3.2%
Asian: 2.8%
International Immigrants in 2012: 2,895
Countries that contributed over 1,000 new residents to Metro Area: Just Mexico.
So no I dont think Dallas is more like Arizona demographically. I dont think Dallas is anything like Arizona demographically.
Umm... OK? Rednecks are rednecks, and the ones I was talking about definitely weren't wealthy, "well-educated individuals". They were lower-middle class suburban mooks with mullets, backwards ball-caps, and wife-beaters for the most part.
What you're saying makes little sense.
You assume that if one drives a lifted truck, listens to country music, and own guns makes them "rednecks". I have friends in North Scottsdale that fit your definition of "redneck", but these guys live in $800K homes, and are about the furthest thing from "rednecks". One of them drives a modified Raptor, which is as far from a "redneck" truck as you can get. Your definition of "redneck" differs from mine. As I said, I lived in TN, and the "rednecks" there were genuine rednecks (barefoot and wearing overalls, the whole nine yards), you dont see that here.
You assume that if one drives a lifted truck, listens to country music, and own guns makes them "rednecks". I have friends in North Scottsdale that fit your definition of "redneck", but these guys live in $800K homes, and are about the furthest thing from "rednecks".
I'm pretty sure they aren't the absolute furthest thing from rednecks, but I see your point.
Seriously folks. There are "rednecks" in every state, not just those in the South or West (some of the worst I've met hail from Chicagoland and Cleveland) and they come in all shapes and sizes. Yet, I wouldn't call someone who listens to country music or drives a pickup a "redneck".
Seriously folks. There are "rednecks" in every state, not just those in the South or West (some of the worst I've met hail from Chicagoland and Cleveland) and they come in all shapes and sizes. Yet, I wouldn't call someone who listens to country music or drives a pickup a "redneck".
I agree. The term "redneck" is being thrown around way too loosely on this thread.
You assume that if one drives a lifted truck, listens to country music, and own guns makes them "rednecks". I have friends in North Scottsdale that fit your definition of "redneck", but these guys live in $800K homes, and are about the furthest thing from "rednecks". One of them drives a modified Raptor, which is as far from a "redneck" truck as you can get. Your definition of "redneck" differs from mine. As I said, I lived in TN, and the "rednecks" there were genuine rednecks (barefoot and wearing overalls, the whole nine yards), you dont see that here.
Read back on my posts. I wasn't talking about North Scottsdale. I was talking about the West side. Two very different parts of the Valley. Are you honestly going to tell me that Glendale and Peoria are upscale areas full of well-educated people living in 800K homes? I was very clear that Scottsdale was a different story. Again, read back on what I said before you make assumptions that I'm making assumptions.
Sorry, but the West side is what it is. Besides, my point wasn't so much about country music and guns, as much as it was about belligerent, intolerant, trashy, backwards white people. In my book, that qualifies as redneck... but if that brand bugs you then pick another term. Mooks? White trash? Hicks? All the same thing as far as I'm concerned.
I agree. The term "redneck" is being thrown around way too loosely on this thread.
And even so, is being a redneck a bad thing?
I'm well aware of the origins and history of the term (redneck), and how it has come to have several different connotations through the ages. Perhaps I have been using the term loosely, but I would have to think that the gist of what I have been saying in this thread is understood.
I could use a more derogatory term to describe the people in reference, but I'm not sure that would fly too well with the mods. You know, a word that rhymes with "hacker"?
Is being a redneck a bad thing? I have no idea. I'm not a redneck. I guess it depends on the context in which the term is being used. Some people proudly self-identify as "rednecks". More than just "some", actually. If my usage of the term is too broad, then I guess I'll just start using the term "hick" instead. Or perhaps "rube" or "yokel".
You'd think that Arizona would have more in common with the state that it touches than the state that is a bit further away, no?
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