Charlie Daniels and the use of a possibly racist epithet

Cafe Society
1

Sorry for being so coy with the thread title but I didn’t want to put the actual phrase in there.

In the song “Trudy” from the 1974 Charlie Daniels Band album “Fire on the Mountain”, the narrator gets in a fight over a poker game and winds up in jail. At the end of the song he sings:

It took half the cops in Dallas County
Just to put one coon-ass boy in jail.

So, I’m curious about the use of the phrase “coon-ass”. On the surface it would seem to be racist. But since he uses it to refer to himself, I assume it means something like redneck or good ol’ boy? Was this a commonly used phrase in the '70s and earlier to refer to someone from the South?

2

According to the Great Oracle, coonass is a term used by some Cajuns, particularly working-class Cajuns, to refer to themselves.

3

A quick google says that coonass is slang for ‘Cajun’, so I think that’s the meaning being used.

4

Yep, Coon-ass was a term that meant some sort of white Cajun/backwoods south Louisianan while I was growing up.

5

Here in S. Arkansas coon,is a derogatory word for an A.A., but, coon-ass Can mean Cajun or any number of hick, redneck backwoods persons. Certainly derogatory, as well.

6

Have we completely eliminated the possibility that Charlie Daniels was a furry?

7

There’s some debate on the word. Some Cajuns think it’s derogatory and want people to stop using it. Others proudly wear the label. All in all, it’s falling out of common usage.

9

I heard today that Charlie Daniels has passed away, so asking him is out of the question. David Allen Coe, however, racist as F@#k. No question.

10

The following Charlie Daniels Band lyrics are more problematic in my opinion:

Well gather 'round, gather 'round children
Get down, well you can get down children
Get loud, well you can get loud and be proud
Well you can be proud here
Be proud to be a rebel 'cause the South’s gonna do it again
Yes it is

I used to wonder what it was they hoped the South would do again? Secede? Re-institute slavery? Spread the plague of ultra pre-sweetened tea over the land?*

*apparently succeeded there. :frowning:

11

I always thought that “The South’s Gonna Do It Again” was just an excuse to name-check a bunch of southern rock bands…

12

How about some Hank Junior?

13

Our local creole cafe used to have a coon ass breakfast on the menu

14

Now I’m really hoping it included the hindquarters of a raccoon.

15

One of my favorite Onion articles: “South Postpones Rising Again For Yet Another Year”

16

Even after beating the devil in that fiddle contest?

17

The devil always wins in the long run.