You could have seen this thread coming from a mile away, but here goes. JThunder asks the burning question in IMHO: Who would win, rednecks or hillbillies?
We’ve hashed this over a million times, and the SDMB powers that be have apparently decreed that while certain names may not be used to describe people of other races, you can call white people anything you want, or some such discriminatory policy. That doesn’t mean using epithets for white people in a completely unnecessary context makes you funny, or clever, or witty. It just makes you look like a pathetic hipster jackoff.
Would I receive an admonitory email or temporary suspension if I started an IMHO thread entitled “Who would win, slopes or dinks?” I suspect I would. Also, consider what you would think of a person who would start a thread like that, and then ask yourself why you don’t think the same of JThunder.
Yep, but it’s also a derogatory term for an Asian, which I would consider to be the more likely intended meaning here, especially since “slope” is another offensive word used to refer to Asian people.
I’ve never heard it. I have gathered that slope is supposed to be offensive, but I didn’t know which group of people I wasn’t supposed to use it about.
Probably the only time I’ve ever heard “dink” used was in Platoon. They’re about to move out, and Barnes admonishes them, “don’t leave nothin’ for the dinks.”
I think it was Barnes, anyway.
But there’s an example of it in context for you, anyway.
How the words are perceived has changed. Redneck is used with self-deprecating humor by many so labeled. Much of the sting has been removed because it’s been claimed by the group it names. It’s meaning has moved closer to down-to-earth than down-and-dirty.
Hillbillies are almost mythical creatures to most people. Out of all the people I know, I’m the only person who’s actually met an honest-to-og hillbilly and that’s only because I’m related to them. Ask most people, especially west of the Mississippi, about hillbillies and what they know is from silly cartoons of the feud between the Hatfields and the McCoys and maybe they’ve seen Deliverance. How can one be insulted or insult another with such a silly epithet? It’s like somebody cursing you by calling you a nasty mean Easter Bunny.
Let’s say, however, that both terms are strong insults. In that case, if it was good enough for Gandhi, it’s certainly good enough for me-- nobody can hurt me without my permission. I know who I am and I know whom I am not. Call me what you wish, but I know the truth. Your intent may hurt my feelings momentarily, but the words are just the raft your shit is floating upon.
If using such ‘epithets’ actually does make one look like a pathetic hipster jackoff. It will shortly be apparent to everyone and the problem will take care of itself.
Well, if I say you’re a hypersensitive pussy for being offended by the terms “redneck” and “hillbilly”, does it make me a misogynist?
To echo Diogenes and Lord Ashtar, I don’t see either word as implying caucasian descent; I see them more as implying a certain level of intelligence/sophistication is lacking. While this could be seen as an elitist/hipster/city slicker POV, I think both words are far more descriptive than “moron” or “dipshit” or the like, as they imply a more stereotypical “backwoods” mentality, especially as regards issues of racism and relative “progressiveness” of thinking. Similarly, I live in Oakland and have lived all my life among a large black population (in fact, some of my best friends are…ah, screw it), and when we - black, white, Asian, whatever - use the word “ghetto” as an adjective, it’s used to describe a mental state that has nothing to do (in our minds) with race. When using it around people with more, let’s say, sheltered backgrounds, however, they always seem to assume it refers specifically to black people.
So my point is, I guess, everybody should stop saying anything ever until the end of time.
Sticks and stones will break my bones
but names will make me run crying to my momma…
Every hillbilly I’ve ever met, which is more than a few, proudly self-identified as such. For them, it means they live simply, in the mountains, among family. It means they hunt rabbit for dinner and grow veggies for canning and watch birds eating from the feeders for after-dinner entertainment–what’s to be ashamed of there?
Hillwilliam - that’s hilarious. I’ll have to remember it.
Anyway, so some internet site that gathers info from average schmoes says it’s a derogatory term for whites. I’m an average schmoe, and I say it’s not.
Well, obviously there’s a patriarchal bias in “the” - “he” is 2/3 of the friggin’ word! And of course, “is” is merely the Cockney pronunciation of “his”. The UFOs aren’t relaying any information on “and” yet, but I’m sure it’s forthcoming.
I’m just curious. Do any of you defending the notion that “redneck” and “hillbilly” (and related terms) are not slurs of the same caliber as other well-known (and not repeated here) epithets, believe it elevates the dialog to use these generalizations as if they actually convey meaningful information?
In the thread being pitted I asked for a little clarification regarding the circumstances of which group would win. Best I got was some game based on Google hits. All that says is that the terms are used. I knew that.
What seems to me (a Southerner by birth) more an issue is how these terms seem to allow others in other regions of the country (and even in other countries) to express their supposed superiority (of intellect, education, position in society, etc.) with a casual slur about people in a region that continues to be seen (by those ignorant of its virtues) as the same place it was in Civil War, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, Civil Rights Movement, Birmingham, Selma, sit-ins, etc., days.
To those of you with those views and sentiments, and who feel that labels such as redneck and hillbilly are funny and innocent, I suggest you look around you, wherever you live, and see if there aren’t some others closer to home that you can denigrate.
I, for one Sotherner, feel you’re just demonstrating your own pathetic iognorance.
