# Redneck is a racist term **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 2, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053 "2009-03-02T20:24:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MadTheSwine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MadTheSwine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadTheSwine)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/41 "2009-03-03T01:06:36Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > It’s not my job to provide cites for your argument. Nor did I ask you too > [@Revtim](#): > > In all seriousness, are you actually offended by the word “redneck”? Yes I am. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > Redneck is not racist. It does not compare to the n word. Many whites seem to happily describe themselves as Redneck and like the Redneck culture and just point out that Redneck does not equal Racist. Many blacks happily refer to themselves as nigger ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/42 "2009-03-03T01:19:47Z")
So what do your people prefer to be called? ---
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/43 "2009-03-03T01:26:22Z")
> [@DudleyGarrett](#): > > Come on. Redneck always refers to white people, specifically those who drink canned beer, drive in pickup trunks, enjoy NASCAR, etc., etc. > > To say it can be used to describe other races is disingenuous and misses the point. But it does refer to a specific type of white person. It’s not a racial term insofar as it is never used as a blanket epithet for a race of people. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/44 "2009-03-03T01:45:01Z")
It doesn’t refer to a race, it refers (at worst) to a social class, and it has no history of being used by non-whites to impose power on whites. It’s mostly used BY whites. Trying to call it hate speech is ridiculous. Comparing it to “nigger” is either massively ignorant or intentionally disingenuous. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/45 "2009-03-03T02:38:52Z")
> [@MadTheSwine](#): > > Nor did I ask you too Then I expect you’ll offer your own cites to it being used as a racial epithet on this board? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/46 "2009-03-03T02:58:08Z")
Look, “Redneck is primarily a racist term and as such should be banned” is a separate argument from “white people can be victims of racism, too.” Nobody, on either side of this argument, is suggesting that one needs to be less than 50% of a population, or historically oppressed, to have bannable racist terms lobbied at them. Two points remain to be refuted, asserted by me and others: 1. That redneck is classist, as opposed to racist; 2. That redneck is used of all races. Find some cites that refute these points. Show us where the term is being used as a racist term. Calling people racist because they don’t support your argument is rhetorically weak. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/47 "2009-03-03T03:01:25Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > It doesn’t refer to a race, it refers (at worst) to a social class, and it has no history of being used by non-whites to impose power on whites. It’s mostly used BY whites. Trying to call it hate speech is ridiculous. Comparing it to “nigger” is either massively ignorant or intentionally disingenuous. Indeed. American culture is **terrified** of talking about differences in social class: if we admit there’s any such thing, maybe we’re not a nation of equals after all! Race often provides a handy substitute for talking about social classes, given the common and historical correlation between the two in the US. But that doesn’t mean that every social-class term is also a racial term. Conflating the two like that is sloppy thinking. ---
**Author:** ![chacoguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/50afbb/32.png) [@chacoguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chacoguy)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/48 "2009-03-03T03:35:29Z")
Seriously!?! When Jeff Foxworthy asked: " If you…; you might be a Redneck." and you actually fit that description; did you get all pissed off a write a note to the Station Manager? Did you feel that was Hate Speech? _c’mon_ ( by the way, mine is …if your doorbell is a dog, you might be a Redneck.) Hateful, Hateful business… ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/49 "2009-03-03T04:09:03Z")
You know, I was raised in East Texas. Redneck isn’t a race there. It’s more of a religion. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/50 "2009-03-03T05:27:48Z")
I think you may want to check out “Haole” for your pasty faced ethnic slur needs. It is very popular in Hawai’i, as the festive ‘Kill Haole Day’ points out. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/51 "2009-03-03T13:32:15Z")
Well, what about “Cracker” then? ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/52 "2009-03-03T13:42:52Z")
> [@DudleyGarrett](#): > > Well, what about “Cracker” then? Can’t be, or Cracker Barrel would have to change their signs. It just means Georgian anyway, right? ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/53 "2009-03-03T13:49:23Z")
> [@DudleyGarrett](#): > > Well, what about “Cracker” then? Still isn’t racist. It might be derogatory towards a region but it is not racist. If you want an opinion, I do think cracker or cracka is way more derogatory than Redneck. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/54 "2009-03-03T15:06:27Z")
> [@Lanzy](#): > > Can’t be, or Cracker Barrel would have to change their signs. > It just means Georgian anyway, right? Absolutely not! Florida Crackers are adamant that the term originated with them. There’s actually a lot of pride bound up in being able to call yourself an authentic Cracker. Whole books have been written by scholarly Crackers. Still waiting for the OP to offer an inoffensive term. Hillbilly-American? People of Trailer? NASCer? ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/55 "2009-03-03T15:24:53Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Speaking for myself, and not as a matter of board policy? Nothing comes to mind. That implies that it is impossible for a white person to be the subject of hate speech. You can’t mean that, can you 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/56 "2009-03-03T15:36:28Z")
> [@bordelond](#): > > That implies that it is impossible for a white person to be the subject of hate speech. You can’t mean that, can you 😕 There are plenty of nasty words for white people and in some contexts some of them would draw a warning here. I can’t think of one that counts as the kind of hate speech that’s described by federal law, though. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/57 "2009-03-03T15:51:43Z")
> [@Terrifel](#): > > NASCer? Stockcarwatching-Americans. Redneck is not a racist term, and anybody who thinks it is is stupid. _White trash_, on the other hand, is definitely a racist term. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/58 "2009-03-03T15:53:58Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Redneck is not a racist term, and anybody who thinks it is is stupid. _White trash_, on the other hand, is definitely a racist term. Both terms apply to social classes, as discussed upthread. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/59 "2009-03-03T16:06:00Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Both terms apply to social classes, as discussed upthread. Yes, but white trash singles out a particular group by its very definition, while redneck does not. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053/60 "2009-03-03T16:18:31Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > There are plenty of nasty words for white people and in some contexts some of them would draw a warning here. I can’t think of one that counts as the kind of hate speech that’s described by federal law, though. Understand your point. But can offense be legislated by fiat (or “who cares what the federal law is?”)? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redneck-is-a-racist-term/488053.md?page=4)