“Redneck” Origins

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Yes, sir. Is this Grant?

This is Grant. Who am I speaking with?

You’re speaking with Richard Ramirez from Fort Worth, Texas.

Welcome to the show, Richard.

Well, I grew up in North Texas, actually, in the country more than anything else.

And I always heard a word most of my life.

They mentioned redneck. They called some people redneck.

And I always wondered where he came from.

And being an avid reader, I was reading a Stephen King novel the other day, or a book, called Back of Bones,

And he was describing a scene in Maine from the 1900s, and that word popped up again.

So I was wondering, is it a northern thing, or is it across the pond where he came from?

Because he was describing some Irish people, what they did, and he called them redneck.

Redneck, R-E-D-N-E-C-K, right?

Yes, sir. There’s a big culture of it. I’ve been called one, too, but I’ve got a brown neck.

Do you take it as an insult?

No, never.

Do you take it for pride?

Some people do take it that way. They say that I sound redneck because of my accent.

Richard, how would you define a redneck?

Somebody that works in the country, a farmer of a small town, that type of person that works outdoors.

Because we hear the term a lot, farmer’s tan, too.

Mm-farmer’s tan.

And I have what you call a farmer’s tan.

I grew up farming in a small town.

I was raised by grandparents.

They had a cash lease on land.

Since I was a toddler, I was driving tractors and doing everything that you know of.

But one day I was passing through.

I have a daughter that was going to college in College Station, Texas,

Which is Texas A&M is where she was going.

And there’s a lot of people from that class of people that I just mentioned.

And I stopped at this place, this organization that’s worldwide,

And I greeted this gentleman, and the first word out of his mouth was,

Said, you’re a redneck.

Did you punch him?

It had to be the way I found it, I guess.

Richard, did you punch him?

No.

No.

I mean, we just, it doesn’t bother me.

I don’t take insults from anybody or it doesn’t bother me what people say.

Yeah, well, I think, yeah, for a lot of people, redneck is a point of pride now.

Yes, yes.

It’s a term that’s been reclaimed like so many terms that have started out as negative.

But I think your hunch about the redneck coming from one’s neck getting red when one works in the sun,

Like a farmer’s tan, is the most likely etymology.

This term goes back at least to the 1830s and probably older,

And it arises in the Carolinas and then soon spreads to the rest of the country

And is, as we talked about, often taken as a point of pride, though.

It’s got to come from somebody you know and love, not somebody who you think of as a stranger or an enemy.

Yeah, it depends on the context.

Oh, yes, because they think it’s kind of derogatory.

You’re putting them down.

Right, exactly.

And I don’t think of it that way.

I’m proud of who I am, where I came from.

Well, you sound pretty great to us.

I do.

Yeah, you sound just fine.

Richard, thank you so much for your call.

Really appreciate it.

Listen, y’all have a fabulous week.

All right, we will now.

Thanks, Richard.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

But I think more and more people are claiming redneck as a point of pride.

Oh, yeah, there’s no doubt.

There’s songs, there’s movies, there’s books, bumper stickers.

I’ve seen it on T-shirts and bandanas and belt buckles.

And now we have from Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, we have redneck-ignize.

Y’all better redneck-ignize.

Yeah, I’ve got a family that considers itself proudly redneck.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

And what it is, there’s an underlying notion that you are authentic.

Yeah.

There’s nothing fake about you and what you do.

Right.

And then you treat people fairly like you want to be treated.

Exactly.

It comes back down to these basic notions of human civility.

As you know, that is why I like the Honey Boo Boo show so much.

I get so much flack for that, but it’s really true.

I think, you know, I mean, there’s such a stereotype about rednecks being prejudiced,

But I think there’s a lot of prejudice against rednecks, and that comes out in the reactions.

Works both ways for sure, right?

Yeah.

It might be classist or elitist prejudice, but it’s still prejudice.

Yeah.

What do y’all think?

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