ep14 - Redneck: From Sunburn to Solidarity
In this episode of ShiftEnglish, we explore the origins of the term “redneck” in the United States. Where did the word come from? When is it offensive? And what is the surprising connection between rednecks and coal miners in West Virginia?
We also look at how the meaning of the word has evolved over time, how it connects to politics today, and the difference between redneck and hillbilly.
As always, this episode is designed to help intermediate English learners understand real cultural language used in America.
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Hello! And welcome to a new episode. The fourteenth episode I believe, of ShiftEnglish. And after quite a long pause. After quite a long break. It wasn't the plan, but life had other ideas! There was Christmas and family visiting first of all. That was a busy time so the podcast was on the backburner as we like to say in English. We say something is on the backburner when we mean it is something we are planning to come back to, but not something we are doing right now.
After Christmas there was a big problem with the plumbing under my house. The plumbing of the house is all the pipes that go together in a home to bring water to and away from the home. Something we don't usually think about. We expect that when we turn on the faucet or tap, as the British will say, that the water will magically arrive. And we expect that when we flush the toilet, the water will magically disappear. All that “magic” part is the plumbing.
And let me tell you, when the plumbing breaks, it is anything but magic! It is long, and expensive work. So I was busy working to pay for that repair work to the plumbing. And as soon as that was done there was mardis gras! Which if you haven't heard about mardis gras in New Orleans, it is quite an experience.
Mardis Gras literally means “fat tuesday”. And it is traditionally a religious day of celebration, right before the period known as lent. Lent is the 40 days on the Christian calendar when people are supposed to give something up, like candy for example. And, in theory, spend this time as a moment of reflection. As a period to think about the sacrifices made by Jesus.
Anyway, whatever Mardis Gras was traditionally, it is now just one massive party, in New Orleans at least. It is actually just about the opposite of anything religious I can imagine. People get wasted drunk and party it up. And not just one day. Oh no no no, it goes on for a good two weeks.
There is a cultural side, sure, historic even to mardis gras in New Orleans. But mainly it is a party. I think I will need to do an episode on Mardis Gras here, because there are multiple sides to Mardis Gras. Positive and negative. But if you are in the city it is usually a very busy time, busy with hosting people, busy with partying, and busy with going to see parades. Or just busy being stuck in traffic because there is about a gazillion people everywhere.
And yes, for any mathematicians listening, I realize gazillion is not a number. But us anglophones like to throw gazillion and bazillion around like they are real numbers meaning something really really big.
But anyway, these are my excuses for the pause between episodes. My reason for why it's been a while. And frankly, honestly, I am probably going to be a little sporadic again with the release of episodes. Sporadic meaning not super regular. The simple reason being, it takes a lot of time to do an episode properly in the way I think it can be useful. And for the moment I don't have much time.
But I am determined to keep making new episodes as I am getting feedback occasionally that it is helping certain of you out there. And that is really a pleasure to hear. And to see listeners coming from such diverse places as Brazil, Italy and Iraq is really magic. Much more magic than my broken house plumbing.
So without further ado, without more talking from me about nothing, let's jump in to a little episode I wanted to cover for today, that I promised a couple months back – so turn up that country music and let's talk about Rednecks.
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So who or what are Rednecks anyway? Somewhat strangely this is actually quite a tricky question to answer. Tricky because it has different meanings and connections depending on how you use it. But it is a very widely used term, at least in America.
And I suppose that is the first part of the definition I would give. Redneck is an American term. In fact it is primarily used to designate or describe poor white people, especially from the countryside in the South of the USA.
As you can imagine, any term that has been invented to talk about how much money a group of people have and what colour they are, is a term that can be sensitive. If used in the wrong way, it could be insulting. More on that in a moment, but important to acknowledge, to say, right from the start.
Rednecks was the name these poor white farmers came to be known as in the late 1800s because they were working long hours outside in the hot southern sun. And sunscreen lotion not being invented yet their necks got burnt. And hence became red. Red. Necks. Rednecks. Actually makes some sense.
So that's the simple part. There are two parts a bit more complicated which I will move on to now. First is how it developed and at what point it is offensive. And the second part is a little piece of history connected to the terms Redneck that I would say most Americans don't even know.
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So how did this term redneck evolve? Like many terms used to describe groups of people it expanded. It grew to not just be used for poor white farmers in the south, it began to have a political connotation. Which means it began to have a connection to a type of political party.
More specifically the word has developed, or evolved to make reference to people that are politically conservative. And for the USA that would currently mean people that voted for and support Trump. Whereas before it may have been George Bush.
And whereas before redneck would have applied to farmers, now it really can apply to any white person who lives in the countryside of the USA. It has a type of imagery associated with it, a type of lifestyle even. When we use the word redneck we are often inferring someone that enjoys certain activities, like hunting, or truck racing.
And here is where the important distinction arrives. Someone who is white, comes from the countryside of the USA, may self-identify as a redneck. That means they may call themselves a redneck. And as you can imagine, they are not saying “I am a redneck” to insult themselves. They are proudly calling themselves rednecks. They are proud of their connection to the countryside. To the idea that they are hard-working, practical people. When used this way, I would say there is not necessarily a negative connotation to the word.
But, on the other hand, if someone else describes someone else as a ‘redneck’, well it is probably going to be perceived as an insult. Especially if the person saying it doesn't think of themselves as a redneck. And that is because the other image now associated with the term redneck is of someone uneducated and not sophisticated.
So for example, if a person from the city says of someone they know “he is a bit of a redneck”. Well he most likely doesn't mean it in a very kind way. So if there is one thing you remember from this episode then it is probably this - don't go around calling people rednecks. Especially since, you know, in America people love to carry guns and get in fights.
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So I hinted or I mentioned earlier that there is piece of hidden history behind the term redneck. And here it is. The term redneck actually developed independently in another group of poor white Americans in the South of the USA.
That sounds a little weird. And confusing. Because it is! It is strange, but true. In West Virginia around 1920, there was a group of miners that independently were being called rednecks. So think about that for a second - these guys were miners. People working in caves, in tunnels under the ground. Important distinction, we are not talking about young people. When we say miners we are talking about a profession, a type of work. Pretty much the last guys on earth who are going to get sunburnt at work, since they work underground. So then why did these guys start getting called rednecks also?
Well, the answer is linked to labor conflicts and strikes that were going on at that time. Labor conflicts, and strikes are both important terms to know. A labour conflict is a disagreement between workers and their employer, usually about pay, hours, or working conditions. And one common result of a labour conflict is a strike, which is when workers stop working on purpose to pressure the company to make changes.
Anyway, returning to our story in West Virginia – these miners that were involved in these labor conflicts and strikes started wearing red bandanas around their necks as a way to identify themselves. Essentially these red bandanas, these red pieces of cloth around their neck was a way to know which miners were on your side. Or in other words, it was a way to display solidarity among the miners. And so we arrive at redneck again. This time not from sunburn but from solidarity.
And as you may imagine, these redneck miners were pretty darn proud of their redneck name. The term and symbol of the redneck was a sign of resistance and solidarity against these large coal companies at the time. It was essentially a sign of rebellion a sign of fighting back.
And seen in this way, in this optic as we say in English sometimes, it is actually pretty cool. And the history behind it is interesting for anyone in to that kind of thing. For example if you do a little research on the Battle of Blair Mountain. That's Blair spelt b-l-a-i-r mountain, you will find some really interesting documentaries and photos on the subject.
I think it is worth noting, or it is worth saying that the other meaning for red neck already existed before the miner story. So there is some overlap. I imagine the fact that there were already poor white people from the country in the South of the USA being called rednecks, had something to do with the adoption of the word redneck for these miners. And I say that because these miners in West Virginia were also predominately poor white people from the country in the South of the USA. So you see the overlap.
But especially this rebellion, this uprising of the miners in West Virgina gave the existing label, the existing term a new significance. One that, maybe only temporarily, was more charged politically, and had a meaning of solidarity.
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So that's nearly all for this return episode. The general advice mentioned is the same – probably best don't go around calling people rednecks these days. Better to let people self-identify as rednecks if they so wish. For example I quite often see here in Louisiana people will have a sticker on the back of their pick-up truck that says something like “Redneck and proud"
Also another thing I have noticed in America - it is a lot more acceptable to call someone a Hillbilly than to call someone a Redneck. Less likely to be seen as offensive or insulting. Not to say I am recommending that you go around calling people Hillbillie's either!
But from what I understand at least myself in the way I see the two words being used by people in America – hillbilly is a more general way to refer to a white American that comes from the rural countryside. Often it may be referring to someone from nearer the hills and mountains a bit more towards the Appalachian mountains – a range of mountains you can find in the eastern usa.
I feel like in the way I've heard it used, when someone is referring to another person as a hillbilly they are really emphasizing the fact that that person is from the countryside. But when someone is referring to another person as a redneck, it may be because that person is more from the South. But very often they are making an insulting inference about that persons intelligence or even their political views.
Well, I think I will leave it there for today. I hope this was somewhat interesting for you to listen to. If you feel like sharing this with someone that is learning English, or going to America soon that would be super. And if not, well you are a terrible person. Just joking of course, it is fine. I am not sure when I will make the next episode yet. I need to make some more money to pay for those broken pipes I was talking about earlier. But I will return! And until then, stay well!
