Reply #25: One problem is that "redneck" or "hayseed" is fast becoming [View All]

[hedgehog]

code for "lower class white person of undetermined genetic background". Even that wouldn't be a problem except for the fact that so often the implication is that if the redneck is poor, it's the redneck's fault. For example, this country doesn't provide decent dental care for those without money, yet I have heard more than one rude comment about "redneck" girls missing their teeth. Somehow missing teeth is a result of redneck culture, not a society that doesn't take care of all its children. You absolutely need a car to survive in this country, but the redneck who keeps one up on blocks to provide spare parts for the used car that is running is somehow guilty of the crime of not having a perfect suburban lawn.


Sure, a certain number of rednecks make their own problems by drinking and/or getting pregnant while still a teenager. I know some people who've done that. I've also known kids from the burbs with the same problems who somehow land on their feet because their family has the money to bail them out.

Redneck, hayseed, trailer trash, hillbilly, white trash are all words used too often to demean poor whites so we don't have to address their poverty.