Are Rednecks reactionary?

[The Red Next Door]

I am doing a blog on elitism on the left and it includes elitist behavior towards poor southerns too. so help me please.

[Os Cangaceiros]

Many of them hold a mixture of reactionary and progressive viewpoints. Much like any other demographic, really.

[Nachie]

the term "redneck" either comes from the fact that when you work out in the sun all day you get sunburn on the back of your neck, OR the practice of revolutionary coal unionists wearing red kerchiefs around their necks during the coal wars.

so how could those people possibly be reactionary?

now of course you have "rednecks" in some places, like Northern California, who have never seen a farm in their life, claim to be able to shoot any animal if they haven't already, and are rich bastards who buy huge trucks and get them lifted. these people aren't just reactionary, they're also pieces of shit.

[Coggeh]

depends how you interpreter red-neck many Europeans interpret it as racist .

But redneck as a demographic traditionally hold right wing christian type views but we have to differentiate being the views of a demographic and its class. Red-necks typically as I understand it come from working class backgrounds.

So rednecks views may be typically reactionary but rednecks themselves aren't because of their class position

[Os Cangaceiros]

"Redneck" is kind of a derogatory term, like white/trailer trash or hick, etc.

One thing that I like about "hicks" (I'm not too familiar with rednecks, as I'm not from the Southern US, but we have equivalents to rednecks where I live) is the fact that they generally hold a very dim view of authority and authority figures.

[Robocommie]

Since rednecks has usually been used to refer to people who are rural, white and working class, using the term redneck as a pejorative in and of itself is pretty classist, if you ask me. Same as the term "trailer trash" that was just mentioned. Anyone who is a leftist and looks down on people for being a redneck or living in a trailer park needs to seriously rethink their shit. That proletarians are living in trailer homes reflects badly on society, not on them.

[this is an invasion]

Not anymore reactionary than any other "demographic" can potentially be.

Fuck, I know of some self-proclaimed "Communists" that are reactionary.

[HEAD ICE]

I do know what is reactionary, it is the term "redneck." As for examples of elitism from the left towards southerners, I think you are giving a fine example.

[9]

Not anymore reactionary than any other "demographic" can potentially be.


This, clearly.

[DaComm]

A man from the south should not be seen differently than a man from the north, or where-ever for that matter. Everyone is susceptible to be a victim of Captialist interests, regardless of location. At the same time however, everyone (regardless of location) is exposed to Capitalist distortions of Communism, of Nationalist propaganda, and religion. So I would say the South is scattered ideologically just like everywhere else. Now then, if you are referring to a man that simply goes by "Chuck", owns a Chevorlet with the American flag on it, lives on the bank of the bayou, loves his country and apple pie, etc. then yes, this guy and people like him can be defined as reactionary.

[black magick hustla]

fuck that term. its used either by non-southerners who make less than 10 dollars an hour in a shit coffee shop where they can sell vegan cookies or by liberal professionals who love sushi

[9]

fuck that term. its used either by non-southerners who make less than 10 dollars an hour in a shit coffee shop where they can sell vegan cookies or by liberal professionals who love sushi

I know people from West Virginia that actually refer to themselves as rednecks and hillbillies. I think, like a lot of terms, it depends on how it is being used and by whom.

[black magick hustla]

I know people from West Virginia that actually refer to themselves as rednecks.

thats different tho. i meant it as an insult

[Robocommie]

Now then, if you are referring to a man that simply goes by "Chuck", owns a Chevorlet with the American flag on it, lives on the bank of the bayou, loves his country and apple pie, etc. then yes, this guy and people like him can be defined as reactionary.

Better I imagine that his name is Charles, he drives a Prius and he lives in a loft or something.

[black magick hustla]

I know people from West Virginia that actually refer to themselves as rednecks and hillbillies. I think, like a lot of terms, it depends on how it is being used.

i imagine some virginians call themselves rednecks because of the coal wars though. after all thats where the term came from

[Nolan]

Coming from the rural U.S., I know "rednecks" who hate racism, support homosexual liberation, think of their union as their family and rant every time I see them about the fat cats that run their workplace having overly large salaries. Let's not stereotype unfairly.

[A.R.Amistad]

I know who posted this thread lol. I agree, the term comes from a revolutionary moment in US history. I used to be a revolutionary redneck myself, but grew out of it just because, had nothing to do with politics.

[Nolan]

This thread made me want to watch this movie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwEMIvDEFy4

[x371322]

If anyone has a problem with, or looks down on, "poor southern white trash," then I'll kindly proclaim that you can suck it. While I'm on it I would like to know why so many people have problems with trailers. I hear this shit all over the place, even down here! What the fuck is wrong with living in a trailer? I live in a trailer, and I've never suffered the slightest inconvenience from it. :blink:

Most every "redneck" I know, me and mine included, are just average working class folks. We're not racists, we're not "trash," and we're not reactionary.

[A.R.Amistad]

This thread made me want to watch this movie:

qwEMIvDEFy4

One of the best fucking movies of all time!:thumbup1:

[chegitz guevara]

This thread is full of all kinds of bullshit assumptions.

Rednecks proudly consider themselves rednecks. "You might be a redneck." AKA, cracker, rebel, etc.

It ain't the term that's bad, it's the intent behind it. There is, on the part of many urban Northerners, a tendency to look down on Southerners. That's part of the legacy of the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement. Yeah, some of it's bullshit, but until you turn the road and come across a giant Confederate flag flying halfway across the highway (I75 about ten miles or so south of the Georgia border), you don't really understand how much a lot of it is true.

The South is extremely racist. So is the North, in very different ways. Northern racism is in your face. Southern racism is a lingering threat, and lynchings still occur . just . often . enough. Chicago, IL is a CATHOLIC city. Jacksonville, FL is a BAPTIST city. Illinois and Florida are both right to work states, but labor is powerful in Chicago, and radicalism still potent. In Florida, the whole state (15 million) might have as many commies as the ISO alone in Chicago (2.7 million--the city, not the ISO). One of the reasons why I get along so well with comrades in other organizations is I have to in order to be able to build anything.

Memories are long in the South. The Civil War was just fought yesterday. In the North, people don't even remember yesterday. And many folks look back on the antebellum South with pride and longing. And that's the definition of reactionary.

On the other hand, I have seen more interracial couples since moving South than I'd seen in my whole life up North. It's still weird to me, and I've lived with a Black woman for nearly twenty years. Also, a lot of rednecks these days are Black. Go figure. Certainly not a majority.

And what the hell is wrong with being a redneck anyway. My and my buddy Floyd had a perfectly wonderful time the other day goin' t' the junkyard to get parts for my car, and then we went shooting. Good times. Course, Floyd's Argentinian. Still.

[A.R.Amistad]

Well, the "redneck" culture extends beyond the south. For example, its pretty proudly displayed here in Indiana in various forms.

[Robocommie]

What the fuck is wrong with living in a trailer? I live in a trailer, and I've never suffered the slightest inconvenience from it. :blink:

Well to me, it just seems a little cramped, is all.

[chegitz guevara]

Indiana is the Northern most outpost of the Confederacy.

[chegitz guevara]

Well to me, it just seems a little small, is all.

Get a double-wide.

[Robocommie]

Get a double-wide.

Sure, if you got the money for it.

[x371322]

Well to me, it just seems a little cramped, is all.

Well gee, my parents were going to get the 7 bedroom 3 story mansion, but the trailer just had more charm. :D




Originally Posted by chegitz guevara
Get a double-wide.
Sure, if you got the money for it.
This. I can't tell you how many people have asked me, "why don't you guys just buy a double-wide?" :blink: I look at them dumbfounded...

[Rusty Shackleford]

heres my take on it. please not, i had to revise this more and more because i felt like dragging it out :lol: i dont know if i would stick with it, but after thinking about it, this is what i have come up with:

who knows? what is the definition of a redneck anyway?


Redneck is historically a derogatory slang term to refer to poor white Southern farmers in the United States.[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redneck#cite_note-0) It is similar in meaning to "cracker (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cracker_%28pejorative%29)" (especially in Georgia and Florida), "hillbilly (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillbilly)" (especially in Appalachia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Appalachia)) and "white trash (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_trash)" (especially among blacks[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redneck#cite_note-1)[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redneck#cite_note-2)).
so basically a very poor proletarian, or a lumpen proletarian. (Who obviously still had racial privilege at the time of the words coining) these people obviously had very reactionary views in the 1800s. but in a class context, rednecks are workers like a mill worker in the north. poor, powerless, and under a false conscience(for the most part at the time).

around the turn of the century though, the working class started to become more conscious. mostly amongst the immigrant working class(eastern and southern europeans) the IWW did a great job of that. But these workers were not american-born and had a different culture than the rednecks and the american working class in general(which if unionized would have been with something like the AFL).

The culture difference is a part that i think defines the difference between a redneck worker and say an immigrant worker. the redneck worker is of the oppressing nationality whereas the immigrant worker is of an oppressed nationality. (immigration from an imperial state to a dominated state just does not happen en masse when someone is looking for work) Thus, the redneck of the time may have been drunk with the power of being the oppressor nationality. Culturally,because the redneck grew up in the very state that championed capitalism and false conscience it led to a well known phrase which one may attribute with the rednecks of today:

"The took our jobs"

This is a very clear and obvious manifestation of an us versus them mentality along national and racial lines. The people they say take their jobs could be mexican, puerto rican, indian, chinese etc*...
this notion has been rooted so deeply into the redneck image that it really has become a belief among many when the fact is that capitalists are the ones causing capital to move, even more contradictory is the fact that those very same capitalists may be feeding the workers that very us-versus-them mentality!

One thing is true from the whole "they took our jobs" thing though. the felight of jobs form one place to another. the very nature of capitalism is to increase profits by reducing production costs and raising prices. one way to reduce the cost of a product is to move production to another place in the world with weaker labor laws, or a weaker economy relative to the US. it allows for capital to be placed there cheaply and for labor to be even more exploitable. but it doesnt help the workers in those countries at all.

The fight against the flight of capital to other regions of the world is partly a fight against imperialism. but at the same time, the working class in other parts of the globe must not be hurt. in my opinion, whatever capital has been moved to IMF dominated states should be nationalized for the sake of the people of those nations. retaining capital in the us can help to fight joblessness and poverty. same with capital leaving any country really.

I really think the term redneck just applies to a reactionary or national chauvinist white worker. redneck i think is more of a mentality than a state of being today. when the term first came around, it was more about a state of being.


*i excluded african american only because i believe the "they took our jobs" whining has to do mostly with the fleight of capital from the US to other nations with worse labor laws.

[ComradeOm]

so basically a very poor proletarian, or a lumpen proletarianSounds to me like a peasant. And a case can easily be made as to why that particular class can be reactionary. Then again, I don't know enough about US cultures to pass comment on whether 'rednecks' are a distinct class/caste of their own

[Nolan]

Sounds to me like a peasant. And a case can easily be made as to why that particular class can be reactionary. Then again, I don't know enough about US cultures to pass comment on whether 'rednecks' are a distinct class/caste of their own

No. It means simply working class rural whites who are part of the "southern, country, western, appalachian, etc." culture.

[Bad Grrrl Agro]

I knew a guy who was a self professed redneck. He was from Nashville, loved country music, had some somewhat right wing tendencies to his view points but he was one hell of a friend and would defend my Mexican American MtF Transsexual ass from any asshole who'd fuck with me. He had my back and he respected me.

[RadioRaheem84]

Someone already beat me to it but Matewan is an awesome movie that gives you the real definition of a "redneck". :thumbup1:

[Adil3tr]

"Rednecks" have potential, you should talk to the younger ones. make them understand that communism and socialism isn't about those who don;t work, it revolves arounf those who do. Who works harder, the fat cat who signs pink slips, or the factory worker or farmhand who works 10 or more hours a day.

[Adil3tr]

Plus, socialists fought and died for workers like him. We didn't protest and fight for welfare, we won the 10 hour day!

[Tavarisch_Mike]

Im not sure since this is a very american phenomenon, but i se some similarities with Sweden. I live in the rural areas and i like living near the nature and spending part of my spare time there like when you go hiking, paddling canoe, hunting, fishing and so on. Also here where i live many people like motor sports wich is kind of typical for the rural areas of Sweden. Anyway i have some friends in our capital Stockholm and urban peoples attitude towards us countrysiders i think is the same as in the american redneck thing and simply speaking (I think vacant tried to menthionit above) this is just a way of dividing workers, like nationalism, by giving the urban workers a feeling that they are a at least a little bit better then rural workers and that they have more incommon with other urban people(the upper classes).

BTW; I must agree that Matewan is a great movie.

[samofshs]

I know people from West Virginia that actually refer to themselves as rednecks and hillbillies. I think, like a lot of terms, it depends on how it is being used and by whom.
agreed, i have friends that are self proclaimed rednecks and are proud to be such. however reactionary they may be.

[Wolf Larson]

I just watched a movie called "F.I.S.T." with a bunch of (white working class) red necks (my girlfriends brother and his friends). It was an old Stallone movie about a union organizer named Kovak(?) in the truckers union from 1939 to the 1960's.

This is obviously a microcosm of the larger problem and obviously doesn't apply to the entire white working class but non of these guys had a clue what socialism was and weren't interested in it in the least.

In fact, just as the workers in the movie, they became upset when I mentioned how the workers in the film should have taken over the means of production. Defending the capitalist masters while struggling for better pay....it doesn't make sense to me how this mind frame exists. Well, shit tons of capitalist propaganda helps.

Lets live in reality here, most of America, especially white America (this includes rednecks), is suffering from Stockholm syndrome. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stockholm_syndrome)

[R_P_A_S]

the term "redneck" either comes from the fact that when you work out in the sun all day you get sunburn on the back of your neck, OR the practice of revolutionary coal unionists wearing red kerchiefs around their necks during the coal wars.

so how could those people possibly be reactionary?

now of course you have "rednecks" in some places, like Northern California, who have never seen a farm in their life, claim to be able to shoot any animal if they haven't already, and are rich bastards who buy huge trucks and get them lifted. these people aren't just reactionary, they're also pieces of shit.

come one.. you know what he meant lol.

[Bad Grrrl Agro]

Plus, socialists fought and died for workers like him. We didn't protest and fight for welfare, we won the 10 hour day!

Don't you mean the 8 hour day?

[Misanthrope]

Rednecks is a terribly stereotypical word.

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

http://www.roanoke.com/news/images/0903_rednecks_300x484.jpg

The Battle of Blair Mountain (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain)was the largest open class war in US history, and was the second largest overall insurrection next to the Civil War.