Offensive Terms

bumpuser10199668 · May 2014

So, I was lurking Parenting and saw a post by @fredalina that really caught my eye (you can see the whole thing here https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/12341588/is-hillbilly-or-redneck-a-slur/p1)

I don't "go there", so I figured I'd bring the discussion over here. Essentially, what she's asking is if words like "hillbilly" and "redneck" are slurs/derogatory. And for funsies, we'll throw in "hick" as well.

Now, the discussion over there went more about how they aren't that bad because they aren't on the same scale as other racial or religious slurs..But what do you all think? I have very strong opinions on this.

JustCricket · May 2014

I think some of those words have stronger connotations than others. Hillbilly and hick are definitely derogatory. Maybe it's where I grew up... but they were only used to insult someone... to tell someone they were inbred, uneducated, gap-toothed, fools. Redneck I think and I only bring it up b/c I saw it in the parenting thread... has been more acceptable and is almost like the n-word now. When I say this, I mean it in the way that country music has done to it what rap has done to the n-word. To say any of these groups are 'privelidged' is ridiculoous. Yes there may be some self proclaimed rednecks out there that make 'good money'. But take a drive into WV/TN into Appalachia.. they have no running water in parts. VERY VERY poor people out there. There is a reason church groups where I grew up, took mission trips out there. And using these stereotypes to talk down about them, makes me very sad.

ETA- TL;DR Redneck is borderline, but only because of popular culture and country music. So that word is more about context I guess??? Hillbilly and hick are almost ALWAYS used in a derogatory way (actually never heard hick used in a non-insulting way)

bumpuser10199668 · May 2014

Here's my thing.....

The word nigger is used all over the place, and it is generally considered extremely taboo and offensive for a white person to use. However, it is all over the radio and movies as a term of endearment that black people 'can' use for one another.

Words like redneck, hillbilly, and hick are generally considered less offensive because of the lack of historical as a slur. Maybe more of a stereotype or insult than an actual slur.

As a person who is from the mountain of Appalachian, and whose family has a deep-seeded history in said mountains and culture, I do find these terms offensive. They DO represent the oppression of an entire people that is generally completely ignored. They are stereotypes, for sure, but I feel most people don't consider where these stereotypes come from or the seriousness behind them.

For example, the poverty that is running throughout this region is devastating. When you think of the Peace Corps, you may imagine them in 3rd world countries where they are needed the most, but there is a HUGE calling for the Peace Corps in Appalachia. Because people here have limited access to clean water (coal mining), job markets, and quality education. There is serious oppression going on, especially when it comes to coal companies.

Terms like hillbilly were INVENTED as a method of insult to the people in the hills of Appalachia, which is the very definition of a slur. Which means that it is, in fact, in the same category as the word nigger....If we're being technical.

JSS1002 · May 2014

I think they're kind of offensive. I don't really use them. I also think the term "white trash" is HORRIBLY offensive.

bumpuser10199668 · May 2014

JSS1002 said:

I think they're kind of offensive. I don't really use them. I also think the term "white trash" is HORRIBLY offensive.

That's another good one to include. I think what bothered me by some other commenters was saying that because white people didn't have the same history, that these words somehow can't be offensive.

JSS1002 · May 2014

CarmAlarm said:

JSS1002 said:

I think they're kind of offensive. I don't really use them. I also think the term "white trash" is HORRIBLY offensive.

That's another good one to include. I think what bothered me by some other commenters was saying that because white people didn't have the same history, that these words somehow can't be offensive.

To me the white trash term is awful because you're referring to people as trash, but then also qualifying it by saying they are white, which makes it different than if they were another race!? It's just classless.

I have to say that in MN "redneck" and "hillbilly" are not really widely considered offensive, maybe because we are so far north and those terms usually connote a different region. But regardless, I just think it is very classless to refer to a group of people in any way like tha.

mrsdanielleM2010 · May 2014

I tend to think that words have as much or as little power as they're given by whomever is speaking/writing or reading/hearing them. That's why rappers can call each other nigga and country singers can refer to themselves as rednecks all without getting insulted. If you take ownership of something you can pull the sting out a little bit. That said, at my school we define violence as "any thought, word, or action intended to harm" another person. We're in NYC so the hillbilly/redneck terms don't really come up in our context. We've had issues with the n word, spic, and coolie (for the West Indians). The response is always the same. If the word can be perceived as insulting, find a better word.

peanutbuttervibes · May 2014

I think they are offensive but no where near as offensive as the n word.

bumpuser10199668 · May 2014

alexisann4250 said:

I think they are offensive but no where near as offensive as the n word.

That's my main issue. WHY? Why would a slur toward one race be any more or less offensive than a slur to another race?

JSS1002 · May 2014

CarmAlarm said:

alexisann4250 said:

I think they are offensive but no where near as offensive as the n word.

That's my main issue. WHY? Why would a slur toward one race be any more or less offensive than a slur to another race?

I think, and I'm probably wrong, that it is because of the history of slavery in the US. Even though the terms are still really offensive, there is no other group that was systematically discriminated against to the point of ownership by another person.

bumpuser10199668 · May 2014

JSS1002 said:

CarmAlarm said:

alexisann4250 said:

I think they are offensive but no where near as offensive as the n word.

That's my main issue. WHY? Why would a slur toward one race be any more or less offensive than a slur to another race?

I think, and I'm probably wrong, that it is because of the history of slavery in the US. Even though the terms are still really offensive, there is no other group that was systematically discriminated against to the point of ownership by another person.

So we should invalidate the discrimination of Appalachian people as reciprocity?

mrsdanielleM2010 · May 2014

I wonder how much of the offense carried by any of these words is weighted by region. For example with the n word - my black students are like most of my other students - second or third generation Americans with no connection to things that happened 150 years ago except through their history classes. To these kids, the word is primarily a term of endearment among members of anyone in hip hop culture (including the Hispanic and white members of that culture). It only becomes a problem when an outsider uses it as a weapon. Maybe in other parts of the country that's not the same?

bumpuser10199668 · May 2014

mrsdanielleM2010 said:

I wonder how much of the offense carried by any of these words is weighted by region. For example with the n word - my black students are like most of my other students - second or third generation Americans with no connection to things that happened 150 years ago except through their history classes. To these kids, the word is primarily a term of endearment among members of anyone in hip hop culture (including the Hispanic and white members of that culture). It only becomes a problem when an outsider uses it as a weapon. Maybe in other parts of the country that's not the same?

I could see that. And I'm not saying that the suffering of whites in Appalachia should be equated to slavery, obviously. But I also don't think that it is right to minimize the suffering of one group because the suffering of another was 'worse' if that makes sense? I think that entire mindset does nothing but perpetuate racism.

peanutbuttervibes · May 2014

@CarmAlarm‌ I don't consider those terms to be racial slurs. I have cousins who are considered "redneck" and "hillbilly" who are Mexican. Also, I know lots of people who take pride in those labels. But I agree with @mrsdanielleM2010‌ words have power only when people give it to them.
When I was younger someone looked at me with all the hate in the world in their eyes and said "you fucking spic". That stayed with me for a long time and to me I don't see how being called a redneck or hillbilly could equate. Now if someone was called white trash, that's another story...

JustCricket · May 2014

alexisann4250 said:

@CarmAlarm‌ I don't consider those terms to be racial slurs. I have cousins who are considered "redneck" and "hillbilly" who are Mexican. Also, I know lots of people who take pride in those labels. But I agree with @mrsdanielleM2010‌ words have power only when people give it to them. When I was younger someone looked at me with all the hate in the world in their eyes and said "you fucking spic". That stayed with me for a long time and to me I don't see how being called a redneck or hillbilly could equate. Now if someone was called white trash, that's another story...

one of my best friends in HS was from WV. We weren't popular and people were assholes and picked on her. They called her hillbilly and said her family was all inbred and that's why she was so ugly. THAT is how it can equate. Where I grew up... on the edge of suburbia half way to appalachia... people used hillbilly as a way to degrade someone. Used it as a way to tell them that they were worthless pieces of crap. How is that any different than being called white trash or spic (which you said were both not cool)

mrsdanielleM2010 · May 2014

CarmAlarm said:

mrsdanielleM2010 said:

I wonder how much of the offense carried by any of these words is weighted by region. For example with the n word - my black students are like most of my other students - second or third generation Americans with no connection to things that happened 150 years ago except through their history classes. To these kids, the word is primarily a term of endearment among members of anyone in hip hop culture (including the Hispanic and white members of that culture). It only becomes a problem when an outsider uses it as a weapon. Maybe in other parts of the country that's not the same?

I could see that. And I'm not saying that the suffering of whites in Appalachia should be equated to slavery, obviously. But I also don't think that it is right to minimize the suffering of one group because the suffering of another was 'worse' if that makes sense? I think that entire mindset does nothing but perpetuate racism.

I absolutely agree that comparing and ranking the experience of different groups, especially racial groups, is counter productive. Any evil perpetrated against people based on their race is evil, and I don't care if we're talking about millions of Africans forcibly carried to labor in the Americas (40% of all slaves were brought to the Caribbean btw, and 37% to Brazil) or if we're talking about the Mexican seasonal workers suffocating in trucks in California and Florida today, or Eastern European girls being sold as sex workers on Craig's list. Why does it matter which is more wrong?

JSS1002 · May 2014

CarmAlarm said:

JSS1002 said:

CarmAlarm said:

alexisann4250 said:

I think they are offensive but no where near as offensive as the n word.

That's my main issue. WHY? Why would a slur toward one race be any more or less offensive than a slur to another race?

I think, and I'm probably wrong, that it is because of the history of slavery in the US. Even though the terms are still really offensive, there is no other group that was systematically discriminated against to the point of ownership by another person.

So we should invalidate the discrimination of Appalachian people as reciprocity?

No of course not. Who said anything about reciprocity?

bumpuser10199668 · May 2014

@alexisann4250 Of course you don't see how they could be offensive, because they aren't a slur to you unless you are a white person from Appalachia....which judging by your response, you aren't.

To clarify, noun

noun: slur; plural noun: slurs

1.
an insinuation or allegation about someone that is likely to insult them or damage their reputation.

These terms to which I'm referring were invented specifically for the aforementioned purpose, so I'm not sure how they can be anything BUT offensive in that context.

Do I personally get offended? No, because I don't give a shit. Just like when people call me a bitch. Is it offensive, as in capable of evoking offense? Sure. Does it offend ME? No.

But what you're implying is that black people and Mexicans are allowed to be offended but white people aren't. And that's pretty shitty, too.

bumpuser10199668 · May 2014

Also, @alexisann4250 The reason your Mexican cousins aren't offended by the terms hillbilly and redneck are because they are not terms that are meant as derogatory toward Mexicans. If someone called a white person a spic, it isn't going to hold the same weight as it would for you, is it? Of course not.

peanutbuttervibes · May 2014

JustCricket said:

alexisann4250 said:

@CarmAlarm‌ I don't consider those terms to be racial slurs. I have cousins who are considered "redneck" and "hillbilly" who are Mexican. Also, I know lots of people who take pride in those labels. But I agree with @mrsdanielleM2010‌ words have power only when people give it to them.
When I was younger someone looked at me with all the hate in the world in their eyes and said "you fucking spic". That stayed with me for a long time and to me I don't see how being called a redneck or hillbilly could equate. Now if someone was called white trash, that's another story...

one of my best friends in HS was from WV. We weren't popular and people were assholes and picked on her. They called her hillbilly and said her family was all inbred and that's why she was so ugly. THAT is how it can equate. Where I grew up... on the edge of suburbia half way to appalachia... people used hillbilly as a way to degrade someone. Used it as a way to tell them that they were worthless pieces of crap. How is that any different than being called white trash or spic (which you said were both not cool)

I think hillbilly and redneck can be just as offensive depending on the context. But IMO, certain words are offensive regardless of context.

bumpuser10199668 · May 2014

alexisann4250 said:

alexisann4250 said:

@CarmAlarm‌ I don't consider those terms to be racial slurs. I have cousins who are considered "redneck" and "hillbilly" who are Mexican. Also, I know lots of people who take pride in those labels. But I agree with @mrsdanielleM2010‌ words have power only when people give it to them. When I was younger someone looked at me with all the hate in the world in their eyes and said "you fucking spic". That stayed with me for a long time and to me I don't see how being called a redneck or hillbilly could equate. Now if someone was called white trash, that's another story...

one of my best friends in HS was from WV. We weren't popular and people were assholes and picked on her. They called her hillbilly and said her family was all inbred and that's why she was so ugly. THAT is how it can equate. Where I grew up... on the edge of suburbia half way to appalachia... people used hillbilly as a way to degrade someone. Used it as a way to tell them that they were worthless pieces of crap. How is that any different than being called white trash or spic (which you said were both not cool)
I think hillbilly and redneck can be just as offensive depending on the context. But IMO, certain words are offensive regardless of context.

While I can totally get behind what you're saying, your original point said that it wasn't as offensive as nigger. But that word IS used in context in which it isn't considered offensive. Just turn on the radio. So, wouldn't that put them in the same category...the category where it is only offensive based on context?

peanutbuttervibes · May 2014

I think anyone being called a spic would be offended... Also, not trying to imply that white people aren't allowed to be offended. Like I said I white trash is offensive regardless of the context. I wish I had more time or energy to argue with you, but simply do not. I was asked my opinion and gave it, did not mean to offend ANYONE.

MrsLaLaBug · May 2014

I live in the south and racism is def still alive, I don't care who you are. However - I will say this. I absolutely believe that it's all about how you are relaying the message. If you call somebody a wetback, a chink, trailer trash, etc, and you are saying it maliciously, then I would consider that a slur. Personal example - I use the word "Yankee" all the time. Not in a derogatory manner or ever with malice, usually to describe some type of food or mannerism or accent that is not Southern. However, some people will always take offense to any of these terms no matter if the person is using them in a derogatory manner or not. My personal opinion is that 90% of it is the way you are directing the word towards someone else, and 10% what the actual word is. The unfortunate thing is that most if not all of these type of words originated as some sort of racial/ethnic slur, yet still exist in everyday vocabulary and some have crossed over into the realm of what is 'acceptable' within certain groups. So where that line is crossed is really hard to define.

JustCricket · May 2014

alexisann4250 said:

I think anyone being called a spic would be offended... Also, not trying to imply that white people aren't allowed to be offended. Like I said I white trash is offensive regardless of the context. I wish I had more time or energy to argue with you, but simply do not. I was asked my opinion and gave it, did not mean to offend ANYONE.

I think the same can be said of the word hick. I have NEVER heard that word used in a good way. And honestly, I don't ever think I've ever heard the word hillbilly used in a positive light either. Maybe occasionally I'll hear it in a joking manner where someone referred to themselves as a hillbilly, maybe. White trash, I've heard people growing up call themselves "poor white trash". So I wouldn't say that's offensive either (when used like that). I have no experience with spic b/c I didn't grow up around a big hispanic population. I think all of those words are pretty offensive, unless a person is referring to themselves as that.

I think the moral of this is, if someone is an asshole, call them an asshole, no need to drag race or culture into it. If someone is uneducated, call them uneducated, no need to drag anything else into it. If someone is a dumbass... call them a dumbass (not any other offensive term).

eta- clarification

peanutbuttervibes · May 2014

@CarmAlarm‌ yes in my original post I did say that. From my experience thus far, that is how I felt. However, I see what you are saying. Who am I to determine the correct amount of offense one takes when certain words are used?

bumpuser10199668 · May 2014

@alexisann4250‌ and like I said, I see where you're coming from. In reality, those terms don't bother me because I don't care. But would I want someone slinging them at my family in a malicious manner? No. And I wouldn't want anyone else to have to hear what you heard, either.

Side note:

Intent is a powerful thing, and I think minimizing the suffering of any group in favor of the suffering of another is a very dangerous path that society has a tendency to take. Like @mrsdanielleM2010‌ said... We do need to remove the power from these words. But in order for that to ever truly happen, I think ALL groups need to put the proverbial foot down and say these slurs are not okay for YOU to use about us and they are not okay for US to she about us.

Black people using nigga freely and with a positive connotation, girls saying bitch and whore as terms of endearment, country songs singing about being a redneck.... All of these contribute to the brother rather than take away from it because who is paying attention? Kids. And all kids see is that it's okay for some people to say it. So they say it. And the cycle begins again

Dawson56 · May 2014

I'm black & in regards to the comments about rappers using the n-word and it being in movies, I'm not a rapper nor am I an actress. Rappers do not represent me or my family in anyway. So, yes I am highly offended when the word is used by any race, so the argument that blacks can use it and it's a form of endearment is really bullshit, because you can't generalize an entire race like that. I don't use that word and neither does my husband. So that argument to me is not only ignorant, but also null & void.

In regards to the original issue and the terms in question, they are all derogatory. People that stoop to slanging racial slurs of any sort, are usually not worth a damn anyway.

brittneyandadam · May 2014

I think it's a regional thing. "Hick" and "hillbilly" aren't really used around here. People use "red neck" with pride to describe themselves and it's actually a thing now...at least in upstate NY.

I've never heard any of those terms used in a derogatory manner.

trebekastan · May 2014

ravelleb56 said:

I'm black & in regards to the comments about rappers using the n-word and it being in movies, I'm not a rapper nor am I an actress. Rappers do not represent me or my family in anyway. So, yes I am highly offended when the word is used by any race, so the argument that blacks can use it and it's a form of endearment is really bullshit, because you can't generalize an entire race like that. I don't use that word and neither does my husband. So that argument to me is not only ignorant, but also null & void. In regards to the original issue and the terms in question, they are all derogatory. People that stoop to slanging racial slurs of any sort, are usually not worth a damn anyway.

I totally agree with this. I grew up on the south side of Chicago and have seen this go both ways. I know people who have adopted "nigga" along the same lines as I call my friends "bitch" an "whore". (I know, I'm klassy) I also know people on the opposite spectrum (who all happen to be highly educated and a bit removed from the segregation of their childhoods) who find the term to be offensive and they refuse to be defined by the rap culture that they have no interest in.

JustCricket · May 2014

MermaidsMagic said:

In allignment with what I said in Parenting, I have never known anyone who was actually offended by the terms redneck or hillbilly. My friends in Oklahoma wore it with a sense of pride. The only time I have ever heard anyone say they were offended by such terms is when they were being racist dicks saying "well, if they can say cracker, I can call someone a nigger." And in the case that brought it to Parenting, I think the woman started crying offense after she had called the man a nigger.

Oklahoma is probably one of those regions that doesn't really understand the background of hick/hillbilly, hence why you've never seen it used in a bad way.

The more that I see responses, I'm thinking this is a very region specific insult. I just never knew people didn't see all the negative connotations that come along with the words hick and hillbilly. I have NEVER seen anyone wear the label hillbilly with pride in or around the Applachia area... and I'm thinking it's b/c that word was created to specifically insult and degrade people from the region, who weren't as well off or 'educated' as someone not from there. A way the city folk could insult those who they thought were lesser people. And for people who didn't know about the shit conditions in the region.. do yourself a favor and google it. It was really eye opening to me to realize people who lived an hour away from me (or less than an hour away from me) didn't have running water and were living in 3rd world conditions.

trebekastan · May 2014

JustCricket said:

MermaidsMagic said:

In allignment with what I said in Parenting, I have never known anyone who was actually offended by the terms redneck or hillbilly. My friends in Oklahoma wore it with a sense of pride. The only time I have ever heard anyone say they were offended by such terms is when they were being racist dicks saying "well, if they can say cracker, I can call someone a nigger." And in the case that brought it to Parenting, I think the woman started crying offense after she had called the man a nigger.

Oklahoma is probably one of those regions that doesn't really understand the background of hick/hillbilly, hence why you've never seen it used in a bad way.

The more that I see responses, I'm thinking this is a very region specific insult. I just never knew people didn't see all the negative connotations that come along with the words hick and hillbilly. I have NEVER seen anyone wear the label hillbilly with pride in or around the Applachia area... and I'm thinking it's b/c that word was created to specifically insult and degrade people from the region, who weren't as well off or 'educated' as someone not from there. A way the city folk could insult those who they thought were lesser people. And for people who didn't know about the shit conditions in the region.. do yourself a favor and google it. It was really eye opening to me to realize people who lived an hour away from me (or less than an hour away from me) didn't have running water and were living in 3rd world conditions.

I bet they don't even have cups!

bumpuser10199668 · May 2014

@ravelleb56‌ of course that group doesn't represent an entire race, that's not what I was implying. But yes SOME do use it as endearment just like many have come on here to claim redneck is a badge of pride. Just because those people say it isn't offensive, doesn't mean it isn't.

whitney4126 · May 2014

I have lived in small-town Kentucky my entire life (except for college and law school, in which I lived in a bigger city in Kentucky). I do not find redneck, hillbilly, or hick offensive, nor do most of the people I know. My DH would probably be considered by most, including himself, a redneck. Believe it or not, redneck is even a term of endearment for some where I live. However, I think any term can be offensive, depending on the intent of the speaker and the context in which it is spoken. I personally do not find it to be on the same scale as a racial slur, but intellectually, I can understand the argument as to why it would be just the same. Maybe it is because I have grown up within the class of people who these labels were largely used toward, and yet who freely used these terms ourselves. Maybe deep down I do feel that I have some sort of privilege to use those terms (not that I even use them very often at all), that outsiders do not have. I don't know; I've never really thought about it until now.

Also, I am referring mostly to the term redneck, as hillbilly and hick aren't as commonly thrown around where I live.

bumpuser10199668 · May 2014

MermaidsMagic said:
In allignment with what I said in Parenting, I have never known anyone who was actually offended by the terms redneck or hillbilly. My friends in Oklahoma wore it with a sense of pride. The only time I have ever heard anyone say they were offended by such terms is when they were being racist dicks saying "well, if they can say cracker, I can call someone a nigger." And in the case that brought it to Parenting, I think the woman started crying offense after she had called the man a nigger.

But your friends in Oklahoma are not the people to whom the term hillbilly is intended to be offensive. So it would make sense they aren't offended because they don't get it.

Also, I don't think that racial or regional slurs should ever be used because someone else gets to. If someone calls me a hillbilly, and I get offended, that doesn't suddenly give me the right to be offensive to another group in retaliation.

bumpuser10199668 · May 2014

lstrejcek said:

JustCricket said:

MermaidsMagic said:

In allignment with what I said in Parenting, I have never known anyone who was actually offended by the terms redneck or hillbilly. My friends in Oklahoma wore it with a sense of pride. The only time I have ever heard anyone say they were offended by such terms is when they were being racist dicks saying "well, if they can say cracker, I can call someone a nigger." And in the case that brought it to Parenting, I think the woman started crying offense after she had called the man a nigger.

Oklahoma is probably one of those regions that doesn't really understand the background of hick/hillbilly, hence why you've never seen it used in a bad way.

The more that I see responses, I'm thinking this is a very region specific insult. I just never knew people didn't see all the negative connotations that come along with the words hick and hillbilly. I have NEVER seen anyone wear the label hillbilly with pride in or around the Applachia area... and I'm thinking it's b/c that word was created to specifically insult and degrade people from the region, who weren't as well off or 'educated' as someone not from there. A way the city folk could insult those who they thought were lesser people. And for people who didn't know about the shit conditions in the region.. do yourself a favor and google it. It was really eye opening to me to realize people who lived an hour away from me (or less than an hour away from me) didn't have running water and were living in 3rd world conditions.

I bet they don't even have cups!

I guess I take the socioeconomic oppression more personally considering many of my students don't have running water. I don't think any oppression, even verbally, is acceptable. But I don't think that racial slurs should be on a different tier than socioeconomic or regional slurs:

mana8503 · May 2014

My mom is from WV. I was called a hillbilly when I was young by a neighborhood boy because I never wore shoes in the summer. I got the gist of cracker, buck tooth, etc but being from a rural area in PA by Philly I had no idea about hillbilly... My mom got mad because she said essentially what @JustCricket‌ said it means your poor, inbred, etc.

Now my dad and H are from Western North Carolina. My dad never really used the terms but he said "if it means poor, well we were! But everyone was. No one had indoor pumping, but we all got feed, we had gardens, cows, went fishing, hunting, sold tobacco, went to school. I wouldn't trade it for anything".

My H hates the term redneck because it's usually used with stupid. He is ok with hillbilly. Hell it's his screenname for things. He just doesn't like to be stereotyped at stupid or slow because he has a southern accent (we live above Baltimore now).

I've called myself a redneck... I grew up in a small town with farms, trucks, country music and such. But my cousins in NC call me a Yankee. I guess I side with my dad... Well, I live in the north so I guess so! They never meant it meanly. I'm their Yankee cousin.

Idk where I'm going with this. Seems regional, and how you mean it. I don't use the terms much anymore, unless singing a country song with it in it. If anything, I call H my mountain man, even if friends call him hillbilly, Gomer, etc.

bumpuser10199668 · May 2014

@Ziongirl77‌ your last line sums it all up.

NClady89 · May 2014

I haven't been on much but I think this is a good topic. To me redneck is not really that bad and wouldn't upset me to hear but I think hillbilly and hick are offensive and were made and meant to be offensive. Being from a small town in NC these are things I hear us called often and I can tell you they are not meant in a nice way.

Around here though Yankee and Flor-idiot are used in the same manner for people "not from here" so there's that too.
I also agree with @Ziongirl77‌ everyone can tell what's offensive and what's not.

JulyMomma2U2 · May 2014

I could see how these labels could be offensive, but as others said I think it has more to do with intent and location. I call my hubby a hillbilly wannabe all the time because he's constantly watching mountain monsters, moonshiners, swamp people, duck dynasty etc and in most of those shows they refer to themselves as hillbillies and rednecks.. In my area, it's not a derogatory term, but probably because of what OP mentioned about it really not carrying any significance here in NJ.. Although, my GF from college lives in WV and throws those words around all the time without any seeming offense, so maybe it's a personal thing?

bumpuser5078523 · May 2014

I haven't read all the responses, I didn't want to lose my original thought.

I live in Montana, I was also born here. Hillbilly and hick can be either to me. Depends on the context and intent. Redneck isn't usually offensive. I can't stand when people get redneck and white trash mixed up. White trash is not something you want to be called.

Redneck is someone who loves their truck, country, works their butt off, and lives in camo.

White trash is someone who lives in filth, doesn't shower or groom regularly. They usually live off of assistance and lower their standards so they don't have to work.

ETA - I completely agree with those who said intent is everything. (Except for the n word. I can't stand that one. Not sure why that one bothers me more than others, that's a great question). I say black, but I also say white. I can't stand when someone is offended by someone calling them black, when they sit there calling someone white or crackers. I think it goes both ways. Also, hating white people because they oppressed your ancestors doesn't make any sense. You are doing the same thing in a way.

bumpuser10199668 · May 2014

So, this topic has been really intriguing to me, so I decided to take it to my students. Since they fit the stereotypes that these words are geared toward (99.999% white, 90% free or reduced lunch, living in the heart of Appalachia, some without running water in their homes).

They taught me a few very important lessons on perspective.

Many of us on this thread said we thought intent is what really made the difference. But I discovered that history and exposure is EXTREMELY important. As was mentioned, the words DO have a history that I don't think can be diminished simply by saying that the history of oppression for black was worse (even though it was). The difference is being AWARE of the history.

My students knew that there were terms that were offensive for other races. They know this because they are 11-13 year old white kids who have been taught by many a teacher (or counselor, in my case) to not use these terms. These terms are discussed and acknowledged as bad, and you get in trouble for saying them.

The problem is, we don't teach kids nearly as much about respecting themselves as we do about respecting others. We don't discuss that people may look down on you because you're poor or white because in these school, they are ALL poor and white. So they don't see the distinction between themselves and others yet...and they sure don't comprehend how other whites could possibly discriminate against them because the only other whites they know are just like them.

They didn't know that words like hick or hillbilly had a history that involved being invented to mock people like themselves because the oppression of white people from a low socioeconomic class isn't a news feature like the oppression of other groups. No, the news depicts these people as uneducated 'white trash' that feeds off of our tax dollars. There aren't stories about people standing up and saying 'HEY! It isn't okay to call me that/do that/say that about my family" like there are for other minorities, so they don't get the impression that what they hear about themselves is all that bad....or false.

I can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing...because when you think about minority students in a school like mine, you know that they are PAINFULLY aware of the discrimination they COULD face..whether they are or not. You know those students are acutely aware of all situations and comments because they've grown up with them.

My white students, on the other hand, have no base for comparison. They don't hear what people call them or why they call them that, so they are blissfully unaware of the hate that faces them around the country.

Neither situation sounds ideal for our children, and it makes me sad.

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