Comment by temp10298385 | Hacker News Reader

Comment by temp10298385 | Hacker News Reader

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Perhaps but lets remember why it is rightfully separated from other more controversial slurs. Call me a redneck and I would mostly be confused as I am not a 1. uneducated, 2. rural, 3. from the American south, 4. poor. It is an insult for sure, and is mostly (perhaps exclusively) directed towards white people. Though it has a lot of qualifiers that in my view make it more of a classist insult rather than a racial slur.

I'm not condoning its use, just pointing out why it is in an entirely different ball park than the N-word, which when used implies an inherent racial inferiority that is simply not present in the term redneck. In fact, the classist connotation of 'redneck' implies that there are different types of 'whites' that take into account their background and behavior. The n-word, or similar slurs, reduces a person to only their race. I mean, the word simply means black. Even if redneck as a term applied to me I'd rather be insulted over my socioeconomic status rather than some unavoidable defect inherent to my pigmentation.

> In fact, the classist connotation of 'redneck' implies that there are different types of 'whites' that take into account their background and behavior. The n-word, or similar slurs, reduces a person to only their race.

Some years ago I had a (US) southerner explain the same distinction between their using both the terms "n---ers" and "black".

You mean that he asserted that his use of the n-word only had behavioural and socioeconomic implications and not racial?

He might honestly intend it that way but I feel like he is very misguided. He could use the n-word to target someone with a PhD and see if his assertion holds. Would the targeted person respond with confusion as he does not fit the bill? Or would he interpret the slur for what it is, a word most often used to denigrate someone for their skin tone.

I assume you are using this anecdote as a counterargument against my claim that redneck is more classist than racial. My response would be to point out that white people frequently call other white people rednecks. Surely it would be absurd to think that white people do this to disparage whiteness. There is, in my mind, a racial qualifier when using redneck but the racial qualifier is not the insult.

> I assume you are using this anecdote as a counterargument against my claim that redneck is more classist than racial

No, I'm saying that similar to as you describe redneck usage, his n usage was contingent upon class & behavior, and not just the race.

Sorry, I misunderstood you.

Were you convinced with that defence? In any case, he must understand that his usage of the word is inflammatory and will be perceived as mainly racially contingent. As long as he is aware that people will assume racist intent when he uses the n word his claim is entirely invalidated.

I mean, if I called a disabled person retarded and claimed that I am simply referring to his declining state of acceleration I doubt anyone will let that pass. Two people are involved in an insult, the insulter and the insulted. The insulter can't define the meaning as if words exist in a vacuum. The insulted is free to take offence at perceived intent if this perception falls within the realm of reasonable possibility.

So calling a black person a “redneck” would be reasonable? I actually agree, and Thomas Sowell, a leading black intellectual would too:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Rednecks_and_White_Lib...

That guy is most definitely not a “leading Black intellectual.” He makes his living arguing that Black people are measurably lesser than white people.

I've watch some of his videos. He's basically the Robin DiAngelo of black people.

I subscribe to a descriptive rather then a prescriptive view of language. It is "reasonable" to use a term if the usage conforms to how the term is understood by the people using it.

In Sowell's case he uses the term to make a point. The white connotations of "redneck" is apparent as it conveys his thesis that blacks in America got their culture from rural whites.

My point is not that "redneck" is not a racial slur because it could hypothetically be used against non-whites. I guess it can but I have never heard it in practice, save for Sowell's rhetorical use. My point is rather that a white person can use it against another white person, in a derogatory manner, without invoking statements about racial inferiority. In the majority of cases that I've heard someone use the term "redneck" it is one white person insulting another white person's behaviour or background. Clearly this implies something like classism rather than racism.

Speaking of Thomas Sowell, I think he is mistaken regarding black culture. James B. Stewart has formulated a good critique of his stance, if you are interested.

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