> All weekend long I've been bombarded with
> references to "rednecks". Living in the south, I
> can't help but notice that it's okay to make fun
> of those who are poor or prefer to farm instead
> of putting on a suit and sitting in an office all
> day. It's okay to label an entire region of the
> United States as redneck because we're
> southern and have a drawl and must be
> stupid. The term redneck is, in the minds of
> hundreds of people I have spoken with, on the
> same prejudice, stereotypical, racist level as
> many other derogatory terms. Words such as
> ni--er, sp--k, no--k, etc., etc., that are SO taboo
> that you can be taken to court for muttering
> them refer to the same type of stereotypes as
> the term redneck does, but it is overlooked.
> Recently the matter of the Confederate flag
> has been all over the news. Well, in my
> opinion the flag should've come down. NOT
> because it represents slavery but because it
> is no longer representative of the
> Confederacy. The Civil War was not fought
> over slavery. As a matter of fact, President
> Lincoln didn't enact the Emancipation
> Proclimation until the war was almost over
> because he knew that northerners would not
> fight to free slavery and that he would have no
> army. As a matter of fact, the KKK is
> everywhere. Recently the New England KKK
> declared the Confederate Flag as part of their
> "culture". What incredible bull. That flag does
> not stand for slavery or supremacy. There is
> just so much bigotry and prejudice in this
> country over things that people aren't that
> educated in. I come from the south, I've lived in
> rural America my entire life. I'm proud of the
> south. I'm not poor, I'm not stupid. I have a
> masters degree and make over $100,000 a
> year. If people are supposed to abandon
> stereotypes about minority groups, why can't
> everyone get rid of the stereotypes about the
> people who live in the South?

I'm pretty much in agreement with everything you said, so I'm going to respond without reading all of those other responses. I'll get to them later.
All of us Rednecks are not bigots. Just like all Yankees are not bigots. But some Rednecks and some Yankees are. I often poke a little fun at Rednecks in general, but I go easy on them. I don't go easy on the ones that are bigots. I sometimes get a little ticked at Yankees who sterotype Southerners, but then I see humor in their ignorance, and I get over it. I've traveled extensively in this country and have experienced bigotry just because of a Tennessee license plate. I wear shoes, I don't drink alcohol, I don't live in a cabin, I don't own a mule, I have an education, and I speak English almost as well as Redneck.

One of my favorite ways of making fun of bigots is to mock them a little. For example, I might say, "A master's degree and a hundred grand! Not bad for a woman." I'm really making fun of the bigot who might say that with some degree of seriousness. I never finished my masters and I never made $100,000 a year, but for people who do, all I can say is, "Good for you!" I don't envy anybody's success.

Speaking of the gender thing; Until we retired, my wife made more money as a secretary than I did as a teacher. Not a problem. I even helped her spend it.

I like living in the south. I like southern people, and I don't care if they are black, or uneducated, or rich or poor, or have a red neck.
I remember ordering a ham sandwich at the Memphis airport once. (I was returning from a long trip and was still an hour, by jet, from home.) The black lady behind the counter handed it to me and said, "Do you want something to drink with that, Honey?" I was home.
Howard