Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 22:04:10 -0500

From: "David A. Johns" djohns[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]PEACHNET.CAMPUS.MCI.NET

Subject: Re: redneck, nigger, good ole boy, kicker, etc.



At 07:51 PM 10/27/97 -0500, Bethany wrote:



I surveyed my favorite good ole boys (some of whom are women) at a

party

last night. (The average person in the group has about 2.3 academic

degrees.) Every one of them grew up as a redneck, learned that

redneck is

not a compliment when applied by someone outside the South, and now

claims the word as a symbol of respect for her/his humble origins

in

the rural South. It is more comforable for men to do this than

women, says

the group.



Can "redneck" apply to blacks or Mexicans in that group?



It seems to me that the issue is the same one surrounding the

inclusion of the Confederate battle flag in the state flags of South

Carolina, Georgia, and Mississippi, or the use of that flag or the

Li'l Reb mascot for high schools throughout the South. In these

contexts, the non-rednecks or non-fans-of-the-Confederacy are a

captive membership.



This issue is not "political correctness", whatever that means this

month, but tyranny of the majority.



--

David Johns

Waycross College

Waycross, GA 31501