July 3rd: American Redneck Day
Every year on July 3, people all throughout the U.S.A. observe American Redneck Day. In the South where individuals are more frequently referred to as rednecks, the celebrations are loudest. American Redneck Day is a day set aside for those who identify as rednecks to celebrate their culture and shed the term’s negative connotations.
Redneck is a term used to describe white Americans from rural backgrounds who are seen as crude and unpolished. The term “redneck,” which was once used to characterize farmers and coal miners, is now employed in many different contexts. Even in the early days when the term was supposed to refer to a poor and illiterate white farmer, southern farmers proudly referred to themselves as rednecks, despite the fact that it has been used in derogatory ways. Although the phrase has always been insulting, it has gotten worse with time. Currently, calling someone a redneck implies that they are a white American who is prejudiced, resistant to change, and unable to adapt.
As people urged American Rednecks to wear their label with pride, rally behind various causes, and defend their interests, the term grew more and more politicized over time. Many people in the South now use the term to describe themselves and take pride in being American Rednecks!
Despite the negative connotations, the visability of rednecks in popular culture altered the meaning of the term and elevated rednecks to supercool status. The 1970s brought “Redneck chic.” This saw it as fashionable to be viewed as a redneck, and the connotations of race or class were not a part of it. Instead, it involved many people pretending to be rednecks, in areas such as their dress — by wearing western clothes — and in the music they listened to — by listening to country music, such as the Outlaw sounds of Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. In the 1980s, there began to be more “upscale rednecks,” mirroring films such as Urban Cowboy, while at the same time there were still actual poor “rednecks.” In the 1990s, the country music boom and the rise of blue collar-comedians such as Jeff Foxworthy brought the redneck aesthetic to an even wider audience, and like the “Redneck chic” of the 1970s and the upscale Urban Cowboys of the 1980s, it to had an underlying level of sophistication to it. For example, many of the country music stars and comedians of the time, and up to the present day, were college-educated and wealthy, while marketing their material to a working-class and non-college-educated audience. The meaning of the phrase has evolved into a sign of group identity, as comedians, actors, and contemporary singers have adopted their redneck ancestry and wear the title with pride!
Read more about the history of American Rednecks here:
https://medium.com/martiansvs/redneck-and-proud-522b6a9a639b
How will you be celebrating American Redneck Day?
