Rednecks are Stupid
Why is it socially acceptable to make fun of low-income white Southerners, but it's not acceptable to make fun of other ethnic groups? Imagine if I titled this post... damn I can't even type it. Ummm... You know, the derogatory term for African Americans. Or what if it were a derogatory term for Asians, or Indians, or homosexuals? I feel like I can get away with typing "redneck" or "hillbilly" or "white trash" but I don't feel comfortable typing defamatory terms for other groups. What the fuck is going on here?
The answer: Double standard.
This all started with an email forward. A friend sent this to my work account and copied several other people's work accounts:
Subject: Got to love AlabamaÂ
A guy from Alabama passed away and left his entire estate to his beloved widow, but she can't touch it 'til she's 14.
How do you know when you're staying in an Alabama hotel?
When you call the front desk and say, "I gotta leak in my sink," and the clerk replies, "Go ahead."How can you tell if a Alabama redneck is married?
There's dried tobacco juice on both sides of his pickup truck.Did you hear that they have raised the minimum drinking age in Alabama to 32?
It seems they want to keep alcohol out of the high schools.What do they call reruns of "Hee Haw" in Alabama?
Documentaries.Where was the toothbrush invented?
Alabama. If it had been invented anywhere else, it would have been called a teeth brush.An Alabama State trooper pulls over a pickup on I-65 and says to the driver, "Got any I.D.?" and the driver replies "Bout wut?"
Did you hear about the $3 million Alabama State Lottery?
The winner gets $3.00 a year for a million years.The governor's mansion in Alabama burned down! Yep. Pert' near took out the whole trailer park. The library was a total loss too. Both books-poofed! up in flames and he hadn't even finished coloring one of them.
A new law was recently passed in Alabama. When a couple gets divorced, they are STILL cousins.
A guy walks into a bar in Alabama and orders a mudslide.
The bartender looks at the man and says, "You ain't from 'round here are ya?
"No," replies the man, "I'm from Arkansas".
The bartender looks at him and says, "Well, what do ya do in Arkansas?"
"I'm a taxidermist," said the man.
The bartender, looking very bewildered now, asks, "What in the world is a tax-e-derm-ist?
"The man says,"I mount animals".
The bartender stands back and hollers to the whole bar..."It's okay boys, he's one of us!"
I'm genuinely conflicted about this. If this is funny and it's okay to belittle Southerners, then I honestly believe it should be okay to make fun of other ethnic groups. If it's not socially acceptable to make fun of other races, then maybe people shouldn't feel so comfortable sending these types of emails to their friends' work accounts.
Side note:
Yes, I have family and friends in Alabama... Virginia... Tennessee... Kentucky... Ohio, etc.  But no, I am not offended. I actually think some of these jokes are pretty funny. I just wonder what would happen if I sent an email to my coworkers that was filled with jokes about Asians or African Americans, etc. Fuck. I don't wonder. I know. I'd surely be reprimanded if not fired.
Side note 2:
It's not just rednecks. There are other groups you can make fun of without getting in trouble: women, men, homosexuals, little people, the mentally challenged, etc.  I decided to use PC terms here, but would you really be pissed off if I typed "retards" or "midgets?"
Side note 3:
I'm guilty. I've made fun of a H's British accent. I've called Barnd a "fag." I've called Ev a "bitch" and a "redneck." I've called Kev a "retard." Sometimes funny's funny.
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April 11th, 2006 - 10:04
I am totally with you on this. I’ve said so from the beginning. I think it’s utter bullshit that it’s a-okay to make fun of one group, but not ok to make fun of others. It’s bullshit.
And you know what? I’m sick to death of it. From now on, I’m going to be even more offensive. Political correct-ness is ruining our ability to take a fucking joke.
April 11th, 2006 - 10:30
i think the real question here is why your ‘friend’ was forwarding shit like this to your WORK account instead of your personal account. even if it is making fun of an acceptable group to mock, it’s still inappropriate for work.
we can make fun of gays because gays still don’t have any rights to speak of. and it was okay to make fun of blacks until they started getting rights. granted, in some cultures/places, it will always be okay to make fun of blacks and gays…. and by okay i mean socially acceptable.
i think being able to make fun of hillbillies and white trash is acceptable because of white guilt. i cant’ say why exactly, but i think it stems from that.
April 11th, 2006 - 10:44
When I met someone for the first time and he found out I lived in Georgia, he called me a sheep fucker.
Did I get offended? No, even though some of us fuck other livestock than just sheep.
Okay, bad joke.
April 11th, 2006 - 11:20
I believe it is unacceptble to make fun of certain groups because they can’t change their circumstances (ie- african americans, gays, jewish, mentally challenged, handicapped, etc.)
“Rednecks” may be born into their surroundings but are afforded the opportunity to become educated and flourish in a capitlistic society.
April 11th, 2006 - 11:37
Up here in Canaduh, we have Newfies (Newfoundlanders), and they don’t mind the jokes. In NewBrunswick there’s a few towns that would fit the redneck category too. But it’s all in fun.
It’s a shame that other ethnic groups just don’t have the sence of, “Ha-ha.”
But that’s my opinion, and you’re entitled to it.
April 11th, 2006 - 15:34
Ev:
Reminds me of that classic line from The Big Chill:
“Fuck ‘em if they can’t take a joke.”
Sarah:
“because of white guilt”
I’d say that’s valid. And it’s actually a pretty good excuse.
Nunya:
Don’t sell yourself short. I think that was pretty damn funny.
Marc:
I’m trying to think of another group that can change their circumstances, but still get ridiculed…. How about obese people? Is It socially acceptable to make fun? Seems like fat jokes are also pervasive.
MacBros:
I just learned that term a few months ago. Until then, I had no idea that Canada had rednecks. Fascinating!
April 11th, 2006 - 15:44
i grew up in a double-wide trailer. does that mean i get to use “redneck” freely?
April 11th, 2006 - 15:47
It’s sort of poking fun at yourself, but not quite. That is to say, taking ‘white’ as a whole, it’s acceptable to crack jokes about sub-groups such as ‘rednecks’ or ‘white trash’.
I mean, look at the Boondocks. Had Aaron McGruder been white, he’d have been..well..doesn’t matter. He wouldn’t have been able to do the Boondocks had he been white. Would have been termed racist. But that’s the point. A person can be mean/satirize his/her own ethnic group and get away with it.
But, as Marc pointed out, it becomes unacceptable when the joke is about someone/a group with unchangable circumstances, such as religion and sexual orientation. Or hair colour.
–
hope you make sense of that incoherent comment.
April 11th, 2006 - 15:48
And yes, hair colour can be changed, but ’tis a genetic thing.
April 11th, 2006 - 16:09
In my section of Canadia some people use the term “redneck” as a positive attribute, like its a “boys will be boys/ buddy works hard and plays hard” kinda bullsheeyit. Yah. Its fucked.
And they are usually the first people to get alarmed and start calling people “queers” when you inform them that Brokeback Mountain was filmed 20 minutes from their hometown.
April 11th, 2006 - 16:29
Soviet:
Absolutely. Kind of reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where the dentist converted to Judaism just for the jokes.
Antickpix:
I’m so glad you brought up hair color… I hadn’t even thought about blonde jokes. Are those okay?
JuicyA:
I think that’s how the term “redneck” originated. Farmers working outside all day would get red necks from the sun. Then again, it’s just a guess. I have nothing to back up that theory. The term “white trash” is obvious. And “hillbilly” refers to people living in the Appalachian hills. Ohhh… I just thought of another one: “cracker.” I’ve heard that “cracker” refers to slave masters who “cracked” the whip. Again, I have nothing to back that up.
April 11th, 2006 - 16:40
Thanks, JJ! Us rednecks have a twisted sense of humor. I think it comes from all those years of inbreeeeeeeeding. Or maybe hunting down people who trespass and eating their remains, not sure which.
April 11th, 2006 - 16:45
Blew my mind one time when a friend pointed out that “white trash” implies that other races are automatically “trash”. And if the trash is white, it has to be pointed out. Totally took my awareness to the next level.
Then I drank that brain cell away until I read this. I’ll be drinking it away again tonight. I don’t take offense when people make fun of alcoholics. (I just drunkenly bludgeon them while laughing.)
April 11th, 2006 - 16:48
having just moved to a more remote suburb of georgia, i can relate to the whole redneck jokes more so than before… let’s face it, they do things a little different than the main stream… like hauling big loads of horse crap down one of the main roadways and just letting large piles of it fall out onto the traffic behind… anyway, don’t forget it’s okay to make fun of the polish, but that’s kind of going out of style… and in georgia it is socially acceptable to poke fun of mexicans and any hispanic immigrants… hell, the georgia legislature is…
April 11th, 2006 - 17:33
I think obese people CAN change their circumstances, JJ. Diet, exercise, etc.
April 11th, 2006 - 17:38
Shirley:
Yes! That’s another group I associate myself with: alcoholics. Sad but true.
Trav:
Good one. I think the Polish jokes have all been morphed into blonde jokes, etc.
Marc:
Yeah, that’s what I’m sayin’. Like rednecks taking advantage of our capitalist economy.
April 11th, 2006 - 17:39
Shirley, I don’t think “white trash” automatically assumes all other races are trash. It points out the trash within the white race. I’m sure you can have “black trash” or “asian trash” just as those races have individuals who are not trash.
April 11th, 2006 - 18:01
Jeff Foxworthy: you know you’re redneck when your gunrack, has a gunrack on it.
Stewie: you suck!!!
best family guy episode ever.
April 11th, 2006 - 19:39
Oh so Trav understands the whole sheep fucker thing. Cool!
April 11th, 2006 - 21:13
I take comfort in the fact that not all southerners are rednecks and not all rednecks are southern.
April 11th, 2006 - 21:22
Sometimes it’s a rough call JJ. But you also have to have a sense of humor about yourself. I don’t get offended by gay jokes and I use the f** term quite a bit myself. I think it’s all about the source and the meaning behind it.
April 11th, 2006 - 22:37
Marc – yeah, I don’t personally take offense to white trash. But my friend made me think about how there is a meaning behind the fact that we only say “white trash” and don’t refer to “black trash” or “asian trash”. There’s something implied there, like it’s a deviation from being white to be trash. Whereas other races can just be ghetto.
But overall, I agree with JJ. I take a lot of jokes about me & my own subset of people, and I tend to like people that can do the same. Who likes anyone that takes him/herself too seriously?
April 12th, 2006 - 00:04
Solution to all this debate about what’s acceptable and what’s not:
Use them all freely and don’t discriminate. Call everyone some sort of degrading term. If we can incorporate all those words into our vocabularly they’ll lose their meaning and the fuck-tards that use them in demeaning fashion won’t know wha to do. And as I’m assuming those fuck-tards aren’t smart enough to figure out new racist terms we’ll be all set.
April 12th, 2006 - 00:06
Cecil – Fuck-tards is insulting to both fucks and tards.
April 12th, 2006 - 09:01
Fucktards may be an insulting word to some but it is an awesome word nonetheless.
April 12th, 2006 - 11:50
i think it’s illegal in norway or someplace to crack blonde jokes..
well..everyone is blonde there..
April 12th, 2006 - 13:23
Jimmy:
You might be a redneck if you gre up in a small town in Florida known for oranges and cattle. Jeff Foxworthy sucks!!
Crazy:
True. And “redneck” isn’t necessarily specific to gender, religion, sexual orientation, or even race. I suppose it would be possible to be a gay redneck, or a Jewish redneck, etc. ….. Why do I use “etc” so much?
Ron:
And yet you didn’t type out “fag.” Hmmmm… My brother is a big proponent of the word “queer.” After he gets to know someone, like when he meets my friends or whatever, this conversation might happen:
-Brother: “Yeah, I saw that movie with my boyfriend last week.”
-Friend: “Oh.. You have a boyfriend?”
-Brother: “Yeah, I’m queer.”
It’s actually sorta funny hearing it from him. I guess you’d have to be there.
Cecil B.:
I’ve heard that theory before. You overuse the word and take all the meaning out of it. I’d like to think that’s true, but the derogatory term for African American is waaaay overused in hip hop, rap, and certain movies. But that word still carries a hell of a sting.
Antickpix:
Funny. Blonde jokes must be Scandanavia’s version of Polish jokes.
April 12th, 2006 - 22:25
blonde jokes are bullshit
(not bitter)
April 12th, 2006 - 22:57
As a southerner, I have no problems with making fun of Alabamians. I’ve known enough of them to realize the stereotypes are mostly true. Shit, I live in Florida, where you can’t swing a rotten cat without hitting a gray hair, and nothing makes me laugh harder than jokes about Florida as the place where the rest of y’ins go to die.
April 15th, 2006 - 12:46
I think the deliverer can make fun of their “own people” and others take it as funny. That’s why when black people make black jokes, it’s construed as funny, but let a white guy tell it, you hear crickets in the background. I can tell Asian jokes and people will take it as funny because it’s my peeps. It’s not right, but there ya go. We shouldn’t discriminate, share the racist jokes.
October 4th, 2006 - 07:23
But rednecks are stupid!!!!!
October 4th, 2006 - 07:48
Good point, Kim. Good point.