[speeder]

I agree that it is economics and opportunity that separates people more than ethnicity, and that poor whites have a lot in common w/ poor blacks or poor (fill in the blank)s. I'm also sure that redneck could be a hurtful term, but the difference to me is that it refers to a certain cultural type whereas the "N" word refers to all black people when used derisively. "Guilty for being born", you know?

Fortunately, hard-core racism is on the decline IMO, but it's a long slow process. Progress is measured in decades, but we are a lot better than 20 or 30 years ago.

I was just back in my hometown and I always find it depressing there because there is a real noticeable divide in socio-economic status between the predominantly white population and the blacks there. Not interested in a debate why this is so, but it just is and it's depressing. Here in my part of L.A., I am surrounded by educated, upwardly mobile or upper-class blacks and I can honestly say that there is no meaningful cultural difference between them and the white/asian/hispanic/whatever people of the same station in life. It is the opposite of depressing; it feels like a properly functioning society. I like it a lot better here.