Quote:
Originally posted by the
And we, as a society, have not made "redneck" anywhere near the level of insult as the N word. That's just a fact. I suppose if you wanted you could argue it shouldn't be that way, i.e., that "redneck" should carry the same heavy weight and be the same level of insult as the N word.
But should and is are two completely different things. And in American in 2006, the N word and "redneck" are nowhere near the same level of insult. It is simply impossible to effectively argue otherwise.
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No, it is not impossible to argue otherwise. The "we, as a society" to which you refer has left out the folks that are, in fact, truly insulted by the term "redneck". It very much carries the same weight as "nigger" when used with these people. That's the part that folks at the higher end of the socio-economic ladder fail to grasp; the very fact that their endearing little insult really does carry significant weight with a very real part of our population. Because it does not carry the same weight to you, or to the folks you regularly interact with, or to the "national conscienceness", does not mean that these people are not deeply hurt by it. Maybe even more so than the folks insulted by "nigger" because, as poor whites, their pleas for understanding and help fall upon society's deaf ears. And, as you so aptly demonstrated, no one
thinks they are insulting them.