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Discussion » Questions » Human Behavior » Is calling someone a hillbilly or a red neck the same as calling someone the N word?

Is calling someone a hillbilly or a red neck the same as calling someone the N word?

Posted - November 18, 2016

Responses


  • Same as in they're both usually insults.

    In almost every other way, they're not the same, especially when factoring in historical context and current attitudes. 
      November 18, 2016 6:51 PM MST
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  • Do you think that the way the media for example, or just current attitudes of ridicule and condescension different for the two groups? I think they are the same, Do you not?
      November 18, 2016 8:47 PM MST
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  • 2515
    I'm more around rednecks. They love being called that. They themselves call themselves rednecks. Hillbillies belong to the Appalachian region of the US. I've heard Dolly Parton call herself a hillbilly. I don't know whether they like it or not. 
      November 18, 2016 6:58 PM MST
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  • I understand that, but don't Blacks call themselves N? 
    I wonder if that's enough go make it ok.
    I see what you mean tho. I think all insults eventually get taken by the group they are supposed to attack.
    Good point Marguerite.
    This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at November 18, 2016 8:48 PM MST
      November 18, 2016 8:41 PM MST
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  • 46117
    Well since I am the racist that hates hillbillies let me explain. I am sure you will forgive me.

    It is not a race. It is A TRIBE of LOWLIFE morons who have not and refuse to evolve.  They worship the Civil War and live in this retarded mindset of 200 years ago.  They hate black people.  They hate gay people.  They think the Lord is watching over them and to do God's will, they are ready to die to keep a white male, married Christian in the White House.  They hate Obama.  Because he is foreign and a Muslim and black. 

    Those billies.  I hate 'em.  HATE.  Pure red hate.


    You need a better take?  Try this too.

    In other words, who are Trump’s voters and why do they stick with him? Sometimes a good writer with a keen eye can provide more insight than a dozen polls. J.D. Vance has done just that in his lovely book “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.” The book has rocketed up the best-seller lists — deservedly so. But it has some interesting and important gaps.    I gotta go back and copy more of this because I want to know what the gaps are now.

    For some of us, the puzzle of this election is not why Donald Trump is doing so badly but why he is doing so well. Given his obvious lack of qualifications, his absurd proposals, his hypocrisy, his obnoxious rhetoric, his sheer incompetence as a candidate, why is he not down 10 points in every state?

    In other words, who are Trump’s voters and why do they stick with him? Sometimes a good writer with a keen eye can provide more insight than a dozen polls. J.D. Vance has done just that in his lovely book “Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis.” The book has rocketed up the best-seller lists — deservedly so. But it has some interesting and important gaps.

    We all now know that Trump’s rise has been fueled by the alienation and anger of the country’s white working class. That cohort has seen its incomes stagnate, cities crumble and dreams vanish. But Vance gets underneath the data and shows us what these impersonal forces mean to actual people. He describes the abandoned children, the poor work habits, the drug abuse, the violence, the rage. But he does it with sympathy and love. They are his family, after all.

    For Vance, the problem is ultimately cultural, one of values, attitudes and mores. “We hillbillies must wake the hell up,” he writes, and “stop blaming Obama or Bush or faceless companies and ask ourselves what can we do to make things better.” His own life story — coming from low expectations, dysfunctional relationships and persistent poverty to end up a graduate of Yale Law School and a Silicon Valley executive — demonstrates that grit can conquer all.

    But Vance got some help along the way. He tells us that his public schools were decent enough and, when he got motivated, his teachers helped him succeed. He notes that his trajectory changed when he was admitted to Ohio State University, which he was able to attend because of generous federal loans and grants. And the turning point in the book and his life takes place when he decides to enlist in the Marine Corps. He describes how the armed forces taught him discipline, hard work, high expectations and good values. (When he was contemplating buying a car, an older Marine steered him away from his choice of a flashy BMW and toward a Honda.) 

    Speaking at a campaign rally in Charlotte, N.C., Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump energized voters during his speech where he called for equality for African Americans, gays and Hispanics. (The Washington Post)

    This is federal bureaucracy engaged in shaping mores and morals, the ultimate example of government as nanny. When so much of what government does is under siege, it is odd that Vance seems to minimize the role that government can play in providing opportunities for others like him.





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    Sign up This post was edited by WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH at November 18, 2016 9:16 PM MST
      November 18, 2016 8:47 PM MST
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  • Since you bring it up, all I saw in the Mississippi video was poverty and lack of opportunities. And a Wal-Mart. Those are the same conditions in which the ignorance and racism you so hate are allowed to fester. Btw, conditions that are not really surprising. They have been allowed to persist. 
    These people are a product of what we have allowed to continue. 
    I understand your point Sharonna. I would be hard pressed to disagree with the things you say. 
    But if I hate them for that, I'd have to hate a lot of people of many different races. 
    Btw I think that saying red neck and hillbilly is as bad as saying nigger.

      November 18, 2016 9:05 PM MST
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  • 46117
    Well, it isn't.   The N word is way more evil than hillbilly.   Those creeps in that video were hillbillies.  Haters, ignorant scum people who would sooner shoot you as look at you if you are a queer or a nigger or a spick or a wop or a Jap or a Jew.  They are inbred pieces of garbage.

    Calling all black people a word like that?  That is a swear word.  Calling someone evil-minded and inbred a hillbilly does not hurt a thing.  I am not referring to the SOUTH Lago, I am referring to these moron scumbags.

    Is that aserbic enough? 

    And I am very appreciative of your candor on this.  I do value your opinion and I can't really say anything to counter you besides that idea I just shot at you. 

    I hate that mentality.  I know it is silly.  I know it is NOT mature.  I also know we all feel this rage about something.  I think I put my rage in a very important spot here.  These creeps are dangerous and need to be put out to pasture and not allowed to breed any more. 
      November 18, 2016 9:10 PM MST
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  • I understand Sharonna, 
    And I can't deny that maybe I do share the same sentiment with you.
    How can I not?
    But also, I can't shake the feeling of a sense of collective responsibility for allowing the conditions that breed these ideas to continue.
    I see it as getting up one.morning and having all the homeless people organised and raising ten kinds of hell.
    And then blaming them for it.
    I could be wrong my friend. Of course.
    I just feel that both terms used despectively and within the subcontext of inferiority, are not very different from each other.
    Thank you Sharonna. I do appreciate your taking the time to explain your view to me.

      November 18, 2016 9:37 PM MST
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  • trying to  get  past the irony  of you  using the term  "retarded "  . 

      November 18, 2016 10:26 PM MST
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  • 691
    Yes and no. It is same from any logical point of view but different when emotions and politics get involved. It is strange to me because black people call each other that word constantly and white people call each other those words and yet people from india will never call each other paki. We are as insulted to hear it from others from india as we are to hear it from others of other races.
      November 18, 2016 8:19 PM MST
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  • 46117
    WOW.  Are you from India?  Oh man.  I like you now.  Are you from Pakistan?  I like you.  We need to communicate here a little better.  LO

    That is reverse-racism by the way.  I automatically like Indians and Pakistanis.  So, I don't know how you feel about that weirdness, but I like both you guys. 
      November 18, 2016 9:14 PM MST
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  • I 've read your response many times. And I have to admit that it is very nuanced. 
    Firstly, I don't think that the same dynamic that exists here between the young whites calling themselves N, exists there between young Indians and Pakistanis.
    On the other hand theres a matter of fsctness to your assertion of being insulted by being called a paki. As if it's obvious and understandable. Unless you're just trying to prove a point. 
    One thing is to say, "people get insulted when called paki".
    Another thing is to say,"I feel insulted when called a paki"  Do you understand what I'm saying IT?
    This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at November 18, 2016 10:24 PM MST
      November 18, 2016 9:53 PM MST
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  • 46117
    I sure do not, Lago.  I hope he does. 

    I understand something now. You think I am trying to hurt people with this name-calling.  I am not.  I also attack the Baptist Church of Gay haters, I attack a lot of TRIBES.  If you are one of those people?  Come at me, bro. 

    I want to hear their umbrage at being called a hillbilly or a racist or a prejudiced religion hater unless it is their religion.

    That is what I am attacking, not anything anyone need be proud of.

    If Paki is an ignorant term?  I would never call TRUMP a Paki if he was from Pakistan.  I don't make hateful racist remarks and your thinking I am hurting anyone that is born a certain color or a certain way?  I am not.

    I realize that these inbred jerks have had little education.  Maybe that is why they are the way they are. You cannot cure stupid.  But they are dangerous and many are plain evil and like being ornery and hateful and think it is their right. 

    UGH.  And Trump is feeding into their fears.  It is like taking candy from a baby.

    These are the people I cannot stand.  Religious right, hillbilly mentality redneck mother fkees.  And, Lago, if this offends you, I am sorry.  I am no bleeding-heart liberal. These people make me sick. I don't feel compassion at this juncture of Trumpland nightmare.  These are his people.

    Image and video hosting by TinyPic This post was edited by WM BARR . =ABSOLUTE TRASH at November 18, 2016 10:22 PM MST
      November 18, 2016 10:17 PM MST
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  • 46117
    Oh no.  LAGO please forgive me.  I did not read your comment to me from before.  I am so sorry.  This answer sounds nuts now.  I did not mean to go on if you already got my argument.  SORRY.  Not aimed at you but it is a good point I made here.  I know you got it already.  SORRY LAGO 
      November 18, 2016 10:29 PM MST
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  • It's alright Sharonna.
    Thank you. )
      November 18, 2016 10:32 PM MST
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  • Not quite .  and  neither  are hillbilly  are   redneck the same  . 
    the term "redneck" actually has Roman Catholic origins .

    then again  , it depends on context and the receiver  ,  they  can all  be categorized as  derogatory  ,, yet  "hillbilly  are   redneck"   can also be accepted and or even embraced  . 

    "Witch"   was meant as a derogatory  word, but we  embraced it,  rendering the negative  intent null and void " 


    This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at November 18, 2016 10:11 PM MST
      November 18, 2016 10:06 PM MST
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  • As I've said before, if we are to accept some names because they have been embraced by the people they were meant to attack, then we would have to accept N, under the same premise, no?
      November 18, 2016 10:36 PM MST
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  • 46117
    WHAT???????????????????????????????????????????????????????
      November 18, 2016 10:38 PM MST
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  • )
      November 18, 2016 11:03 PM MST
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  • would have to  ?   nope . still a choice  ,, and obviously  . some are  just  not "acceptable"  . 

     

      November 19, 2016 1:02 AM MST
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  • I'm not sure you guys are understanding my latest remark. 
      November 19, 2016 5:59 AM MST
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