Hunter Taylor: Redneck is not a racial slur, but a description of a bigot

To The Daily Sun,

It was with a combination of amusement and bewilderment that I read Mr. Hough’s letter accusing Carlos Cardona of “chauvinism and xenophobia” for his use of the term “redneck” to refer to some New Hampshire denizens. I was born and raised in the Deep South, so the term has always been part of my life. In baseball leagues, we town boys referred to our rural counterparts as “rednecks”, and they in turn derogatorily called those of us who lived in a town of 30,000  “city boys”. These were not fighting words on either side, but rather a somewhat mocking, but harmless back and forth. Some took pride in identifying as “rednecks”; witness the Grammy-nominated song “Rednecks, White Socks, and Blue Ribbon Beer” by country singer Johnny Russell in the early 1970s.

Later in the 1970s, the term “redneck” had expanded to refer also to a bigoted person, and a loutish ultra-conservative (Dictionary of American Slang, 3rd Ed. 1995). When Mr. Cardona used the term after being subjected to racism in an encounter with a tow truck operator, presumably the more recent meaning of “redneck” was intended.

My reaction is, So what? Where’s the harm? The accusation leveled by Mr. Hough of “chauvinism” is nonsensical, as that term refers to an attitude of superiority towards the opposite sex, completely inapplicable here. The other accusation was that Carlos exhibited “xenophobia”, i.e., fear and hatred of strangers or foreigners. If anyone showed xenophobia, it was the tow truck operator, or perhaps even Mr. Hough, considering that Carlos is Puerto Rican. All Mr. Cardona did was call out bigotry.

Rep. Hough’s far-fetched indictment of Carlos Cardona is simply one more attempt to deflect from the racism and anti-Semitism of one of his own. Rather than take a hard look at the bigotry within the ranks, why not go on the offensive and try to turn the tables? Why not pretend that calling someone the equivalent of a bigoted ignoramus is equivalent to posting neo-Nazi material? Why not claim that the extermination of 6 million is equivalent to calling someone a bigot?

Is Hough alleging that Mr. Cardona is anti-White, based on his use of the term “redneck”? If so, he is again barking up the wrong tree. First of all, Mr. Cardona’s husband and children are White. No one who knows Mr. Cardona would ever view him as a bigot; on the contrary, he is devoting much of his life towards fighting bigotry in all its forms. The term “redneck” is not a racial slur;  it generally refers to an ignorant and intolerant person, also known as a bigot.

Rep. Hough’s accusation is without merit, and the motivation behind it is clear.

Hunter Taylor

Alton