Radical Rednecks: How an Insult Became a Badge of Pride

If you read the term "Redneck," chances are you have a particular stereotype of a person in mind. Comedian Jeff Foxworthy made a whole career out of redneck jokes. Some of them are hilarious because they're true.

Redneck = Country Bumpkin?

And Jeff is a bit of a redneck himself, so it's all in good fun that he uses that term. Depending on the circumstances, calling someone that word could be an insult. "Redneck" has been used to draw a caricature of a dumb, dirty country bumpkin. With a red neck from being sunburnt after working outside.

Redneck and PROUD

Before it became a joke, calling someone a redneck was no laughing matter. Pro-union miners in West Virginia wore red bandanas around their necks as a form of solidarity. During a time when workers were being taken advantage of in the mines, those who wished to discredit them called them this derogatory term.

West Virginia officials believed it was important to paint the rebel miners as ignorant and standing in the way of progress. At the time of the mine wars, from the late 1890s through the Battle of Blair Mountain in the early 1920s, officials insisted the only reason miners were revolting was because they had an innate cultural backwardness.

The Battle of Blair Mountain

West Virginia was prime coal-mining country. Even though workers could join groups like the UMWA or United Mine Workers of America, mining companies had so much power over people that they were stuck living like serfs in a kingdom. All the while, they were paid in pennies, paper food vouchers, and provided bare-minimum living conditions, and had to survive dangerous workplaces.

When the people finally joined forces, the Battle of Blair Mountain was one of the biggest uprisings in American history.

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Here is a fantastic short documentary on what happened:

West Virginia Mine Wars

If you'd like to read more, the excerpt above comes from a great article that does a deep dive (pardon the pun) into the mines.  It's a fascinating story that I don't remember learning in history class. The coal workers and their fight for justice are honored in the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum. Did you know this was the origin of the word "redneck"?

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