A REDNECK is a white person of lower socio-economic status in the United States and Canada.
But why REDNECK?
The most common American usage, referring to the poor rural white Southerner, probably derived from individuals having a red neck caused by working outdoors in hot sun...men who work in the field, as a matter of course, generally have their skin burned red by the sun, and especially is this true of the back of their necks".
OK! So that clarifies it a bit but I don't see the derogatory side of it. You're outside in the sun all day..you get a sunburn in the back of your neck and people make fun of you and the fact that you worked hard all day and barely made any money. What kind of people would do that I ask myself.
So again a REDNECK is someone of lower socio-economic status so I dug a little deeper to figure this out.
A family's socioeconomic status is based on family income, parental education level, parental occupation, and social status in the community (such as contacts within the community, group associations, and the community's perception of the family).
Also,
Socioeconomic status is typically broken into three categories, high SES, middle SES, and low SES to describe the three areas a family or an individual may fall into. When placing a family or individual into one of these categories any or all of the three variables (income, education, and occupation) can be assessed.
All right then! I was affraid I was going to fall in that category and have people call me a REDNECK. I mean.. I'm white and that fits the profile, I burn easily so when I play golf I have to put some sun screen on my neck but I'm not the only one in my foursome who has to do that. Other than that, my wife and I make a shitload of money, we are both university educated and are both professionals in our field. We are constantly rubbing elbows with the business professionals and wealthy community of Winnipeg and Manitoba through various charity dinners and silent auctions. My kids are straight A students and know exactly what they want to accomplish in the future. Oh! I almost forgot, they also were both published authors at the age of 14.
I'm glad I had a look at what the word REDNECK meant because for a minute there I thought I could labelled as one.
Now I'm even more proud to be a French Canadian who is fluent in English and has had the opportunity to travel the country and the world to be better informed about the various cultural, religious and political differences out there.
Fiew!
