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'''Redneck''' is a slang term for poor whites in the U.S. South.  Historically it was derogatory, suggesting a beefy, bestial white southern workingman or farmer and his scrawny, sallow-looking wife and nasty children. By extension it now refers to any uncouth person.  In recent years the term has been favorably adopted by less educated white Southerners.

'''Redneck''' is a slang term for poor whites in the U.S. South, although black intellectual [[Thomas Sowell]] says it applies to modern (urban?) blacks as well..  Historically it was derogatory, suggesting a beefy, bestial white southern workingman or farmer and his scrawny, sallow-looking wife and nasty children. By extension it now refers to any uncouth person.  In recent years the term has been favorably adopted by less educated white Southerners.

The term "redneck" was in use by 1890; the first known print usage of the term appears in an 1891 Mississippi newspaper in reference to an upcoming Democratic primary. The exact origin of "redneck" is undetermined. Perhaps it refers to the sun burnt necks of people who worked in the hot fields all day, or to red necks characteristic of sufferers from pellagra (a disease caused by poor diets). [[File:Redneck1.jpg|thumb|380px|MacNelly 1995 cartoon depicts President Clinton as redneck]]

The term "redneck" was in use by 1890; the first known print usage of the term appears in an 1891 Mississippi newspaper in reference to an upcoming Democratic primary. The exact origin of "redneck" is undetermined. Perhaps it refers to the sun burnt necks of people who worked in the hot fields all day, or to red necks characteristic of sufferers from pellagra (a disease caused by poor diets). [[File:Redneck1.jpg|thumb|380px|MacNelly 1995 cartoon depicts President Clinton as redneck]]