Redneck

What Is A Redneck?
Aaron C. Ainsworth
Post University

Abstract
When asked, everyone presents a different definition of the word redneck. The term redneck has a confusing role in today’s usage. Definitions can vary depending on family background, location, and media influence.  Still, this does not answer the question of what is a redneck.

What Is A Redneck?
When asked, everyone presents a different definition of the word redneck. The term redneck has a confusing role in today’s usage. Definitions can vary depending on family background, location, and media influence.  Still, this does not answer the question of what a redneck is.
Origin
The best way to start to define the term redneck is to take a look at its origins. According to Wilkinson (2001), “The origins of this term are Scottish and refer to supporters of the National Covenant and The Solemn League and Covenant, or Covenanters, largely Lowland Presbyterians, many of whom would flee Scotland for Ulster (Northern Ireland) during persecutions by the British Crown” (p.1). These “Covenanters” opposed the Church of England and often signed documents (in their own blood) stating their desire for a Presbyterian form of church government. Wilkinson (2001) notes, “Many Covenanters signed in their own blood and wore red pieces of cloth around their necks as distinctive insignia; hence the term 'Red Neck' (redneck), which became slang for a Scottish dissenter" (p.1. Wilkinson goes on to state the origin of the term in America:
Since many Ulster-Scottish settlers in America (especially in the South) were Presbyterian, the term was applied to them, and then, later, their Southern descendants. One of the earliest examples of its use comes from 1830, when an author noted that red-neck was a name bestowed upon the Presbyterians.
Michael Paseur comments in his A Country Rag Occasional Treat: Hillbillies and Rednecks (2010):
Patrick Huber, however, asserts that the term "Redneck" has American...