Southerner > Redneck

In modern Weimerica there seems to be the idea that Southern culture is simply interchangeable with redneck culture. This is largely the result of the influence of mass media, as well as, a change in Southern values.

Unfortunately, many Southerners have bought into this dumbed down version of their cultural heritage. Ironically, it can also be seen among self-proclaimed “rednecks” throughout Ohio and Upstate New York, areas where the locals proudly wave their Confederate flags. If being a “Southerner” is simply chewing Copenhagen, drinking Bud Light, and driving a lifted Ford – well, Southerners aren’t much different from anybody else. The truth is we have a much deeper culture than mere superficialities, and we didn’t always take pride in acting trashy or “country.” These observations of being “Southern” in the modern age is further evidence of the success of the Second Reconstruction.

Of course, we’ve always had our rednecks and hillbillies and that’s not the problem. The problem is that our culture has been distilled to only being a redneck, cheap sweet tea and Cracker Barrel. As a result, many Dixians purposefully act beneath their station in order to prove they’re bonafide Southerners. It’s no different than a middle-class suburbanite from Cedar Rapids being a wigger – it’s a disingenuous charade. And, they shun reading (“college boy” or “book learnin'”) and consider manners and etiquette as non-Southern. This is exactly what the pseudo-intellectual elites in the Northeast want. They want a Southern peasant class with no intellectual aristocracy and one that will be utterly defenseless against the centralized state.

Surprising as it may be, this idea wasn’t prevalent a couple generations ago. I’m a big fan of older television shows on Me-TV like The Andy Griffith Show and Petticoat Junction. You can see the obvious difference in how people presented themselves back then compared to today. Back in the 1950s and 1960s, you still had the last remnants of the Southern Belle. Southern girls were modest and were expected to act like a lady. The Confederate bikini chick, covered in vulgar tattoos and gushed over by middle aged men on social media, wasn’t a thing and it would’ve been considered distasteful back then. Even the country music shows like The Porter Wagoner Show were filled with respectable, wholesome looking audiences. They may have been country folk, but they weren’t going to wear their work clothes to a televised event.

Now, I’m not denigrating the poor, nor driving lifted trucks and having a good time. The South has always had its share of hardscrabble folks (especially after the War), good ‘ol boys and rednecks. But, being poor and being a redneck are not synonymous. Many of today’s “rednecks” are working or middle-class (even upper-class) folks who are parroting Jason Aldean and Luke Bryant. Our rednecks and hillbillies of yesteryear were what I’d call “dignified poor.” They didn’t purposefully act like white trash to prove they were legit Southerners. They were simply people living through hard times and doing the best they could to provide for their families. Even though considered hillbillies, they still had many of the old time manners. Even the very poorest members would wear their best worn out suits and dresses to church on Sunday. They were the “salt of the earth” types and you could never confuse them with today’s rednecks or Walmart white trash.

Additionally, it seems that the media and some historians want to gloss over the existence of the Southern middle-class. The idea in many minds is that the South has historically (and even today) only consisted of a very small planter class with the remainder being almost entirely poor white trash. This is largely a misconception which was properly dealt with in Frank Owsley’s Plain Folk of The Old South. Owsley does a good job illustrating that the yeoman middle-class was actually the largest social group in the Old South. This group consisted largely of small farmers, small businessmen, and various other professions. Unfortunately, this social group was hurt badly after the War, but it never completely disappeared. And, it made a comeback after the Second World War.

Despite the media’s neglect of the Southern middle-class. The media did get it right at times, especially in older shows like The Andy Griffith Show, Petticoat Junction and even To Kill a Mockingbird. Now, I know the old days were probably never as good as they were on TV, but I still think The Andy Griffith Show was one of the fairer and more accurate portrayals of small town Southern life. It accurately portrayed the various classes of people living in the South. It didn’t portray Southerners as a bunch of toothless cannibals from Wrong Turn. What’s also lacking in the show are folks purposefully acting like white trash. Even the blue collar guys, like Gomer and Goober, wore suits or sports coats when the occasion called. The 1960s (even the 1970s) were really the last of our old Southern ways. It was when Sunday’s best still applied, honor was important, blacks and whites may have been friends, but no one accepted miscegenation, and a lady wouldn’t be seen in public without a dress and hat.

As has been said earlier, another consequence of Southern culture being equated with redneck pride is the destruction of our intellectual base. This has resulted in an anti-intellectual attitude among many of our people. We should be against, who George Wallace liked to call, the “pseudo-intellectuals,” not the actual intellectuals. The liberal pseudo-intellectuals, who think there are more than two genders, believe that race doesn’t exist and whites are evil, aren’t real intellectuals. They’re phonies.

In addition, this idea is infantile and ahistorical. Historically, Southerners highly valued learning and education and most of the intellectual elite were of Southern origin, up until the War. And, this wasn’t restricted to the aristocracy. There used to be the idea of the well-rounded man, a sort of country gentleman. Most people didn’t go to college, but learning isn’t restricted to formal education. I’m a blue collar guy myself, but I make it a point to be constantly learning new things, whether it be theology, history, or new skills.

I hope I’ve helped you realize that there’s much more to being a Southerner than simply being a redneck. I can sympathize with the redneck pride types, they want to identify with their tribe, but are simply misguided. We have a much deeper and richer culture than many realize. I’d also invite you to not be scared to wear a sports coat when you take your lady on a date, or to be ashamed of reading a book. Going forward, we must learn our old customs and history, so we can share it with our people.

America has her rednecks throughout the country, but Southerners are only found in Dixie.

-By Dixie Anon