Posted by Lou Pilder on February 1, 2003, at 8:22:26
In reply to Re: I will stick to deadly dull subjects from now on.. » Dinah, posted by IsoM on February 1, 2003, at 3:09:52
IsoM,
You wrote,[...maybe I do not know what rednecks are supposed to be...]
The term , redneck, has taken a different meaning from its original use. The original use was to describe a peoples that habited an area around the Carolinas that developed the characteristic red neck. They were of all types of economic classes and had no identifying social characteristics to differentiate them from those that did not have red necks. You see, the characteristic red neck was a result of where they lived, for that area of the country had a vitamin deficiency that caused the characteristic red neck. That area of the United States also had a particular dialecta. Tragically, it was in this area of the United Staes that racial predudice and hatred existed openly after the Civil War. Today, there are still people running for public office on a platform of hatred for minorities in that are of the United States. But it is only a minority of the people in that area of the country that support those type of public officials. So a lot of people, unfairly, became associated with "rednecks". Then belittlement became associated with "rednecks" and the classical ridicule of demeaness was attached to their peoples and developed into a [humor?] by comedians on television and writers of joke books. I have friends at Duke University and go to the Great Smokie Mountians frquently. From the people that I know, the term "redneck" is not accepted. They consider it to be demaning and cause people to be falsly associated , like the old "Amos and Andy" radio program that although it had a large audiance,, it demaned black people. The program was taken off the air. There are parts of the country that do not allow the comic strip,'Snuffy Smith" to be in their newspaper because of its demeaning of "Mountian" people.
The question before us here is whether the [jokes?] about "rednecks" should be permissible in the context of a mental health community. In a mental health community, people are seeking to be freed from their afflictions. As a retirerd teacher, I had seen the devistateing consequenses that occured to children that were ridiculed or demeaned because of their race, religion, national origen, sexual orrientation, handicap, appearance, manner, etc. etc. I have seen adults abused in the same manner and also experianced hurt from these type of refferences. I believe that in order to overcome our mental health afflictions that we must be free from any shackles of a stigma attached to us and others. I beleive that we must have the liberty of [equality]. Then we could say, {Free at last, free at last, thank God almighty, I am Free at Last.}
Lou
poster:Lou Pilder
thread:35991
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030201/msgs/36058.html