Viola, you are offended by redneck because a cop called you a redneck. And Texas is not a state where redneck is used like it is in the southeast anyway. In Texas you'd probably be called a cowboy or girl or cowpuncher. I lived in Houston, had my daughter there and then spent my early marriage to my second husband out in the Texas oil country. I don't remember redneck being a term thrown around in Texas. So for you, yeah, maybe redneck would be a slur. The cop that called you that might as well have called you a country bumpkin or hick or yokel. In any case, why would that make you feel insulted? I'd be amused if someone called me a redneck, not offended.
It's not a slur unless someone uses it deliberately as a slur. You can turn almost any word into a slur if you use the right tone and intention. Again, tell true rednecks that redneck is a slur or insult and they will probably get pretty angry with you.
Do you consider fundamentalist an insult or racist term? When I say funadamentalist, I am speaking of a person who lets the religion he or she espouses do his or her thinking for him/her. It doesn't mean the fundamentalist is low class or stupid. It simply means the person has handed over his responsibility to think to the preachers and people who run his faith. The fundamentalist wants to keep his/her thinking simple and naive. There are at least two types of fundamentalists: Christian and Muslim. Feel free to add others.
Then we come to the redneck frame of mind: keep lifestyle pretty simple, including your thoughts on politics and nationalism, etc. Not all rednecks are simple thinkers though. I've know a few who are pretty complex when it comes to considering religion and politics.
If you look at presidential election results maps, almost every large city and suburban area, which can be seen by looking at the county results, will vote democrat. The rural areas tend to vote republican in the southeast and western states.
You guys can scream all day and night that redneck is a slur or racist term or that it is equal to the terms white trash or cracker, but to bona fide rednecks, it simply is not. I suppose I could go back and say fundamentalists and country folks, but not all people who live in the country live simple lifestyles and are simple thinkers. So redneck seemed to be a better term. I will have to go back and look at my post, but I am pretty sure I didn't say ALL fundamentalists or ALL rednecks. I said a lot of.
Fox News has been used to brainwash and hornswaggle many a simple person who wants to trust and not to think.... meaning a lot of fundamentalists and rednecks.
You didn't seem to think the fundamentalist part of this was a slur or racist. You grasp the simple thinking and naivity of the fundamentalist.
It appears many of you don't know what "simple" means. "Many a simple person..." Here's a good start in understanding that simple doesn't always mean stupid or mentally handicapped.
1 : free from guile : innocent
2 a: free from vanity : modest b: free from ostentation or display <a simple outfit> 3 : of humble origin or modest position <a simple farmer> 4 a: lacking in knowledge or expertise <a simple amateur of the arts> b not socially or culturally sophisticated : naive