My daughter and son in law came this weekend to celebrate Mother’s Day. Had a great time.
 
Son in law is upper level management with hospital maintenance for several facilities across the state. Over the last week he was dragged in to testify in multiple HR cases with complaints about discrimination and gender insensitivity by some of the slobbering peons. The offending jerks are on probation should they backslide in which case they are fired on the spot.
 
We cried on each others’ shoulders about what America has come to. You can’t do nothing without offending someone or something. We have lost our sense of humor, but not entirely.
 
There are still two racial profiles left that you can bash and joke about with no legal, ethical, moral consequences in this life or the hereafter.
 
These are the white American male, and the redneck. The two genres often intersect, so there is even more safely from retribution if you crack an off color joke.
 
In addition, there is one American holiday you can bash with immunity and protest against if it raises its ugly presence. That’s Christmas. Used to be you could call it Xmas but seems like this is too abrasive now days. They still let you say Happy Holidays in the civilized workforce unless that is now offensive.
 
The working white male doesn’t give a damn about the slurs and the redneck is too dense to know he/she has been insulted, so safe grounds for a laugh.
 
Unfortunately for me, we analyzed my place in life and I had to face reality.
 
Raised in West Virginia, even worse, rural West Virginia. Now living in the backwoods of coastal Oregon burning waxed containers in the backyard that can no longer be recycled. Got a compost pile over the cliff. White Caucasian male. Car is a rust bucket with the broken muffler tied up with coat hangers. Front yard a beautiful off beat sight, but composed of carefully transplanted swamp weeds. Tomorrows project is to mow down the ocean side weeds with a chain saw.
 
As much as I tried to deny it, the stripes on a skunk show. My son in law dragged me in front of a mirror and made me face the truth as painful as it was.
 
I AM A REDNECK.
 
(and borderline proud of it off the record…)
 
We spent the next couple hours busting our guts apart going thru online sites dedicated to redneck jokes. More laughter than I’ve had in the last 10 years.
 
Couple of my favorites…
 
You know you’re a redneck if…
 
You got a sister who is considered a math genius because she has six fingers on each hand.
 
If you have one or more relatives who have died after saying “Hey y’all. Look at me”
 
You mow your lawn and discover a truck.
 
You can tell the bride and groom vehicle that left the wedding ceremony because the truck has tobacco spit stains on the outside of both doors
 
Any y’all have favorites before verbal abuse of a redneck is also grounds for employment termination or a lawsuit? So far, me and my inbred kind are fair game, but may not last for long.
 
John
 

Race based humor is not taboo.
 
HATEFUL race based humor (that generally isn't funny to begin with) is the problem.
 
"Punching down" is generally considered poor comedy by the the masters. That said I have more or less purged "redneck" comedy from my personal repertoire because poor rural white folks are indeed getting screwed almost as much as anyone else. Now we just need to convince them to stop voting for leopards to eat their faces.

Race based humor is absolutely taboo, unless it's a minority identity performing it.  Race based humor by a white person would have to be self deprecating and shameless white guilt virtue signaling to escape social punishment.  20 years ago that was not true.  It is today.  Every white comedian who gets close to that line is one viral video away from a twitter lynching.  
 
For first world countries, we live in the best, easiest, kindest time, ever.  It's never been less violent.  It's never been more accepting.  It's never been easier make it.  It's never been safer.  It's never been as good as it is today.  And tomorrow will be even better.  
 
6 out of 10 people on the planet still crap in a mud hole.  
 
Yes, by all means, make fun of rednecks.  Make fun of everyone.  We all deserve it.  None of us are "above" it.  We don't get to excuse ourselves because we get caught up in our first world problems and take ourselves so seriously.  
 
You know the difference between poking fun and being hateful.  Those who take their little lives too seriously will pretend there is no difference or judge all humor so strictly they allow no difference.  I say f*#k those people.  
 
I'm a redneck.  And I approve this message.  
 
 

Most humor pokes fun at a group or a subject. Someone thinks it's funny and usually someone else doesn't. This is the nature of humor. To use humor you "go out on a limb" so to speak. I try to be careful. Some people are just waiting to be offended.
I am from the south as well. I don't consider myself a redneck though. One reason I left the south is I didn't fit in ( You can make a joke about that and I won't ever be offended :) I think there is a difference between poking fun and insulting someone.
I have found there are yankee rednecks too.
 
Here goes- You know you're a redneck when.................................the amount you spent to fill up your gas tank exceeds the value of the car you filled. Was that funny?
 

This is what someone once said to me standing with his friends in a parking lot as I was leaving a store.
" Hey, What do ya call a redneck that suddenly busts into flames? ..firecracker!!"

IBTL.
 
But - anything is fair game for humour. It can help us deal with some of mankind's worst excesses for example. It all depends (crucially, I might add) on the context.

I grew up in Mississippi and here's one we used to tell about the people from the nearby community of Abbeville:
"If a couple gets married in Abbeville, and then moves to Florida and gets divorced, are they still brother and sister?"
 
 

jude77
I grew up in Mississippi and here's one we used to tell about the people from the nearby community of Abbeville:
"If a couple gets married in Abbeville, and then moves to Florida and gets divorced, are they still brother and sister?"
 
 

Family is ALWAYS family! XX and I are still cousins even though we got divorced! 

A few years back I did a bit of a study on the 19th century American Minstrel shows. Their form, format; what elements they contained. The blackface, the Interlocutor and end-men (Bones and Tambo). I bring this up because after a while it dawned on me that much of this form has been preserved by being transferred to modern "Red Neck" comedy presentations. Think of the old "Hee Haw" show on TV. Music mixed with skits mixed with standup and one-liners. The humor is almost always turned inward on the presenter. Like this old war horse, which still works:
 
"Yep, I got my inheritance and the feller at the bank said I should invest it in stock; so I went out and bought me six chickens and a one-eyed cow...etc.etc..." 

I tried but my post was deleted.