Redneck isn't politically incorrect in my books. I know it means backwoods and boorish. I guess it depends on how we use it. A buddy whom I admire and respect for living to a very high standard of human values works by a lake in the woods making and repairing aircraft in the experimental category. He's a machinist by trade. When he saw my books, he asked if I had read them. I don't think he had read a book. I shake my head and call him redneck. There's mutual respect; he knows what I mean.
I know of few who have contributed so generously to their community, with young people particularly, than my buddy. A lot of people come to visit where I live a long way in the woods on a cliff overlooking a salt water harbour. PhDs, priests, politicians, many with formal educations and influence in their professions and politics. Many are rednecks, not in the boorish sense, but selfish, ignorant of what makes a civil society. I call them rednecks politely to their face and explain why they have that effect on me.
So to come directly to your point, Geo. Redneck generally is a pejorative word. Even to use it teasingly because teasing perhaps more often is intended to hurt. I use it when convenient regardless of who I'm talking to. My buddy and friends know my meaning---with affection making a point---and the learned suits as my way of naming something, for them to come to grips with it. I wouldn't use redneck publicly, in halls or sound-bites, because of the wide range of sensitivity to the word, as you implied.
Regards, King
