Late 20th and Early 21st Century
Late 20th century writers Edward Abbey and Dave Foreman use "redneck" as a political call to mobilize poor rural white Southerners. "In Defense of the Redneck" was a popular essay by Ed Abbey. One popular early Earth First! bumper sticker was "Rednecks for Wilderness". Murray Bookchin, an urban leftist and social ecologist, objected strongly to Earth First!'s use of the term as "at the very least, insensitive".
But many members of the Southern community have proudly embraced the term as a self-identifier. Among those who dispute that the term is disparaging, Canadian Paul Brandt, a self-identified redneck, says that primarily the term indicates independence.
Read more about this topic: Redneck
Famous quotes containing the words late, early and/or century:
“These late eclipses in the sun and moon portend no good to us.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“At the earliest ending of winter,
In March, a scrawny cry from outside
Seemed like a sound in his mind.
He knew that he heard it,
A bird’s cry, at daylight or before,
In the early March wind.”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“She’s just a child,
but I’m the one who’s fainthearted.
She’s the woman,
but I’m the coward.
She bears that high, swollen set of breasts,
but I’m the one who’s burdened.
The heavy hips are hers,
but I’m unable to move.
It’s a wonder
how clumsy I’ve become
because of flaws
that shelter themselves
in another.”
—Amaru (c. seventh century A.D.)