School's 'Redneck Day' Does Not Go Over Well

Many offended at the stereotype
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted May 2, 2013 3:41 PM CDT
Updated May 5, 2013 11:27 AM CDT
School's 'Redneck Day' Does Not Go Over Well
A Confederate battle flag emblazoned with the word "Redneck."   (AP Photo/Jeff Barnard)

Questionable idea of the week: The student council at an Arizona high school thought it would be awesome to organize a schoolwide "Redneck Day," in which students would dress up like, well, you get the idea. Needless to say, this did not play out well. The local schools chief says the event, which was approved by a faculty sponsor, was meant to satirize reality show Duck Dynasty, which focuses on duck hunters in Louisiana. But as a Southern Poverty Law Center director notes, students with Appalachian roots "maybe ... don’t feel so great about being called rednecks."

Plus, African Americans and civil rights leaders got upset when one student showed up wearing a Confederate flag, the Arizona Republic reports. Says a pastor and NAACP chapter VP, whose grandson is a student at the school, "When you’re in 11th grade, that can break you down and make you feel at the bottom rung of the whole society." (More Arizona stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X