Often used as an insult to describe poor, uneducated, rural Americans, the term ‘redneck’ is being embraced by a new generation who are viscerally proud of their country and its traditions. They generally live in the agricultural states of the South and share the same tastes for country music, big polluting engines and firearms. A fringe of white America, hostile to foreigners, who voted massively for Donald Trump, still support him, and who no longer feel represented by the Washington elites.
The Redneck festival in Teazs is one of the biggest gatherings in the country. Over 10,000 people gether at this four day festival to celebrate their XXL cars, designed to be as polluting as possible, or compete in naked mud jumps or downhill beer runs.
In recent years, the new redneck generation has also been able to count on a musical movement that proudly asserts their customs: country rap. In Tennessee, Shocka Hustleman, the rising star of the genre, lives out his “American dream”: big polluting engines and guns. He could easily double his salary by leaving Tennesse but for him, being a redneck is a way of life. But for these people, often poor, living in remote areas where the economic crisis has left thousands of workers unemployed, the pitfalls are many: alcoholism, drug addiction, domestic violence… Where is redneck America headed?