The story
Bahuvrīhi compound of red + neck. Compare rooinek. The term originally characterized farmers that had a red neck, caused by sunburn from long hours working in the fields.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
redneck
Today it means: A poor, rural, usually white, person from the Southern United States or parts of the Midwest and Northeast, especially one whose beliefs are seen as unsophisticated and backward; sometimes with additional connotations of being bigoted. Full definition →