The first time I ever heard the word Redneck it was used in an insulting way. Most of the time I've heard it, it was as an insult.

Ron Thomason uses Redneck to describe himself, but the context has always sounded to me like deliberately using the insulting term to take the sting out. A bit like the "White Trash" cookbook.

One can also buy t-shirts in the Gulf Shores, Alabama-Pensacola, Florida area that call it the Red Neck Riveria. Again, it's always hit me as a deliberate use of an insult, why else that description?