Here's a question that ran a conservative friend of mine off in a different venue; do you support states that have work-at-will laws? I don't know if he just didn't see the question or if he didn't have an answer for it because he's usually not the type to run away from a question, but at the same time, he doesn't miss many, either.
^^^This
Again, I think THIS is the big question. No matter how a person feels about this reality TV show (I personally hate the entire genre) or this Phil person, to say that this has anything to do with freedom of speech is foolish, IMO. He has exactly the same ability and right to say today what he said the other day. His rights have not been infringed.
As for the various terms used to describe people from certain groups or regions of the country, I remember coming home for a visit after I got out of business school many moons ago. And one of my friends said that since I had an MBA, I could no longer be a "hillbilly", I was now a "hill william". I found that amusing. Just like with a lot of other terms, if you're a member of the group, then you have more latitude in using certain terms and not offending other members of that group. In that case, people assume that the context is more innocent or playful. As for the claim that was made that "hillbilly" is a racist term, no, it's not. I've heard Black people from West VA, Kentucky and Tennessee referred to as hillbillies too. It includes pretty much anybody that lives in the southern Appalachian mountain region. And I've heard Black people from the deep south referred to as "bamas". A Black girl I used to work with in the Maryland office used to refer to her boyfriend as a "bama". Since he was from Georgia and not Alabama, I didn't get that. But she said it was a catch-all for anybody (Black) from "down south". Coming from her, he laughed it off. But if I'd called him a "bama", he might have taken a swing at me. And if he'd called me a "hillbilly" or a "ridgerunner", I might have swung on him. See, we didn't know each other like that.
"Redneck" is a different sort of term. Yeah, in my experience it primarily applies to Whites - though I guess there could be an Asian redneck or a Cholo redneck or a Black redneck. :dunno: So I'd say it is
racial, but not necessarily
racist. "Redneck" usually applies to people (White) who display a lack of social skills and manners and who
pride themselves on being uneducated, vulgar, uncouth, loud and/or offensive. A member of a an IndyCar team that I knew back in the 90's (who was English) used to hate going to the California Speedway because he said the area (Fontana) was surrounded by rednecks. He said the Brits had a term like that for those kinds of people too... and it had nothing to do with race (included Black, White, Asian, etc.): "Chavs".
One of the funniest bumper stickers I remember from the 2008 Presidential election was one I saw from North Carolina: "Rednecks For Obama". So just like any other term, sometimes it's embraced by the people it's directed at and sometimes it's not. Some are offended. Some aren't. But anyway, if this Phil guy was some sort of polished speaker and social butterfly, with a PhD in Philosophy, who was unwilling to make a monkey or public spectacle of himself for money, they
wouldn't have hired him and his clan for the show to begin with. Who would watch a bunch of normal/boring people? Reality TV fans want monkeys that can talk (though usually not standard English). Whenever these lazy networks hire these goofs, whether it's Jersey Shore, Buck Wild (I think a couple of them are dead now), Teen Mom or whatever, they're taking a chance. So while I think A&E had the right to bounce him, I think it odd that anyone is surprised that A&E had to learn the hard way that water is wet and that untrained dogs will piss on your carpet.
