Feb. 21, 2018

To the Editor of The Record:

I was surprised to notice in the Feb. 15 issue of The Record that the term “redneck” is alive and well in formal spoken and written discourse at Goshen College.  Surely the term is as derogatory for its ethnic group as are the more notorious ones for African-Americans, Hispanics, Asians, etc. Using a color term to identify any group of people seems offensive to me.   Even “white” has its problems.  There must be some “rednecks,” or children of “rednecks,” enrolled at Goshen College.  Do they feel welcome?

Sincerely,

Ervin Beck

Professor Emeritus of English