Rednecks?

Hello! Long time off and on reader, occasional commenter, but this is my first diary.

The word 'rednecks' is used a lot on this site. The origin of this word is as follows: a redneck is a light-skinned person who does agricultural labor out in the sun for long hours and who, consequently, has a sunburn on his neck.

In other words, the origin of this expression is classist. Using it, at least historically, was a way for middle- and upper-class whites to put down those who had to work for a living doing hard agricultural labor. Analyzed in terms of its origin, therefore, it is a divisive and nasty word.

I understand that most of you who use it mean something like 'working-class rural conservative', but is it really necessary to use a word with this sort of history and prejudicial overtone to indicate that group? Presumably, as people interested in social and economic equality, we would like working-class rural conservatives to see improvements in their standard of living. Why then insult them every time we discuss them?