One of our area’s most anticipated and quirky summertime events is the Redneck Festival in Weissport (population about 400). Sponsored by the borough’s Recreation Committee as an important fundraiser for community needs, there have been a dozen of these festivals in the past, and they have been wildly popular with big crowds.

This year, however, #13 proved to be unlucky when Mayor Paulette Watson said the festival was being canceled because of crowd restrictions mandated by Gov. Tom Wolf’s emergency declaration.

There were a lot of long faces among supporters of the festival, but there were also many in Weissport and the surrounding area who exhaled a sigh of relief.

In today’s political climate, “redneck” is one of those trigger words that can set off protests and confrontations, and the prospect of something like that overwhelming this small Carbon community on the banks of the Lehigh River sent chills down the backs of local officials and residents.

Concerned that people might get the wrong impression as to why the festival was canceled, Watson felt it was important to issue a statement to emphasize that the primary reason was due to safety concerns brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Yes, Watson admitted, there were worries about protests and counterprotests, and steps were being taken to beef up security by bringing in an extra police officer to help the borough’s police chief.

“Unfortunately, the governor’s decision to restrict and limit gatherings was the real catalyst that drove all of our board members and myself to make such an unfortunate, but unanimous, decision this year,” Watson said.

After seeing what took place in Palmerton earlier this month, when protesters showed up for a Black Lives Matter rally and were confronted by counterprotesters, with each side hurling taunts and insults at each other, you can readily see why Weissport officials were worried about the many things that could go wrong when passions are inflamed.

Add members of the public attending an event to such a scenario, and the risk of injury, or worse, intensifies.

And this doesn’t even begin to address the liability the community might have to assume if an incident touched off violence and led to injuries, possibly even death.

I commend borough officials for calling off the festival for this year. Aside from that, they must also decide whether the name “redneck” can remain given the realities of the racial reawakening that is going on in our country that has resulted in a re-examination of names, policies, the placement of statues and monuments and the display of the Confederate flag, which has flown at the festival in prior years.

I was curious as to the origins of the term “redneck” and learned it characterized farmers having a red neck caused by sunburn from long hours working in the fields.

As in the case with other innocuous terms, the meaning transitioned over the years. The Cambridge Dictionary defines “redneck” as “a poor, white person without education, especially one living in the countryside in the southern United States, who is believed to have prejudiced ideas and beliefs. This word is usually considered offensive.’’

According to the Dictionary of American Slang, by 1975, the term had expanded in meaning to refer to “a bigoted and unconventional person, a loutish ultraconservative.”

Organizers insist that these definitions do not describe the objectives of the local festival, which principally deals with fun, food, entertainment and fundraising.

A past president of the United States and the current president’s son have referred to themselves as “rednecks.” In describing supporters of President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton said that this was the base of voters he grew up in when he lived in Arkansas. “You know, I am your standard redneck,” Clinton said. Donald Trump Jr. told an interviewer that his love of fly fishing and bow hunting made him a “closet redneck.”

In the early part of the 20th century, Carbon and Schuylkill coal miners referred to themselves as “rednecks” on occasion because they wore red bandannas as a symbol of union solidarity against the repressive and unsafe policies of mine operators.

By Bruce Frassinelli | tneditor@tnonline.com