My grandparents were blown out of Bastrop County Texas by the dust bowl, and out of Claunch NM by changing weather patterns. Neither one of them finished 8th grade. They were dyed-in-the-wool rednecks. They sure didn't dress like it, though. They wanted to fit in with the people they were surrounded with after the dust bowl, and that was mostly union plumbers, rocket scientists, nuclear researchers and telephone operators. Middle class, basically, with some quirks.

My grandfather had a straw hat which he wore when he was working in the sun. That's about as redneck as they got.

On the other hand, the "redneck" lifestyle is all but gone (out in the sun so often with no sunscreen that the only parts of skin you expose to the sky are perpetually burned). So adopting the uniform allows you to co-opt the tradition without actually having to live it.

It's like Sarah Palin affecting that hokey accent and getting all downy-homey about Wasilla, AK. It makes her look like less of a carpet-bagger.

Hate on black people wearing jeans and a RAHOWA shirt? You're a skinhead. Hate on black people tooled up in the confederate flag? Now you're upholding tradition.