You don'
t have to live in the South of the US to be one, you don'
t even have to live in the US at all for that matter, you can be a redneck anywhere on this world, f.i. in
Holland, as long as you live in a rather rural area, collect licence-plates, like cheap
beer and want a Chevy Blazer, if you like at least some
country-music and if you aren'
t too rich, you have all right to call yourself a dutch redneck, which we do...;-) An US-redneck-friend of mine will even send me a confederative flag, LOL.
Being a redneck is not necessary a bad thing, though it's used as an offensive word.
My dad calls us "island-rednecks", as we live on a remote island, but I never found out, if this is a compliment or an assault.