Per Wiki:
Peckerwood (or simply wood) is a slur used through the mid 20th century by southern African Americans and upper class whites to describe poor rural whites. It is roughly synonymous with "cracker," "redneck" and "White trash," more prevalent in the southeast, although the last implies a degree of moral turpitude.
Blacks saw blackbirds as a symbol of themselves, and the redheaded woodpecker as a representation of working class whites. They considered them loud and troublesome like the bird, and sometimes with red hair like the woodpecker's head plumes. This word is still widely used by southern blacks to refer to southern whites
Peckerwood (or simply wood) is a slur used through the mid 20th century by southern African Americans and upper class whites to describe poor rural whites. It is roughly synonymous with "cracker," "redneck" and "White trash," more prevalent in the southeast, although the last implies a degree of moral turpitude.
Blacks saw blackbirds as a symbol of themselves, and the redheaded woodpecker as a representation of working class whites. They considered them loud and troublesome like the bird, and sometimes with red hair like the woodpecker's head plumes. This word is still widely used by southern blacks to refer to southern whites
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