It’s time for another induction into the “Redneck Hall of Shame.” This time the dishonor goes to the outside-the-box thinkers at the Southern Legal Resource Center, who, with a straight face, are telling Southerners to claim their heritage as “Confederate Southern Americans” on their census forms. Why? So they can qualify for protection under civil rights law:

“We can start the process to give the southern community here in America a voice again, so that our concerns will be heard, and so that we will stop being harassed and persecuted because we are proud of our southern and Confederate ancestry.”

It’s true that many Southerners are unfairly ridiculed, usually with the all-encompassing insult “redneck” that inspired this blog. But to argue that such attacks qualify as harassment and persecution that qualifies for federal protection is bizarre — especially coming from a group that can’t let go of the Confederate flag. Characters like that need a heavy dose of enlightenment.