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Honky (also spelledhonkey) is aracial slur which is used to refer towhite people,[1] predominantly heard in theUnited States. The first recorded use of "honky" in this context may date back to 1946.[2][3]
The exact origins of the word are generally unknown and postulations about the subject vary.
Honky may be a variant ofhunky, which was a derivative ofBohunk, a slur for variousSlavic andHungarian immigrants who moved to America from theAustro-Hungarian Empire in the early 1900s.[4]
Honky may also derive from the term "xonq nopp" which, in the West African languageWolof, literally means "red-eared person". The term may have originated with Wolof-speaking people brought to the U.S.[5] It has been used byBlack Americans as a pejorative forwhite people.[6]
Honky may have come from coal miners inOak Hill, West Virginia. The miners were segregated; Blacks in one section, English-speaking whites in another. Foreigners who could not speak English, mostly whites, were separated from both groups into an area known as "Hunk Hill". These male laborers were known as "Hunkies".[7]
The term may have begun in the meat packing plants ofChicago. According to Robert Hendrickson, author of theEncyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, Black workers in Chicagomeatpacking plants picked up the term from white workers and began applying it indiscriminately to all whites.[8]
Honky was adopted as apejorative in 1967 by black militants withinStudent Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) seeking a rebuttal for the termnigger. TheDepartment of Defense stated in 1967 that National Chairman of the SNCC,H. Rap Brown, told a Black audience inCambridge, Maryland that "You should burn that school down and then go take over the honkie's school" on June 24, 1967. Brown went on to say: "[I]f America don't come 'round, we got to burn it down. You better get some guns, brother. The only thing the honky respects is a gun. You give me a gun and tell me to shoot my enemy, I might shootLady Bird."[9]
Honky has occasionally been used even for white allies of African Americans, as seen in the 1968 trial ofBlack Panther Party memberHuey Newton, when fellow PantherEldridge Cleaver created pins for Newton's white supporters stating "Honkies for Huey".[10]
"Father of the Blues"W. C. Handy wrote of "Negroes and hunkies" in his autobiography.[11]
In the 2012rap song "Thrift Shop" byMacklemore & Ryan Lewis ft.Wanz, "Damn, that's a cold ass honkey!" is used in reference to Macklemore and his secondhand clothes.Eminem, who is also awhite American rapper, uses the line "He looked at me and said, 'You gonna die, honkey!'" in 1999's "Brain Damage." "Play That Funky Music," a 1976disco/funk hit byWild Cherry about a rock band adapting to the rise of disco, substitutes "honky" for "white boy" in the final chorus of the uncensored version.[12] The British bandHot Chocolate used "honky" and "spook" in their controversial 1973 hit single "Brother Louie" about an interracial relationship as the terms chosen by the respective fathers to slur their child's newfound lover.
Other uses of "honky" in music includeHonky (an album byMelvins),Honky Reduction (an album byAgoraphobic Nosebleed),MC Honky (DJstage persona),Honky Château (an album byElton John, the first track on which is "Honky Cat"),Talkin' Honky Blues (an album byBuck 65), andHonky (an album byKeith Emerson).Honky's Ladder is a 1996EP byThe Afghan Whigs. In 2022Hank Williams Jr. released a blues albumRich White Honky Blues.
The Chicago style ofpolka music is also known as honky polka.[13]
Honky is a 1971 movie based on an interracial relationship, starringBrenda Sykes as Sheila Smith and John Neilson as Wayne "Honky" Devine.
Ina sketch onSaturday Night Live (SNL),Chevy Chase andRichard Pryor used bothnigger (Chase) andhonky (Pryor) in reference to one another during a "racistword association interview".[14] During this period,Steve Martin (as musical guest andstand-up regular onSNL) performed a rendition of "King Tut" which contained the wordhonky in its lyrics.
On the TV seriesBarney Miller, Season 5, Episode 8, "Loan Shark",Arthur Dietrich gives an etymology of the word "honky", claiming it was "coined by Blacks in the 1950s in reference to the nasal tone of Caucasians".[15]
On the TV seriesThe Jeffersons,George Jefferson regularly referred to a white person as a honky (orwhitey) as didRedd Foxx onSanford and Son. This word would later be popularized in episodes ofMork & Mindy byRobin Williams andJonathan Winters.
1946 Mezzrow & WolfeReally the Blues xii. 216 First Cat: Hey there Poppa Mezz, is you anywhere? Me: Man I'm down with it, stickin' like a honky.
