Peckerwood (or simply Wood) is a slang term 19th century southern Black Americans used to describe poor whites. 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 often with red hair like the woodpecker's head plumes. This word is still widely used by southern blacks to refer to southern whites.
In the 1940s, the abbreviated version "wood" entered California prison slang, originally meaning an Okie mainly from the San Joaquin Valley; but in about 1970 it became applied to white inmates as a whole, regardless of background. This has caused the symbol of the woodpecker to be used by white power skinheads and other pro-white groups. Many white supremacists identify themselves as peckerwoods, with women referred to as featherwoods. It is usually drawn with a long beak, sometimes drawn to resemble Woody Woodpecker. Sometimes the letters "PW" or "APW" (Peckerwood and American Peckerwood) is used. The peckerwood gangs are concentrated in California, where they trade in methamphetamine.
The exact etymological relationship between "peckerwood" and "woodpecker" is unclear. It is reported that in some Appalachian dialects, "peckerwood" is the normal word for "woodpecker" (possibly as part of a larger grammatical pattern); from this, it is speculated that speakers of other dialects may have applied this word to speakers of that dialect as a form of metonymic derision. (Cf. the speculated etymology of spic from "no spic English".)
The most dangerous traps are the ones you set for yourself. - Phillip Marlowe
by barracuda » Sat May 02, 2009 7:58 pm 
