General Lee, 'Dukes of Hazzard' car, to lose Confederate flag following controversy

[KamaAina]

http://www.al.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/06/general_lee_dukes_of_hazzard_c.html

As several major retailers pull merchandise featuring the confederate flags from their shelves, an icon of the popular TV series "Dukes of Hazzard" will also stop sporting the battle flag.

General Lee, the 1969 Dodge Charger driven by Bo and Luke Duke on the show, will no longer feature the confederate flag on its roof, according to Yahoo! News. Merchandise and toy replicas of the car have remained popular despite the series being off the air for decades....

Ben Jones, who portrayed Cooter Davenport on the show, took to Facebook to air out his disagreement with the decision in a long rant.

"That flag on top of the General Lee made a statement that the values of the rural South were the values of courage and family and good times," said Jones.

You stay classy, Cooter.

[randys1]

1. Stay a vicious hating rightwing piece of shit till the very end, then we can make sure

your legacy is total SHIT

[malthaussen]

2. Sanitizing the car doesn't change the message.

In this respect, I have to agree with the people who warn about distorting history. Supposing I showed you a picture of a slave being flogged, would you argue that it should be destroyed because slavery is evil?

-- Mal

[arcane1]

3. How is that even possibly the same thing? It's not even close.

[malthaussen]

6. True, the car is much less offensive than the photo.

But the fact remains that the flag was placed on the car (shall we change its name while we're at it?). You may wish to argue that perpetrating that placement is supporting the cause, I would argue that removing it is denying the reality because its inconvenient.

-- Mal

[arcane1]

7. The placement IS supporting the cause. It's what flags are for.

The only ones denying reality are idiots like the one in the OP, rewriting history to make the flag about something other than the subjugation of Africans. That is the sole purpose for which the damn flag was invented in the first place.

Personally, seeing it celebrated in any fashion, even made-up revisionist ones like Cooter's, is offensive to any true patriot of the United States.

[PeaceNikki]

4. No, that's an image which depicts history, the flag is a symbol that people wave proudly to stand

in solidarity with the behavior depicted in the image.

[malthaussen]

14. Which is perhaps a reasonable depiction of the characters and writers...

... although I'm really not qualified to hold an opinion, since I never saw the show.

-- Mal

[LanternWaste]

5. Your flaw is conflating propaganda/branding and objective history.

Your flaw is conflating propaganda/branding and objective history, regardless of the rationalization soon to appear below.

[malthaussen]

10. Pretty sure the Dukes of Hazzard is history, too.

Although it is probably in syndication somewhere, so it's a gray area.

-- Mal

[lame54]

8. it already has...

before the shooting

there is an ad featuring the original duke boys driving the general lee minus the flag

[NV Whino]

9. They gonna change the name, too?

[KamaAina]

12. No, but from now on

it will only be allowed to make right turns.

[NV Whino]

15. !

[madville]

11. Those original collectibles with the flag

Will increase in value now

[KamaAina]

13. But can they be sold on eBay?

[samsingh]

16. he's an idiot - glad i never liked that stupid show.

[Brother Buzz]

17. It's gonna be like bop-a-mole

Get rid of one, another will pop up. There may hundreds of 'General Lee' wrecks sitting out there in junk yards just waiting to be reborn. The stock in them busted up junkers sitting out there just went up.

JC Whitney needs to stock-up on "Dixie" horns

http://mentalfloss.com/article/30999/what-happened-all-those-chargers-destroyed-dukes-hazzard