…and Daisy Pushed Back Women’s Rights
They were able to avoid an incompetent police force and corrupt county commissioner, but former Dukes of Hazzard stars John Schneider and Tom Wopat have found themselves handcuffed by an institution bigger than Boss Hogg’s belly: the NAACP.
...After having signed contracts to perform with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Schneider and Wopat were informed that their concerts were cancelled after the NAACP expressed opposition to their performing, citing the use of the Confederate flag on the car that was used in the show, which was named after General Robert E. Lee. A statement from the orchestra said that “the messages conveyed in the program are not consistent with the efforts of the Pops to reach out to all members of [the] community.” Those “messages” weren’t listed, though.
...Edith Thrower, who is president of the Cincinnati branch of the NAACP, explained, “It’s very clear how we feel about the Confederate flag and the long and arduous fight we have conducted to get rid of that symbol of a very unpleasant time in our history.”
...Ben Jones, who played Cooter on the series and eventually became a Democratic representative in Congress after the show ended, has gone on record as calling the move by the orchestra “blacklisting” and “McCarthyism.” He said, “I have fought racism and bigotry my whole life and worked in the civil rights movement, and there is nothing racist about [the show].”
...When I was younger I watched the Dukes of Hazzard on a regular basis and didn’t take from any episode a feeling of racism, bigotry, hate, or negativity in any form. Therefore, I have no choice but view the accusations of racism as being based on nothing more than the fact that the car used in the show had a Confederate flag painted on the roof.
...If this point is to be our litmus test for racism, we could easily say that every history book with photos of Confederate flags is promoting a racist agenda; every Time-Life Civil War book is teeming with hatred and bigotry. Should we push to have them removed and altered as to have all images of the southern battle flag erased from our memories? Should we edit history in an effort to provide a kinder, gentler past?
...Another question that I have is: Is this really what the NAACP has become? Have they gone from the once-mighty organization that helped to champion Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka and legislation like the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 to a group that is spending most of its time fighting against any and all images of the Confederate flag? Would W.E.B. Du Bois be happy about such an evolution?
...I personally think that our country’s two biggest historical black marks have been our treatment of Native Americans and our institution of slavery. Sadly, it seems as if now we have a new problem with which we must deal: people becoming offended at something even if that something isn’t present.
Reference
▪ Kansas City Star
...After having signed contracts to perform with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Schneider and Wopat were informed that their concerts were cancelled after the NAACP expressed opposition to their performing, citing the use of the Confederate flag on the car that was used in the show, which was named after General Robert E. Lee. A statement from the orchestra said that “the messages conveyed in the program are not consistent with the efforts of the Pops to reach out to all members of [the] community.” Those “messages” weren’t listed, though.
...Edith Thrower, who is president of the Cincinnati branch of the NAACP, explained, “It’s very clear how we feel about the Confederate flag and the long and arduous fight we have conducted to get rid of that symbol of a very unpleasant time in our history.”
...Ben Jones, who played Cooter on the series and eventually became a Democratic representative in Congress after the show ended, has gone on record as calling the move by the orchestra “blacklisting” and “McCarthyism.” He said, “I have fought racism and bigotry my whole life and worked in the civil rights movement, and there is nothing racist about [the show].”
...When I was younger I watched the Dukes of Hazzard on a regular basis and didn’t take from any episode a feeling of racism, bigotry, hate, or negativity in any form. Therefore, I have no choice but view the accusations of racism as being based on nothing more than the fact that the car used in the show had a Confederate flag painted on the roof.
...If this point is to be our litmus test for racism, we could easily say that every history book with photos of Confederate flags is promoting a racist agenda; every Time-Life Civil War book is teeming with hatred and bigotry. Should we push to have them removed and altered as to have all images of the southern battle flag erased from our memories? Should we edit history in an effort to provide a kinder, gentler past?
...Another question that I have is: Is this really what the NAACP has become? Have they gone from the once-mighty organization that helped to champion Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka and legislation like the Civil Rights Acts of 1957 and 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 to a group that is spending most of its time fighting against any and all images of the Confederate flag? Would W.E.B. Du Bois be happy about such an evolution?
...I personally think that our country’s two biggest historical black marks have been our treatment of Native Americans and our institution of slavery. Sadly, it seems as if now we have a new problem with which we must deal: people becoming offended at something even if that something isn’t present.
Reference
▪ Kansas City Star
