Dukes of Hazzard Pulled From TV Land Schedule Amid Confederate Flag Controversy

For those who know nothing about the Dukes of Hazzard, it was a comedic/action TV show that aired from 1979 to 1985 and which had the main characters drive around in the car presented below, complete with this gaudy orange paint job:

Your eyes do not deceive you.  What you see on the car’s roof is indeed the Confederate Flag.  Every single episode of the show’s run featured this vehicle and its colorful paint job and, yes, Confederate Flag.  The car itself, by the way, was called the “General Lee”.

I was a big fan of the show for perhaps a season or so waaaaay back when it originally aired and before the formulaic plots bored me away (this all occurred well before the original “Duke” boys were replaced by other actors, a move which likely hastened the show’s eventual cancellation).

At that time I knew very little about U.S. Civil War and, more importantly, post-Civil War History, having lived in South America for several years.  Believe it or not, the schools there didn’t care all that much about the U.S. Civil War, preferring for some mysterious reason to spend more time teaching their own history. 😉

When I eventually moved out of South America and started attending high school in Northern Florida, I received my first lessons regarding the Civil War.  Having digested that information, I was rather surprised to find so many people in and around that city, including friends I had in the school itself, using/displaying the “stars and bars” on things as diverse as baseball hats, shirts, and vehicle paint.  Though I was living in what could be considered part of the deep south, given what I learned about the Civil War I was curious why many people back then (we are talking the early 1980’s) both romanticized and ignored elements of that war.

Before I go any further, I should note that my personal observations are from that specific time and involved the people I lived in and around and should NOT be considered a broad generalization of everyone who lives in the South.  Again, these experiences are limited to those I knew at that time.

Having said that, when the subject of the Civil War came up, I often had the impression that many of my schoolmates, at least those who were into the romanticism of the Civil War, perceived it as one of Northern aggression, even though the “South” was the first to actually attack.  Similarly, these same people didn’t view slavery as the central issue on which the war was fought, rather describing the conflict as the North trying to destroy the Southerners’ “way of life” and their care-free, “rebellious” nature.

Though I was quite young at that time, once I had a general understanding of the Civil War I grew uncomfortable seeing the Stars and Bars on people’s clothing or flagpoles or on vehicles.  In my mind and backed up by every legitimate historical book/account, the Civil War was fought by the South to continue their barbaric practice of slavery.  The North’s stance, the idea that slavery was an odious practice which needed to be gotten rid of, was the right one while the Southern side clearly wanted to keep their heinous practice going.  I’m not unsympathetic to the massive loss of life on either side of this war and the general horrors present therin, but one can at least understand, when one looks at the historical records, what this fight was actually about and which side was fighting for something -slavery- I think we can all agree upon was beyond simply a very bad thing.

So back then I couldn’t help but wonder what African Americans (of which there were plenty both in the city and in my school) must have thought when seeing this flag so prominently -and proudly!- displayed by many locals.

That was thirty five years or so ago and today, a full one hundred and fifty years since the Civil War ended in 1865, it appears society may finally be coming to the realization that displaying this flag, and therefore what it represented, may not be such a great idea after all.

I suppose its better late than never.

As for the Dukes of Hazzard TV show, I never got the impression it was trying to show off “Confederate” values or somehow fuzzying up the history of the flag, though it most certainly was offering a “good ol’ boys” view of the south.  In fact, the show was for the most part harmless fluff, but I can certainly understand why there might be those who find it painful to look at that flag, even (and especially) in such a light hearted entertainment medium.