I heard through the grapevine the television show "Dukes of Hazzard" was being pulled off of television due to the Confederate flag being painted on the infamous orange Charger they drive on the show. I was a die hard fan of the show growing up. I didn't have the luxury of 100+ channels in my youth as my kids do today. "Dukes of Hazzard" was exciting to watch to me as a child. I didn't know anything about Confederate flags, rednecks, or racism. My grandmother and I would watch "Hee-Haw" on a weekly basis. It was just something to watch to me and I actually thought the show was funny. As an adult, I noticed the flag on the car the "Dukes" were driving and wondered "were the "Dukes" rednecks"? They were living in the country, and there wasn't anything "classy" about Uncle Jesse.Yet, this show was a part of my childhood and other African-Americans back in that time frame.
Let's investigate the matter for ourselves. The definition of duke is "a nobleman with the HIGHEST hereditary rank" or "a prince who rules an independent duchy". This doesn't describe the "Dukes". The definition of a redneck is "chiefly used for a rural poor white person in the Southern part of the United States. The term can be identified with the term hillbilly. Uncle Jesse strikes me more of a hillbilly than a nobleman. The definition of a hillbilly is "one from the mountains or backwoods". Where did the "Dukes" & Uncle Jesse live? Correct, in the backwoods. The only time we saw black people on the show were when they were up to no good with the other robbers. I think there was one black States Trooper, but his presence wasn't consistent. Who have African-Americans been adoring really?
Yet we press on to
Another Day Forward
Until Next Time.....
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