There’s been plenty of debate in the United States over the last couple of weeks about the Confederate Flag, its meaning, and whether the symbol should be embraced in the 21st century. There seems to be two thoughts on the flag.
1. That it’s the symbol of treason, cowardice, racism and terrorism that was carried into battle against the U.S. Army and should not be flown by any federal, state or local government institution.
or
2. Thoughts that are wrong and dumb.
It was as a reaction to this sudden awareness of how stupid it is to celebrate murderers, rapists and slavers that people who previously hadn’t really thought about the flag have made some new life choices. One of those people is two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson.
Watson, like me, was a fan of The Dukes of Hazzard when he was a kid. The Dukes of Hazzard, if you don’t know, were a southern clan from the fictional Hazzard County in North Georgia who fought an unending quixotic battle against J.D. “Boss” Hogg and the group of painfully inept corrupt law enforcement officers in his employ.
The sheriff was one Roscoe P. Coltrain, who, with his bumbling inbred deputies Enos and Cleetus, chased the Dukes unsuccessfully for nearly a decade. Coltrain was a loyal, if utterly useless pawn in Hogg’s intricate chess game with the Dukes. Cleetus and Enos, on the other hand, had more fluid loyalties and were not to be trusted.
The group of Dukes was led by the affable Uncle Jesse. A stern, but playful man, Jesse was an outstanding bootlegger in is younger days. He passed along his driving skills and blatant disregard for society’s laws to his two young, unemployed nephews; Bo and Luke. Bo and Luke were the primary characters, the Robin and Will Scarlett to Coltrain’s Nottingham, if you will. Bo was the uncommonly handsome, blonde, well-built, southern good ole boy with perfect teeth. Luke was the other one.
With them lived their cousin Daisy, a comely southern gal who worked at the local e coli dispensary and wore shorts tight enough that you could tell when she was ovulating.
But the real star of the show was the car. Not just any car, but part of the holy car trinity of the 1970s and 80s along with KITT from Knight Rider and the Bandit’s Trans Am. I’m talking, of course, about the General Lee. Named after the leader of the Confederate army and emblazoned with the rebel flag, the Dukes battled the forces of Hogg throughout the dusty back-roads of Georgia, eluding speed traps, outrunning police cruisers and jumping downed bridges whenever the opportunity presented itself.
Little did we know then, as children, while Bo, the proud owner of a single yellow shirt, was angling the General skyward over a soundly jumped bridge, it was burning racial bridges as well.
Such was the fandom that made Watson, who could afford it, buy an original 1969 Dodge Charger driven by the Duke Boys themselves and add it to his car collection. But it is the adult recognition of the problems with the flag atop that car that made Watson want to make a change.
All men ARE created equal, I believe that so I will be painting the American flag over the roof of the General Lee #USA
— bubba watson (@bubbawatson) July 2, 2015
Watson paid $110,000 for the General Lee at an auction in 2012 and can do exactly what he wants with it. Earlier this year he got it autographed by Bo Luke himself, John Schneider. Watson’s choice makes tons of sense to me. When I look at the General Lee, I want to think of all the fun it represents. Not, you know, the evils of slavery and sedition.
https://twitter.com/GMEAgency/status/617343501273972738
This isn’t the first time the flag atop the General Lee has been changed and shouldn’t be the last. Jalen Rose bought an original General owned by Schneider himself and pained over the Confederate Flag with an American Flag back in 2011.
“Obviously I love the show,” Watson told the New York Times. “But the flag is offensive to some people. There’s been enough buzz. I thought it was the right thing for me to do.”
In response to Watson’s wish to alter his own property in order to make himself happy, a Chicago-based museum offered to buy it from him at its original cost. Watson hasn’t responded because he wants to keep the car. He loved the show. He just doesn’t want to think about 12.5 million enslaved Africans when he drives it.
It takes all the fun out of screaming “YEE-HAW!”
