Warner Bros. on Wednesday said that the company would no longer license models of “General Lee,” the red Dodge Charger painted with a Confederate flag featured in the television series “The Dukes of Hazzard.”
“Warner Bros. Consumer Products has one licensee producing die-cast replicas and vehicle model kits featuring the General Lee with the confederate flag on its roof–as it was seen in the TV series. We have elected to cease the licensing of these product categories,” the company said in a statement to Yahoo News on Tuesday.
Following the deadly shooting at a historic black church in Charleston, S.C., officials renewed the debate over the Confederate flag. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) called for the state to remove the flag from the state’s capitol grounds.
Numerous companies, including Walmart, Amazon and eBay, announced they would stop selling products featuring the Confederate flag.
However, former Rep. Ben Jones (D-GA), known for his role as “Cooter” on “The Dukes of Hazzard,” said on Tuesday the flag is still seen “in positive contexts.” Jones, who is also the chairman of the Sons of Confederate Veterans heritage operations, said that now it not the time to be “making major historic decisions.”
“It’s not a Southern sin. White supremacy is a sin. Racism is a sickness that goes on all over the world. This man doesn’t represent us,” he told CNN about the Charleston shooting. “No one thinks it was not a terrible, horrible thing.”
Funny…considering AutoTrader has been running ads with the General Lee and both actors for awhile now.
But even funnier because that particular make of car is rather hard to come by…largely because of the enormous amount that they wrecked shooting the show. I remember way back when it was on, that they were desperate looking for cars to use in the jump and chase scenes…because they almost always totaled the vehicles.
What’s ironic for me is I just saw someone driving a car just like this in Duluth, MN. last night. I’ve never seen it before.
The “General Lee” in the AutoTrader adds doesn’t show the Confederate Battle Flag on its roof. It’s either obscured or gone completely. The car is shot entirely at low angles where its absence is not obvious:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6syCBrvmJ68I’ve never understood the appeal of that show to southern “heritage” folks. Yes, the Dukes are “good ol’ boys,” but otherwise the show is a running mockery of southern stereotypes, with characters named Lulu, Cooter and Cletus.
Has Ben Jones forgotten that the full name of the show’s main villain was Jefferson Davis Hogg?
The car is Orange, not Red.
The FLAG is Red.
Jones, who is also the chairman of the Sons of Confederate Veterans heritage operations, said that now it not the time to be “making major historic decisions.”
So, lemme guess - in six months or so, after things have died down a bit, he’ll then announce that it’s time to be “making major historic decisions,” right?