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On “The Cancelled ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ performance and the hypocrisy of the NAACP.”

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This entry was posted on 3/20/2007 2:53 PM and is filed under Pop Culture, Homosexuality, Prejudice, Politics.

You know, stupid entertainment events always amuse me to no end. And so a concert with the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra AND Bo and Luke Duke seems like a must-attend musical performance, much like seeing Taylor Dayne several years and pounds past her prime at Epcot's 'Eat to the Beat' concert.

Except that they canceled the 'Dukes of Hazzard' concert, at least according to this article:

http://www.tvsquad.com/2007/03/20/dukes-of-hazzard-concert-stopped-over-protests/

Now, the musical event of the century (or perhaps the next four minutes) wasn't canceled because the organizers remembered that 'The Dukes of Hazzard' featured no vocal song styling to speak of. Nor was it a case of the public wondering who in the hell Tom Wopat and John Schneider actually are (in case you were pondering a 'where are they now' query...now you know!)

Nope. The NAACP protested the concert due to the fact that the 'iconic' car from the television series is decorated with a Confederate flag. This is why the good people of Ohio are being deprived of Tom and John's jazzy rendition of "I've Got Rhythm." Because a show from the 1970s with little-to-no cultural cache somehow promotes prejudice.

Really?

This is what the NAACP has been reduced to? Making certain that barely employed actors from forgettable television series can't find the dinner theatre work they deserve?

To be fair, the Confederate Flag is an emblem of racism. Not to belittle those who think that the flag represents "Southern Pride," but the 'pride' that the flag recalls for the 'South' involves the enslavement of black folks in the service of white folks. To celebrate the Confederate Flag is to celebrate slavery, racism and the institutionalization of evil into culture.

However, what the Confederate Flag also symbolizes is ignorance; specifically, the ignorance and stupidity of an entire region of the United States. To put the Stars and Bars on the window of your pick-up just above the gun rack is to declare to the nation, "Hello! I'm an ignorant fool!" In essence, the "Southern Pride" here is one of defiance in the face of reality. It gives a group of people lost in the land of trailer parks and mega-churches something, anything to be proud of. And it is this meaning of the Confederate Flag that 'The Dukes of Hazzard' represents.

If I recall, the only tangible way that 'The Dukes of Hazzard' was racist involved the utter lack of African-Americans on the series. The good ol' boys didn't drive the General Lee to a lynching before dinner, for example. Or join in the fun of hosing and assaulting civil rights protesters. Nope. These were two brothers who made moonshine and constantly outwitted the law in Hazzard County. Two strapping young men who no doubt wondered whether they could sleep with their own sister.

Basically, "The Dukes of Hazzard" honors Southern ignorance. That a show so utterly stupid and devoid of plot or meaning could be a massive hit only underscores the point: stupid people, just like everybody else, want to see two-dimensional representations of themselves on-screen.

Who wants to be the only Bubba, you know?

Clearly, "The Dukes of Hazzard" wasn't a show about prejudice. The NAACP protested because the Confederate Flag is a tangible reminder of both slavery and present-day racism, but does it not seem like this 'political action' was nothing more than a trifle?

Moreover, one could make the argument to let the concert go on, to let the ignorant celebrate their ignorance while the rest of the world laughs uncomfortably at them. It kind of reminds me of the time I saw a mentally retarded person urinating on an airplane with the door open...while humming, no less.

Did I laugh? (Yes.)

Did I avert my eyes? (And miss the show? Are you kidding?)

Did I point and call my friends over to see? (Yup. That's how I roll, yo.)

The real question here is why the Confederate Flag even matters anymore, beyond its historic significance. Why do the people of the South cling to such a wretched symbol as a matter of pride? Why is the United States, one hundred and fifty years after the emancipation of slaves, still such a hotbed of illogical racism and hatred based on trivial differences? Why did the producers of "The Dukes of Hazzard" know with certainty that painting a massive Confederate Flag on the top of their Dodge would grab the audience they wanted? And why isn't the NAACP asking these questions, instead of protesting the only cultural event to sweep through Cincinnati since WKRP went off the air?

Because the NAACP is involved in promoting ignorance themselves. The very same people who don't want "The Dukes of Hazzard" concert to go on, just gave an 'Image' award to Isaiah Washington, the African-American actor who called his co-star, T.R. Knight, a "faggot" on the set, prompting the Knight to reveal to the press that he's gay. Here's the article:

http://www.queerty.com/queer/gossip/naacp-honors-isaiah-washington-20070305.php?rss

Really?

Is this truly the 'image' that the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People really wants to project? Don't promote the Confederate Flag, don't use the n-word...but "faggot" is OK? For a political action group whose purpose is to eradicate the double standard between African and Anglo-Americans, it sure seems like they are promoting a new double standard, where African-Americans deserve the same respect and opportunity as Anglo-Americans...but gays and lesbians?

Fuck those faggots and dykes!

Apparently with time, the dehumanized become those that actively dehumanize. It's more ironic than rain on your wedding day (which isn't really irony, Alanis.)

Obviously, the reality of Washington calling Knight a faggot isn't what the NAACP is trying to acknowledge. Washington plays a successful surgeon on "Grey's Anatomy," and the NAACP clearly likes this image of African-American success. A college educated doctor, much like Cosby's comedic creation from a few years back, is a good vision to promote, especially when the country is still immersed in a quiet form of racial inopportunity.

Don't believe me? I currently live in Atlanta, where the northern half of the megapolis is wealthy and overwhelmingly white, and the southern half is distressed and nearly all black. In my office building, a majority of the employees at the credit collection call center are African-American, while in my firm, most of the white-collar, college-educated employees are white as snow. At the airport, all of the people who check my bags and frisk me in the security line are African-American, and all of the pilots are Anglo-American. (This isn't exclusive to the South, incidentally. Visit Las Vegas and note the ethnicities of the people employed as maids, carpet cleaners and baggage handlers as opposed to the dealers, casino managers and concierges.)

In short, Isaiah Washington's character as an African-American surgeon is the exception, rather than the rule. Because of the civil rights legislation of the 1960s, African-Americans have entered into many more professional ranks than they could have previously...but to deny the blatant lack of opportunity for most African-Americans is to bury one's head up one's own ass and ignore the truth.

This is an issue for the NAACP to protest and ponder: why aren't there more African-Americans in white-collar professions? Why are the entertainment and sports industries two isolated arenas where African-Americans can transcend their skin color to achieve financial and professional success? Why is "African-American doctor" the exception, rather than the rule?

I'm going to further this thought: why is the NAACP fighting for the correct 'image' to project across the television screens of the United States, instead of focusing on changing the reality for most African-Americans? If the body beneath the surface is sick, does a coat of make-up really help the image? Does the African-American cleaning lady who took the train to the Atlanta airport for her no-dollar-an-hour job really look at Washington's character and smile at the fictionalized doctor in the spirit of hope? Or does she recognize the reality of her life, that the rule is still the same for African-Americans, and that Isaiah Washington is one of the few lucky black folk to become an exception?

We, the people, may not say the n-word in polite conversation anymore (I can't even type it, for Chrissakes,) but we obviously harbor some of the hatred that promoted its use in the first place. And African-Americans like Isaiah Washington obviously harbor hatred against gays, which is why his winning of the 'Image' award is truly tragic and sadly profound. No amount of forced-by-the-network 'rehab' will change Washington's views. T.R. Knight is a 'faggot' in his eyes.

That was exactly Ann Coulter's point when she made her 'faggot' comment regarding presidential candidate John Edwards. And while I don't agree with her methods, I understand where she's coming from. In this age of political correctness, everybody seems to be choosing their words carefully, and so we, the people, have to dig for the truth beneath the surface. Would it not be for all of us easier if the haters just hated openly? I mean, is there even a shadow of a doubt where Coulter stands regarding liberals? Do we think that Washington is going to the gay pride parade anytime soon?

In this manner, blunt discourse is preferable to polite banter. Now I'm in the know regarding Coulter's feelings towards liberalism, so I won't read her books and I'll join SOAC: Spit On Ann Coulter (as a single, unmarried, childless woman making her living expressing herself without apology, she's the very definition of liberal ideology, but that's a topic for another blog.) Now I know how Isaiah Washington feels about gays, so I won't watch television series that cast him. Just as African-Americans are rightly boycotting the stand-up comedy of Michael Richards for actually using the n-word, homosexuals should avoid projects involving Washington like the plague.

But you can't have it both ways, people. The NAACP can't be up-in-arms about "The Dukes of Hazzard" and the racial hatred the Confederate Flag implies, if they are going to honor Washington after he tossed the f-bomb at another human being. The NAACP is again focusing on the image: an African-American doctor on a top ten TV show, while again avoiding the reality, that a black man in America is using a prejudiced remark to describe his co-worker. If the situation were reversed, and a gay man called his co-worker the n-word, imagine the response from the NAACP (and, for that matter, the response from gays and lesbians themselves.)

In this manner, the NAACP is just as ignorant as those they fight against. And until they recognize the reality of that situation, their image is going to be tarnished beyond repair.

Because the only thing worse than having Anglo-Americans reduce African-Americans to second class citizens, is to have your own hypocrisy do the work for us.



 

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