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Tom Wopat (left) and John Schneider as the Duke cousins. |
Cincinnati Pops Orchestra Rejects
“Dukes of Hazzard” Theme Night
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Actor Ben “Cooter” Jones said political correctness prompted the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra to cancel a “Dukes of Hazzard” theme for July 14, 2007. Photo: cootersplace.com |
Saturday, March 17, 2007
The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra has cancelled appearances by two former “Dukes of Hazzard” TV series stars because the duo used to drive the “General Lee,” a race car with a Confederate flag.
Many minority groups consider the Confederate flag racist because it was the flag of the slave-holding southern states during the U.S. Civil War. The “Dukes of Hazzard” TV series ran in the U.S. market from 1979 to 1985. Tom Wopat and John Schneider played a pair of cousins who lived in rural southern community called Hazzard County. In the show, the duo had continuous confrontations with a corrupt county government and usually escaped in their hot-rod car called “General Lee.” The real General Robert E. Lee was a leader of the
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Confederate forces during the American Civil War.
The concert ban of Schneider and Wopat prompted Schneider to ask the Cincinnati Pops to reconsider, the Associated Press reported Saturday (March 17, 2007). Schneider said he and Wopat had a signed contract to sing at the Pops on July 14, 2007.
“It's a huge shock to me that in this day and age that people could be so narrow-minded, especially professional people,” the AP quoted Schneider as saying. “Because I'm basically a singer and a movie maker who has now been denied a way to make a living … in an entire market … I would like for people to examine their motives, however, and their knee-jerk reactions to someone else's prejudice and bigotry.”
Ben Jones, who played a car mechanic named Cooter in the television show, called the Cincinnati Pops’ decision an act of political correctness gone awry.
“This is a benign family show loved by people of all ages and races,” the AP quoted Jones as saying. “I have fought racism and bigotry my whole life and worked in the civil rights movement, and there is nothing racist about it.”
However, Jones, a former congress member from Georgia, is not above calling for boycotts. Jones rants against the “Dukes of Hazard” movie and urges fans not to see it. On his web site, www.cootersplace.com, Jones wrote:
“Unless they clean it up before the August 5th release date I would strongly recommend that true blue Dukes fans hold their noses and pass this one up. And whatever you do, don't take any youngsters to see it. As plain as I can put it, the only thing this movie shares with our show is the title. Oh, they do have the General Lee flying through the air, although according to the New York Times, they didn't even use stunt drivers.
“Sure it bothers me that they wanted nothing to do with the cast of our show, but what bothers me much more is the profanity laced script with blatant sexual situations that mocks the good clean family values of our series. Now, anybody who knows me knows that I'm not a prude. But this kind of toilet humor has no place in Hazzard County. Rather than honoring our legendary show, they have chosen to degrade it.”
A statement by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra stated: "In the end, we decided that some of the messages conveyed in the program are not consistent with the efforts of the Pops to reach out to all members of our community."
