autoevolution
 

Confederate Flag Scandal Made the General Lee Dodge Charger Lose its Flag

Bo and Luke, we feel for you. Amid all the Confederate battle flag scandals that keep popping in the US media, three states announced that they plan to discontinue specialty plates, and General Lee licensed products will also lose their roof decal.
General Lee toy car 1 photo
Photo: megomuseum.com
But first, a history lesson. The second design for the national flag of the Confederate States of America was adopted in 1863 as a symbol of the American South. At that time, this region we call the South was mad for slavery, racism, and a few other subjects that have no place in the 21st century. They simply don't, sorry.

At the end of the day, you can’t rewrite history. What’s done is done and, from our point of view, the Confederate flag is just a symbol of Southerner pride in this day and age. That’s fine with us, but some governmental officials and companies diss the Confederate flag as a big no-no for the U. S. of A. It may sound frustrating, but prepare for a systematic eradication of General Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia flag.

Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe declared that the state’s motor vehicle division prepares to phase out license plates issued with the emblem of the South. "Even its display on state-issued license tags is, in my view, unnecessarily divisive and hurtful to too many of our people," declared Mr. McAuliffe.

After Texas deemed the plates offensive, Virginia follows suit. Furthermore, North Carolina and Tennessee are pondering if it’s the right thing to do to remove the Confederate emblems on license plates. But the removal of the Confederate flag also affects the toy industry.

According to Yahoo!, you can say buh-bye to die-cast replicas and model kits featuring General Lee from Dukes of Hazzard, the orange old-school Dodge Charger with the Confederate flag painted on its roof.

“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,” tells the company.

Warner Bros., have you ever heard a line about the defense of slavery and white power in the Dukes of Hazzard series? We haven’t. Think about Bo and Luke. It’s a given that there’s a huge controversy surrounding this flag at the present moment, but please dont't turn a vendetta into a witch-hunt.
If you liked the article, please follow us:  Google News icon Google News Youtube Instagram X (Twitter)
About the author: Mircea Panait
Mircea Panait profile photo

After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
Full profile

 

Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?

You will only receive our top stories