Yes, I could re-paint my 1969 Dodge Charger in order to accomodate bigoted reactions. The reason I don’t is because I believe that bigotry is something to be fought, not something for which accomodations should be made. If a black man could change his skin color, and start “acting white,” should he? Absolutely not. Sure, he would probably eliminate racist encounters from his life, but the cost would outweigh the benefit. If everyone had to walk a distinct line and couldn’t express themselves for fear of offending someone who has a totally different interpretation of their means of self-expression, there wouldn’t be much freedom in the world. That’s where the “rebel” notion comes in. Many of the guys I know who own a General Lee, and also display the flag elsewhere, see it as a symbol of rebellion against corruption, including racism. Removing it because of the offenderatti would be like selling one’s soul.
I am a member of a club of General Lee replica owners. Even though incidents where someone confronts one of our members about the flag are rare, it does happen. When it does, many of us remind each other that this is a small taste of what it’s like being a black family moving into a white suburb populated with paranoid, racist neighbors. Yeah, we could avoid those experiences, but it’s an experience to which more people should be able to relate.
The members of our club are furious anytime some moron does something racist and “further defiles” that image by displaying the flag.
Admittedly, I would not display the flag on another vehicle. The context of the General Lee undoubtedly softens the blow for many flag-haters. I am a car enthusiast and the car, to me, represents a spirit of standing up for what is right. The car would still have had that effect if it had been pink with flowers and a peace symbol, because of the context of the series.
I grew up on a farm, and there is an attitude among some people that farmers are dumb rednecks, and all of the stereotypes that go along with that. And there is a lot of that same attitude toward the South. And I hate that, the same way I hate hearing racist remarks. I had a horrible experience in my previous job where I complained about a coworker’s racist remarks and it ignited a series of threats and other abuse from that coworker. That same coworker hated that I had the General Lee, explaining that I shouldn’t display that flag because of his decision of “what it meant.” And I can’t say I’m surprised that the same guy who stereotyped Asians and Africans also stereotyped Southerners/farmers. The point is, prejudice bothers me, whether it’s prejudice against minorities, religions, or regions, it’s painful to even listen to. Whenever I see that flag displayed in a positive light, I’m glad to see a little bit of a bridge forming between the two sides.
Of course I know that there will be some negative reactions, but in the same way, it would be at least as ignorant to assume that someone is displaying the flag because they hate black people. Especially when they have a bumper sticker that states that it is “not hate.” As absurd as it would be for me to expect everyone to have the same interpretation of that flag, it would be just as absurd of someone who sees that flag as a racist symbol to assume that someone displaying it also sees it as a racist symbol. If someone were to display it as an expression of their own actual racism, I would expect that they would add something else to it in order to clarify, because the flag itself it too vague. The “heritage not hate” bumper stickers even get a negative reaction and they’re really just saying, “Please don’t be offended. I don’t mean it that way.” It kind of creeps me out that people are so insistent that the flag is always evil, that they deliberately block out that disclaimer.
Another variation of the disclaimer bumper sticker is “I’m offended that you’re offended.” It’s another way of saying, “I’m offended that you are stereotyping me.”
Yes, there are living stereotypes out there with tattered flannel shirts, rusty pickup trucks, a flag in the back window, and a backwards attitude about anyone who isn’t a white, male, heterosexual Christian, but I know a lot of people who display the flag who would really let someone like that get an earful because such a person perpetuates the very stereotype they are fighting to eliminate.
Trying to eliminate the flag from the face of the Earth would be like trying to eliminate the N-word in rap music. Both are used innocently in certain contexts, in spite of (not because of) the negativity around them. Cut these people some slack.
when you hear the Dixie horn blow.