When South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley signed a measure into law on July 9, to remove the Confederate flag from the state capitol (which was then removed the next day after flying for 54 years), I couldn’t help but ask this one question: If South Carolina (and so many other southern states that flew the Confederate flag) knew there was a race problem, why wasn’t the flag removed before 21-year-old Dylann Roof opened fire, killing nine African-Americans June 17 at a prayer meeting at Emanuel African Methodist Church?
When I watched "All in the Family" (1971-1979) and "The Jeffersons" (1975-1985) as a kid I did not count how many racial epithets (and there were many) Archie Bunker said about most every race. I didn’t know what the words “honky” and “zebras” meant at the time when George Jefferson uttered those words to describe interracial couple Tom and Helen Willis. Apparently neither did the live audiences otherwise why were they all laughing? Or why did the networks incorporate laugh tracks when those comments were said?
“The Dukes of Hazzard" (1979-1985) was and is no more a show seated in racism than Breaking Bad was a show seated in reality,” said Hazzard’s star John Schneider upon hearing the series was pulled by TV Land in response to the Charleston shootings and the suddenly racist Confederate flag painted on the famous car Bo and Luke drove, the General Lee.
“I am saddened that one angry and misguided individual can cause one of the most beloved television shows in the history of the medium to suddenly be seen in this light,” Schneider told The Hollywood Reporter. “Are people who grew up watching the show now suddenly racists? Will they have to go through a detox and a 12-step program to kick their Dukes habit?”
The minute I criticize President Obama I get called racist when my criticism of him has nothing to do with his race. It’s his lousy policies destroying America that I have no stomach for.
With the Confederate flag now in a museum I can’t help but wonder (as I drive throughout my neighborhood seeing the American flag proudly displayed outside numerous homes), how long will it be before someone finds the symbol offensive and demands that it be removed from a neighbor’s home?
In case you were born yesterday, I got news for you. It’s already happening.
©10/21/15
A sick individual cold-bloodedly murders minorities in hopes of starting a race war and now South Carolina and the rest of the country have a change of heart. If such supposed offensive historical symbols of the Civil War had been taken down years earlier, would that have kept Roof’s shooting rampage from happening? I doubt that about as much as I doubt more stringent gun control laws would stop mass shootings from happening.Truth is this wasn’t the first shooting inside a house of worship. There have been countless shootings inside churches before the Charleston incident. Many innocent lives have been lost. Where was all the shock and outrage then over gun violence and mental illness?
When I watched "All in the Family" (1971-1979) and "The Jeffersons" (1975-1985) as a kid I did not count how many racial epithets (and there were many) Archie Bunker said about most every race. I didn’t know what the words “honky” and “zebras” meant at the time when George Jefferson uttered those words to describe interracial couple Tom and Helen Willis. Apparently neither did the live audiences otherwise why were they all laughing? Or why did the networks incorporate laugh tracks when those comments were said?
“The Dukes of Hazzard" (1979-1985) was and is no more a show seated in racism than Breaking Bad was a show seated in reality,” said Hazzard’s star John Schneider upon hearing the series was pulled by TV Land in response to the Charleston shootings and the suddenly racist Confederate flag painted on the famous car Bo and Luke drove, the General Lee.
“I am saddened that one angry and misguided individual can cause one of the most beloved television shows in the history of the medium to suddenly be seen in this light,” Schneider told The Hollywood Reporter. “Are people who grew up watching the show now suddenly racists? Will they have to go through a detox and a 12-step program to kick their Dukes habit?”
We can’t say Merry Christmas to anyone out of fear of offending someone who doesn’t celebrate it. Comedienne Nicole Arbour can’t do what she thinks was a humorous commentary about her opinion of fat people without YouTube, in a brief moment of madness, pull the video before restoring it due to so many hits the segment was getting. We can’t dress up as “Caitlyn Jenner” for Halloween because the LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender) community finds it insulting.They say nothing when liberal hate commentator Ed Schultz shouts how former Vice President Dick Cheney’s heart should be ripped out, kicked around and stuffed back into him. The minute Rush Limbaugh, however, calls Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a slut, without bothering to read the transcript of where Limbaugh was coming from when he said it, the double standard liberals want “The Doctor of Democracy” gone from the airwaves.
When people aren’t busy wasting their breath on the dumbest of debates, like changing the name of the Washington Redskins football team to something else that won’t be offensive to Native Americans, they’re busy setting double standards.
The minute I criticize President Obama I get called racist when my criticism of him has nothing to do with his race. It’s his lousy policies destroying America that I have no stomach for.
With the Confederate flag now in a museum I can’t help but wonder (as I drive throughout my neighborhood seeing the American flag proudly displayed outside numerous homes), how long will it be before someone finds the symbol offensive and demands that it be removed from a neighbor’s home?
In case you were born yesterday, I got news for you. It’s already happening.
©10/21/15
No comments:
Post a Comment