Bubba Watson Will Paint Over Confederate Flag on ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ General Lee
 

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. — Bubba Watson considers his orange 1969 Dodge Charger a trophy, a symbol of his success on the PGA Tour. Before he won his first Tour event, much less the first of his two Masters green jackets, Watson exacted a promise from his wife, Angie, that he could buy the car featured in the 1970s television show “The Dukes of Hazzard.”

Two years after his first tour victory, Watson acquired his dream set of wheels, known as the General Lee, for $110,000 at the 2012 Barrett-Jackson automobile auction in Scottsdale, Ariz. At the time that Watson bid on it, his wife expressed concern over the Confederate flag painted on the car’s roof. Watson said he told her, “It’s not about the Confederate flag, it’s about the show and what it stands for.”


Three years later, Watson could no longer ignore what the flag stands for in the minds and hearts of some people. In response to the wave of opposition to the Confederate flag that has swept across the country since the racially charged June 17 attack that left nine people dead at a church in Charleston, S.C., Watson said he had decided this week to paint over the flag on the General Lee’s roof. He said Friday that he would have the American flag painted in its place.

“Obviously I love the show,” said Watson, who owns the “Dukes of Hazzard” DVD collection. “But the flag is offensive to some people. There’s been enough buzz. I thought it was the right gesture for me to do.”

Watson’s decision came after the cable network TV Land removed “The Dukes of Hazzard” from its rotation and after Warner Bros. decided to stop licensing merchandise from the show.

“I’m still a fan of the show,” Watson said after his second round at the Greenbrier Classic. “There was no racism in the show that I can remember.”

He added, “Obviously, the flag is the controversy, not the TV show.”

Watson said he had driven the car home from the auction after he bought it. But since moving from Scottsdale to Orlando, Fla., Watson said, he has kept the car in the garage to avoid controversy.

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“Once people start putting hatred on it, I don’t want to be involved in that,” Watson said. “So it hasn’t gone out of my garage.”

By painting the American flag on the car’s roof, Watson said he hoped to replace a symbol that was divisive with one that stood for unity.

“I don’t stand for hatred,” he said. “I think we’re all created equal.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/04/sp...-car.html?_r=1

Big news, thread worthy

Gotta be tough convincing people you're not racist when your name is Bubba and you drive the General Lee. Good PR move on his part

Gotta appease all those black golf fans. :/

Go ahead Bubba, I'll gladly pay you 25k for that car after you do that then restore it back to a worth of 110k. :)

Then he fought an arangatang

If we ban all flags that have represented govts that have supported slavery at some point in their history, it would be a lot easier to keep track of flags.

Especially since they ran over so many black folks on the Dukes of Hazzard! This whole deal is just ridiculous. The Civil War was not solely about slavery. If Eli Whitney had invented the cotton gin earlier, it wouldn't have been an issue since that machine would have made slaves obsolete. There were some racists up north, too. Now Louis Farrakan wants the American flag banned. That is no surprise, though.

Cities in Germany have the Nazi flag flying next to their national flag, too

How many years of slavery were there under the Stars and Stripes? Which flag was flying when you could hear the screams of dying women and children at Wounded Knee?

That's an interesting tidbit.

The General Lee is fine. Leave it as it is. It's a part of cinematic history. I do think the majority of people who wear confederate flag clothing around are uninformed racists though. The civil war wasn't all about race, but it's definitely the main thing that's remembered in history. It'd be like a German walking around proudly with a nazi flag claiming they just really supported their economic agenda. You know what you're doing when you wear that stuff around.

Ol' Louie really focuses his energy on improving his constituents lives.

Bottom line for Bubba, what is the value of my 110k investment if I change the flag??? Or what might it cost me if I leave it.

Damn, should have bought the Smokey and the Bandit car.