"Dukes of Hazzard" Actor Ben Jones Defends Confederate Flag
by Jessica Derschowitz
June 24, 2015


Actor Ben Jones, who played Cooter Davenport on "The Dukes of Hazzard", came out in defense of the Confederate flag on Tuesday, calling it a “symbol that represents the indomitable spirit of independence.”

In a lengthy Facebook message, posted entirely in CAPS, Jones said the flag is a “beloved symbol” now being attacked “in a wave of political correctness that is unprecedented in our nation of free speech and free expression.”





TO ALL OF OUR FRIENDS AND FANS FROM BEN JONES AKA “COOTER”

I THINK ALL OF HAZZARD NATION UNDERSTANDS THAT THE CONFEDERATE BATTLE FLAG IS THE SYMBOL THAT REPRESENTS THE INDOMITABLE SPIRIT OF INDEPENDENCE WHICH KEEPS US “MAKIN’ OUR WAY THE ONLY WAY WE KNOW HOW.”

THAT FLAG ON TOP OF THE GENERAL LEE MADE A STATEMENT THAT THE VALUES OF THE RURAL SOUTH WERE THE VALUES OF COURAGE AND FAMILY AND GOOD TIMES.




OUR BELOVED SYMBOL IS NOW BEING ATTACKED IN A WAVE OF POLITICAL CORRECTNESS THAT IS UNPRECEDENTED IN OUR NATION OF FREE SPEECH AND FREE EXPRESSION. ACTIVISTS AND POLITICIANS ARE VILLIFYING SOUTHERN CULTURE AND OUR HERITAGE AS BEING BIGOTED AND RACIST.

WE KNOW THAT THIS IS NOT THE CASE. AND WE KNOW THAT IN HAZZARD COUNTY THERE WAS NEVER ANY RACISM.




THOUGH THE FLAG HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM SUCH PLACES AS WALMART, TARGET AND AMAZON, IT WILL NEVER BE REMOVED FROM ANY OF OUR COOTER’S STORES AND MUSEUMS. WE ARE ALL THE SAME GOOD PEOPLE TODAY THAT WE WERE LAST WEEK AND LAST YEAR AND WE ARE NOT GOING TO BE SHAMED INTO TURNING OUR BACKS ON OUR HERITAGE AND OUR CONVICTIONS.

WE ARE NOT RACISTS. WE DESPISE RACISM AND BIGOTRY. AND WE THINK THE PEOPLE WHO ARE CREATING THIS “CULTURAL CLEANSING” ARE THE REAL BIGOTS IN THIS STORY.




WHEN WE SAY OUR FLAG STANDS FOR “HERITAGE, NOT HATE” AND “PRIDE, NOT PREJUDICE”, WE MEAN IT. AND WE BELIEVE THAT OLD SAYING, “YOU CAN’T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING IF YOU FORGET WHERE YOU CAME FROM.”

COOTER’S IS GOING TO CONTINUE TO SELL OUR SOUTHERN SYMBOLS AS LONG AS THERE IS A COOTER’S. I WILL FIGHT THESE PEOPLE UNTIL HELL FREEZES OVER, AND THEN I WILL FIGHT THEM ON THE ICE.

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/06/24/dukes-hazzard-ben-jones-confederate-flag

The Confederate flag symbolizes white supremacy — and it always has

Cooter is another one who needs to bush up on U.S. history.
It is an undeniable 100% fact that the confederates strived to preserve slavery.... don't know how this ignoramus can say that's not racist.

The Confederate flag symbolizes white supremacy — and it always has

Cooter is another one who needs to bush up on U.S. history.
It is an undeniable 100% fact that the confederates strived to preserve slavery.... don't know how this ignoramus can say that's not racist.

While I stand by what I said about how treasonous the flag is, reruns of the show, however, should NOT be banned. Nor should they go back and digitally alter the car. It is part of history.

How would we like it if we went back and edited every instance of cartoon characters smoking?

While I stand by what I said about how treasonous the flag is, reruns of the show, however, should NOT be banned. Nor should they go back and digitally alter the car. It is part of history.

How would we like it if we went back and edited every instance of cartoon characters smoking?
I agree that the show Dukes of Hazard should not be altered in any way. However, I do not defend that flag at all.

I think the thing we need to remember with this is not to try and erase history but LEARN from it. Education is key.

I agree with Jones 100%. The confederate flag is a symbol of the thousands of men who died in the Civil War , fighting for the South. How this should suddenly come under attack because one nut killed 9 people in a church is unbelievable. Hey, let's ban all Beatles music because Charles Manson adopted Helter Skelter as his background music for the Tate-LoBianco murders.

I agree with Jones 100%. The confederate flag is a symbol of the thousands of men who died in the Civil War , fighting for the South. How this should suddenly come under attack because one nut killed 9 people in a church is unbelievable. Hey, let's ban all Beatles music because Charles Manson adopted Helter Skelter as his background music for the Tate-LoBianco murders.
Nice try.... :rolleyes:
The Beatles NEVER stood for murder. The Beatles were peaceful.
The confederate flag has ALWAYS stood for white supremacy and slavery. So get your facts straight instead of living in willful ignorance.
You are entitled to your own opinion no matter how stupid and factually wrong it may be.

Good Riddance: How The Confederate Flag On ‘The Dukes of Hazzard’ Shaped How We Viewed It (http://uproxx.com/tv/2015/06/dukes-of-hazzard-confederate-flag-from-the-dukes-of-hazzard/)

Scrapple, you make some good points in your post above.

I mean, let's face it people, the races ARE different. Whites are different from blacks. We are not all the same! I say it shouldn't be a crime to be proud of who you are and to celebrate our differences.

Sure, slavery was wrong, but that was a fricking long time ago. We who are alive now in no way should be expected to pay for or give reparations for or even look down on ourselves for what our long ago ancestors did.

People need to get over the past and start acting right and helping themselves and quit looking for fricking handouts and apologies.

I agree that the show Dukes of Hazard should not be altered in any way. However, I do not defend that flag at all.

I think it is really rude of your behavior. I did not liked it at all.

I think it is really rude of your behavior. I did not liked it at all.
All that person does is be rude and throw names around.

The Dukes were good, clean family entertainment. Nobody ever really got hurt and even the "crooked" Boss Hogg never harmed anyone or dealt with any schemes involving drugs and Roscoe was bumbling like Barney Fife, but never portrayed law enforcement as being evil.

The show had values and family and morals. The paint job on the car never really had anything to do with the storylines. This really is such a non-issue and total over reaction.

In Defense Of "The Dukes Of Hazzard" & The General Lee! (http://jamesfaracitlota.blogspot.com/2015/08/in-defense-of-dukes-of-hazzard-general.html)

In Defense Of "The Dukes Of Hazzard" & The General Lee! (http://jamesfaracitlota.blogspot.com/2015/08/in-defense-of-dukes-of-hazzard-general.html)


In Defense Of "The Dukes Of Hazzard" & The General Lee!


I’m James Faraci, The Last Of The Americans and the views I’m about to express are that of my own & some of yours and welcome to another edition of "In Defense Of..." (Show pics of maligned pieces of pop culture while the fanfare from the Olympics play and James comes up after Vanilla Ice slides back and his right hand thumbs up and the words "In Defense Of..." (Cut to James in his office)

TLOTA: This year an Icon of Americana was attacked and the people who knew it defended it as I am doing now, The SJWs decided to side with the idiots You know where I'm going with this one! (Cut to clips of "The Dukes Of Hazzard" as the instrumental from the end credits play in the background and James does a voiceover.)

TLOTA (Voiceover): I watched this show in Reruns when I was a kid and, up until TV Land and it's parent companies Paramount & Viacom gave into the demands of idiots & some SJWs and yanked the series off I'll talk about it in a minute, when I grew up I still watched "The Dukes Of Hazzard" and I found myself loving every second of it. Why? Because it was harmless entertainment about a family in Rural Georgia with a farm, a bit of a past with Law enforcement having to do with moonshine with one really awesome 1969 Dodge Charger called "The General Lee" which had the ability to take flying leaps and turn them into pieces of art and speaking of "The General Lee" well...yeah let's address the Gorilla in the room. Yes, it has a rebel flag on the top of the roof of it and earlier this year a jackass with the brains god gave a common dogpile decided to shoot up a church and post a photo of him holding the Rebel Flag which in turn got every uppity sawed off SJW & every idiot who had never seen an episode but hated it anyway enough ammo to force Paramount & Viacom to end airing Reruns of "The Dukes Of Hazzard" on their "TV Land" network and that's a shame! As a matter of a fact, I've got friends who love the series who are African American and they love this series why you may ask? Because they like Bo & Luke Duke and they think "The General Lee" is friggin awesome even with the Rebel Flag is on the roof of the car! Plus look at this clip! I dare you to say Uncle Jesse played by the late great Denver Pyle isn't wise enough to know that being Prejudicial is a BAD thing (Show clip of Uncle Jesse talking about overcoming prejudicial attitudes.) ARE YOU LISTENING SJWs? They know that prejudice leads to bad things, in fact I watched every episode and at no time, NO TIME AT ALL have they ever said an unkind thing towards another race! Their flag is a part of their heritage but that doesn't mean they embrace the meaning behind the bars and stars! The show is as wholesome as America can freaking get! It doesn't push the envelope because it doesn't need to. Showing a family being put into the middle of insane adventures and how they handle it when the law is on the take and owned by the difacto owner of the county and how they're the only ones to handle the situation properly is entertaining enough to be memorable. I'll say that while yeah, the series could be goofy and far-fetched at times it stayed grounded and did all it could to be able to show how much depth there is in this series and how intelligent it can be which is far more than I can say towards those pencil necked geeks at TV Land's parent companies Paramount & Viacom who sided with the SJWs and idiots who heard of the show and never saw an episode because they thought the show was beneath them or they thought the show was hurting American intelligence who wanted it off the air are now as far as I'm concerned dumber than the show they have no regard for. Why? Because if they actually SEEN the series they might have seen something more intelligent than they realized. So if you want to piss the idiots who never saw the series and have friends or family who love this series buy the series, buy the reunion movies and let the SJWs and idiots know they didn't win by shoving the fact that you have the series and you're gonna watch it as much as you want to and you love the series and they're dumber than Sherriff Roscooooooe P. Coltraine for not giving The Dukes of Hazzard their just dues.

Let it go!!

Can't let it go if the show is banned.