A northern Illinois auto museum said it will continue to display the iconic car from the television show “Dukes of Hazzard” with a Confederate flag painted on it, according to multiple reports.
The decision to keep the flag comes amid the collapse of Confederate statues following the death of George Floyd in police custody on May 25 in Minneapolis. Many believe that the flag is a symbol of racism and glorification of the Civil War, while other areas argue that the flag is used to celebrate Southern heritage and that the car on the television show is a “piece of history.”
“We feel that the car is part of the story, and people love it. We have people of all races and nationalities who remember the television show and are not offended by it. It’s a part of history, and it’s in a museum, ”Brian Grams, director of the Volo Auto Museum, told Crystal Lake’s, Northwest Herald.
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Catherine “Daisy” Bach, Tom “Luke” Wopat, John “Bo” Schneider and The General Lee.
(AP)
The Volo Auto Museum has the last 1969 Dodge Charger used during the first season of the classic television series, which it acquired in 2005.
The television show “The Dukes of Hazzard”, which ran from 1979 to 1985, took place in the fictional county of Hazzard, Georgia, and the main characters nicknamed the vehicle General Lee, seen as a general reference to the Civil War Robert E. Lee.
The series featured the adventures of two cousins, Luke and Bo Duke, and the vehicle was seen leaping onto a police vehicle in the opening credits.
“And the museum has continued to listen to people who support the decision to keep the car,” Grams told the newspaper. “Several people have communicated positive comments about us leaving it on display, congratulating us for leaving it there and not having an knee-jerk reaction to remove it like many places do.”
NASCAR announced in a statement last month that it will ban any image or display of the Confederate flag at future events, in the name of love and unity. The Confederate emblem is also being removed from the Mississippi state flag.
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“The presence of the Confederate flag at NASCAR events goes against our commitment to provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors and our industry,” the statement said. “Bringing people together around a love of racing and the community is what makes our fans and sports special.”
Ben Jones, who played Cooter, the mechanic for the “The Dukes of Hazzard” series, applauded the decision at the Illinois Automobile Museum, located about 50 miles northwest of Chicago, on Sunday.
“This story about the Volo Auto Museum in Volo, Illinois is a testament to the common sense and courage of the people at Heartland of America,” he wrote on Facebook.
Grams said the museum would not remove General Lee more than it would think to remove Nazi artifacts displayed in its military section.
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“If we are going to receive complaints about the presence of General Lee here, we have much worse elements in our military building,” he added, according to the newspaper.
Nick Givas and The Associated Press of Fox News contributed to this report.
