Times have certainly changed. There was a time when an appearance by the stars of the hot Dukes of Hazzard series would have caused a stampede of fans. Now, over 20 years after the classic series went off the air, it appears that some feel about as warmly about “the Duke boys” as Boss Hogg.
The Dukes of Hazzard was an incredibly popular series that ran on CBS from 1979 until 1985. The show followed the adventures of Bo and Luke Duke as they evaded the corrupt Boss Hogg and his inept police force. The adventure series inspired two spin-off shows (an animated version and a short-lived series centered around dimwitted Deputy Enos), and two reunion movies in 1997 and 2000. The series starred John Schneider, Tom Wopat, Catherine Bach, Denver Pyle, James Best, Sorrell Booke and, of course the Duke car, the high-jumping General Lee. A film remake hit theaters in 2005 and a prequel DVD movie was released this month.
Actors Schneider and Wopat have each had successful careers outside of The Dukes of Hazzard. Schenider has worked on many TV shows and films as well as played Jonathan Kent for five seasons on Smallville. Wopat starred with Cybill Shepard on the Cybill sitcom, and has appeared on Broadway in Glengarry Glen Ross and in a long run of Annie Get Your Gun, first opposite Bernadette Peters, then Susan Lucci and Reba McEntire.
Though Wopat was the one to release a couple of music CDs, both former Dukes have a history of singing performances. They sang several times on The Dukes of Hazzard and even sang the Dukes theme together on the 2006 TV Land Awards. But it seems these days that not everyone is so fond of the duo.
The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra has recently cancelled a planned Dukes-themed event that would have featured Wopat and Schneider performing. The cancellation is said to be due to pressure from some in the Ohio community who feel The Dukes of Hazzard was a racist and offensive program. A statement released by the orchestra said, “We decided that some of the messages conveyed in the program are not consistent with the efforts of the Pops to reach out to all members of our community.”
Edith Thrower, the president of the Cincinnati branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), said she was contacted a few weeks ago by the Pops conductor who wanted a reaction to the planned July 14th event. Thrower said, “I contacted our national office and was advised that it would be best if we didn’t support an effort like this. It’s very clear how we feel about the Confederate flag and the long and arduous fight we have conducted to get rid of that symbol of a very unpleasant time in our history.”
Former Georgia Congressman Ben Jones (who played mechanic Cooter on the series) was dumbfounded by the action. He believes the cancellation amounts to a “blacklisting of these guys out of some kind of political correctness that is just plain wrongheaded.”
Democrat Jones continued, “These guys are great people and great singers. To not use them because they were part of a show that some misguided people find racist is just wrong. This is a benign family show loved by people of all ages and races. I have fought racism and bigotry my whole life and worked in the civil rights movement, and there is nothing racist about it.”
For his part, though he and Wopat had been contracted to appear the event, Schneider says he doesn’t want to start a feud over the decision. He said, “It’s a huge shock to me that in this day and age people could be so narrow-minded, especially professional people.” Schneider continued, “I would like for people to examine their motives, however, and their knee-jerk reactions to someone else’s prejudice and bigotry.”
Hmmmm. I can honestly say that I don’t recall the Dukes series being racist in any way. Now, mindless? Well, that’s another story entirely. Tell us what you think and stay tuned! 
More about:
The Dukes of Hazzard
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
what a joke!!! All this over a flag and some southern slang?
D.O.H. always had enthic folks on the show. I’ve seen just about every episode, I don’t recall any racist remarks whatsoever!
Even one the stars, Cathy Bach is half mexican for cryin’ out loud.
At the rate this world is going, we’re going to politically correct ourseleves out of living and existence.
what next? will we outlaw white bed sheets because the Klan used them at one point in time?
these days it’s sad times…it’s sad times!
If someone offered me a ride in a time machine to go back to a simple place in time… say to Hazzard county when it was all clean fun…I’d go in a heartbeat!!!
give em’ H^ll Cooter!
To be frank,
Racism is never going to get any better because there are too many over sensitive idiots running the show. There was nothing racist about the Dukes of Hazzard. It was a wholesome family show and having a Confederate Flag on the top of the General Lee is part of southern history, like it or not. It doesn’t mean you are a racist. The Dukes were good wholesome people. If anything, it made more of a statement about the south than anything. We like to think we have evolved but we haven’t because everyone is “offended by something.” Well I am offended by the rap and hip hop garbage I hear every night, when sitting in my home, coming from some teenagers speakers. Artists like Enimem and others offend me, so perhaps they should be banned from every playing in my state simply because it isn’t my cup of tea. Remind me to never visit Cincinatti again.
How anyone person or groups of people feel about the Confederate Battle Flag and the South is totally irrelevent to the people in the Southland, so hold on “you ain’t seen nothing yet”. Oh and by the way y’all can keep Cincinatti and her people nawth of the ohio river we don’t need nor want you in the South, we don’t speak the same language and have absolutely nothing in common with damnyankees. Long live the South!!!!!!!!!!!
I grow up watching The Dukes Of Hazzard on tv. The NAACP wants it banned from tv. The NAACP can go to hell.
You Damn Yankees are in for a living hell when I get through with you The Dukes Of Hazzard is a Family Show and the kids are mad at you for doing this and so am I don’t come down to the south or you will get an ass kicking
Thank you for an entertaining
program. My husband is a stroke survivor and he is able to use the tv control &(oh boy does he) and that is great. He was a big (not fat)man, loved his Harley, fishing in Manitoba, Canada, Night Club Owner/Oper. (beer drinker,& smoker.)Never drugs. Livestock buyer. Wife, children & grandchildren. Tom had JUST retired. Count your blessings young people and get and keep your priorities straight. Grams….
Ignorance is funny. I think you ignorant people all need to grow up and stop being so petty over sensitive issues. The dukes of hazzard was not a racist show. Slavery was how long ago…? Those living today are not soley being affected by it today. Your relatives don’t count. Get over it! You want racial connotations watch sanford and son!! Honkey, and whitie. Freedom of speech and the right to watch what we want is being dictated by people with an unfair advantage. Where does it end!
I think that black people is loosing the opportunity to get integrated with White and Hispanic Americans. Futile demonstrations against The Dukes of Hazzard and Dixie sounds as ridiculous and Anti-black as American racist Spring Thomas, who presents blacks as animals.
Black People of America don’t hear black racists, they manipulate you to get their own goals, not yours. They favor the advance of Asians and Hispanics over you.
Dukes of Hazzard
Man that show rocks. I still watch the dvds. I am 35 years old and been watching it when i was 13. Tom and John I wish some how you guys can bring the show back. Man I love the car, actors. Please e-mail me back.
It won’t end until people let it. Political correctness is a load of ****. It amounts to self-censorship; making us scared to say something that might offend someone, some-*******-where in the world. I’m offended by a lot of stuff, but that doesn’t mean I want to crusade against the people engaging in whatever activities I don’t agree with. As long as no one is being killed, and their own actions aren’t hindered by the actions of others, what you say or do should have no bearing on anything.