Jul 7, 2015 4 min read

Last week, TV Land yanked reruns of “Dukes of Hazzard” from its schedule, citing current controversy over the Confederate flag, which is emblazoned on the roof of the Dukes’ car, the General Lee. It’s not the first knee-jerk reaction to current headlines from nostalgia-based TV Land.

Several months ago, it pulled reruns of “The Cosby Show” off the air because of sexual harassment allegations against the comedian.

Better watch your step, every other show on television.

Racism is a serious issue. But “Dukes of Hazzard” was never about racism.

To be sure, in the “Dukes of Hazzard” era, there were plenty of controversial series on television. “Maude” dealt with abortion, “NYPD Blue” struggled with use of the “N” word, “Rhoda” examined divorce, “Soap” introduced a gay character and “All in the Family” tackled every issue of the day. Columns, dissertations and books were written about television’s impact on the social landscape. But to my knowledge, “The Dukes of Hazzard” was never one of the series mentioned.

Granted, “The Dukes of Hazzard” contains images of the Confederate flag. But, in none of those image instances was racism ever a factor. “Dukes” was a frivolous, low-brow, eye-candy series about rebels without a cause, save for the pursuit of wine, women and song, or, in this instance, moonshine, girls in short shorts and country tunes. The Confederate flag and the name, “General Lee,” were used to help establish a fictionalized Southern image of daredevil driving, dusty roads and a dimwit sheriff. For the most part, “The Dukes of Hazzard” was dismissed as harmless entertainment. Negative critical assessments – and there were many – never mentioned racism.

Certainly, the image of the Confederate flag has changed in recent years and especially in the past month. Indeed, if the flag has come to symbolize racism, it should be removed from government buildings. But that’s not necessarily a reason to also eliminate all images of “The Dukes of Hazzard” from our collective consciousness.

If we look at “Dukes” as a period piece, albeit a rather silly one, it displays the Confederate flag as a symbol of rebellion. Period. Not racism. Not prejudice. Not anarchy. The Confederate flag on the Dukes’ car, in the context of that show, is no different than the “do our own thing” psychedelic images on the Partridge Family bus.

For a similar reason, one can certainly argue that Bill Cosby’s personal life was not adequate reason to take “The Cosby Show” off the air. The series wasn’t about Cosby, the actor and comedian, but rather about a character he played as part of the Huxtable family. Nothing Cosby – the actor – did or said since then altered the fictional world of the Huxtables.

As a nation, we have generally done a good job of separating day-to-day life from entertainment. We understand that comments and images are to be interpreted within the context and time period of a particular show.

We didn’t demand that reels of “The Donna Reed Show,” “Father Knows Best” and “Ozzie and Harriet” be destroyed because of their portrayal of women. We didn’t banish “The Andy Griffith Show” because of its image of a fumbling law enforcement officer, or “F Troop” for its depiction of American Indians. “Hogan’s Heroes” wasn’t yanked because of its comic take on a prisoner-of-war camp. “WKRP in Cincinnati” wasn’t targeted because some of its characters smoked pot. “Welcome Back Kotter” wasn’t removed from the schedule because of its portrayal of special needs students. “Three’s Company” wasn’t eliminated because of its stereotypical portrayal of gays. And we haven’t demanded that networks pull all episodes of “Gunsmoke” or “Bonanza” because its characters shoot guns.

In the context of all of those series, we overlook the politically incorrect slants. We are a smart and savvy enough nation to do the same with “Dukes of Hazzard” – if we even have an interest in the series, anymore. One imagines that if ratings warranted it, it would be a simple enough task to alter or eliminate the flag from each episode.

But when you’re one of 500 channels, sometimes the best way to draw attention is just to wave a flag.