The Dukes Of Hazzard’s “Cooter” has something to say about that battle flag
By Mike Vanderbilt@MikeVanderbilt
Jun 24, 2015 3:41 PM
Free speech is great and all, but the internet is probably the best argument against it. Before, everyone had an opinion. Now everyone has a forum to actually share it. Speaking of, straight out of the “Where Are They Now?” file of The A.V. Club, the man who played “Cooter” on the popular television show The Dukes Of Hazzard is serving up his southern-fried opinion on all of this Confederate flag malarkey.
“Cooter,” otherwise known as Ben Jones, took to Facebook to offer his thoughts on the outdated symbol of treason the only way he knows how: in an all-caps post on Facebook, just like your libertarian uncle.
Cooter’s statement says “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,” which was true as long as your family was white. (Warner Bros. announced today that it will stop licensing toy versions of the famous car, but will continue selling T-shirts and other Dukes merchandise sans the good ol’ stars and bars.)
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.
Jones goes on to say that while the Confederate flag has been removed from retailers such as Amazon, Target, and Wal-Mart, “IT WILL NEVER BE REMOVED FROM ANY OF OUR COOTER’S STORES AND MUSEUMS.” Jones and his wife Alma are the proprietors of three “Cooter’s Place” Dukes Of Hazzard museums located in Nashville, Gatlinburg, and beautiful downtown Sperryville, Tennessee. (They’re the perfect museum for people who don’t like museums.) He’s also the lead singer of Cooter’s Garage Band, which makes appearances all over the corndog circuit, and was elected to a Democratic seat in the United States House of Representatives when The Dukes Of Hazzard ended its seven-season run.
