A car in an outdoor parking lot caught my attention. It was an orange Dodge Charger from 1968 or 1969, with a black vinyl roof, and it was noticeable among the many late-model vehicles on the lot. At one point, a lot of Dodge Chargers from 1968 to 1970 had a common look.
Car enthusiasts would rebuild these cars as replicas of the General Lee, the car featured in the American television series, the Dukes of Hazzard. The car in that series was an orange 1969 Dodge Charger, with the number 01 on each door and a Confederate battle flag on its roof. The car, its name and the flag all pay tribute to the South in the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865.
The car’s horn played the opening bars of Dixie, the unofficial national anthem of the Confederate States of America. The South was on the losing end of that war. Today, the imagery associated with the South in the American Civil War is not well received.
Today, the Confederate battle flag is associated with anti-Black racism and white supremacy. However, when the show aired from 1979 to 1985, the Southern imagery did not result in any significant outcry. In fact, the action comedy series was the second most popular show on network television at the time, behind Dallas.
After it was discontinued, it aired as reruns for many years. In past years, I saw General Lee clones at least once or twice a year, in cities in western Canada. But the last time I saw a General Lee clone would have been in 2010 at the latest, in British Columbia�.
