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Cincy Refuses to Hazard a Dukes Appearance

Mon., Mar. 19, 2007 10:06 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

No Luke, no Bo? No way!

Former Georgia Congressman Ben Jones, who played mechanic Cooter on the Dukes of Hazzard TV series, is up in arms over a decision by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra to cancel an upcoming appearance by two of his onetime costars.

The Ohio orchestra had scheduled a July 14 concert featuring singers Tom Wopat and John Schneider, the original Luke and Bo Duke, but the event was wiped off the calendar after some Cincy residents objected to Wopat and Schneider's association with the hillbilly-driven Dukes of Hazzard, suggesting that the 1979-1985 series had racist overtones.

A characterization that Jones, a Democrat who served in the House of Representatives for four years, couldn't disagree with more, calling the situation "a dangerous affront to the rights of performing artists and their audiences, and the worst example of political correctness I've ever heard of."

In a statement issued last week, the Cincinnati Pops cited its long relationship with Wopat and Schneider, who have performed with the orchestra before, and defended the cancellation of the proposed Dukes of Hazzard-themed showcase.

"In the end, 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," the statement read. An orchestra spokeswoman added that the show had never been officially announced to the public.

But at least one of the evening's would-be stars wasn't too pleased with the unexpected opening in his schedule.

"I find it sad and depressing that in this day and age, someone could be as misinformed and narrow-minded as this," Schneider said in a statement Friday. "If you want to know what kind of guy I am…go and see my work. Unless, of course, someone has denied me the right to do so."

After outsmarting Boss Hogg for the last time, Schneider had a handful of country-music hits in the 1980s, including "I've Been Around Enough to Know" and "Country Girls," and he has recorded 11 albums.

"I contacted our national office and was advised that it would be best if we didn't support an effort like this," Edith Thrower, president of the Cincinnati branch of the NAACP, told the Associated Press, explaining that the Pops' conductor had asked for her opinion on the event's appropriateness. "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."

So, despite the fact that Wopat and Schneider hadn't been planning on driving the General Lee—which had a Confederate flag painted on the roof—right into the arena, the Pops turned with the tide and put the brakes on the deal.

According to Jones, however, the message imparted by The Dukes of Hazzard was anything but racially offensive.

"One reason our show is loved by folks of all colors all over the world is that racism is nonexistent in Hazzard County," Jones, an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement back in the 1960s, said. "It is an innocent show where the good guys always win and nobody gets hurt, and brotherhood is a natural thing there."

"I'm a life member of the NAACP and proud of it," he continued. "But I'm not proud of this. Denying an artist an opportunity to entertain an audience because of somebody's wrongheaded political viewpoint is just plain un-American. I have fought for equal rights all my life, and that is why I am speaking out on this."