Fansided

Bubba Watson to give General Lee a new paint job amid flag fury

By Kyle Franzoni

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Two-Time Masters champion Bubba Watson is repainting the iconic General Lee he purchased in 2012.

Bubba Watson understands the nostalgia behind the General Lee, and that is precisely why he purchased the famed Dukes of Hazzard vehicle in 2012, paying a steep price of $110,000 for the exact car used in filming the opening sequence for the series. However, nostalgia or not, Watson’s beliefs in equality far outpace his desire to preserve history with the vehicle.

The two-time Masters champion took to Twitter on Monday night and announced that he will be giving the car a face lift, repainting the Confederate flag on the vehicle’s roof and replacing it with the American flag.

The Confederate flag has come under fire again in recent months after the tragic shooting in Charleston, when an obviously racially driven Dylann Roof entered a historically African-American church and gunned down nine people in cold blood. That has led to the question of whether or not the flag itself is truly a symbol of the South or whether it is a symbol of slavery and hatred that plagued the region during the years the flag was flown. Those questions have expanded to demands for the flag being removed in multiple areas across the South and calls for the removal of historical statues of Confederate leaders as well.

And yes, those questions have also had their impact on the Dukes of Hazzard, perhaps the most Southern show ever made.

As the fervor broiled, Warner Bros. was the first to act against the Dukes of Hazzard, halting production on any toys or memorabilia associated with the General Lee (which in and of itself is named after General Robert E. Lee, one of the Confederacy’s most remembered generals). That spread to TV Land yanking all reruns of the show from its line-up as well.

And now it expands to Bubba Watson. A Florida man who is proudly Southern, but obviously feels that the message of equality needs to be voiced. Nostalgia, historical reference, or not, Watson made it abundantly clear that his desire was based on his interpretation of what the flag meant and he wanted to send a different message. By repainting the car with the American flag instead, Watson is making it a billboard for equality rather than a convoluted symbol that is tearing a country apart.

It’s certainly a brave step to take, and hopefully it will do more to bring the two sides together than it will in driving them to further debate.

Next: Complete list of PGA US Open winners

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