So Kenny Wayne Sheppard. The latest artist from my medium to be labeled a racist and run out of town on a rail (at least via social media). Disclaimer: Kenny is not a close friend, we’ve met a few times (as people from the same business tend to do) and it’s always been cordial but we’ve never had the opportunity to spend any meaningful time together which would allow both of us to share and understand each others views and opinions. So what I write now is in regards to what seems like the social media firestorm brought about by the realization that Kenny owns a Dukes Of Hazard replica car. The Dukes Of Hazard was a television show that broadcast from 1979-1985. You can Google or Wikipedia the premise of the show but the mitigating factor in this story is the car itself; the General Lee (which was a main character of the story, like the Batmobile or like Knight Rider, but with a less sexy car and no robot voices…or David Hasselhoff for our German friends!…but NEVER as awesome as the Bandit’s Trans-Am!). Now, even the “woke folks” who weren’t even born yet are starting to tense up! Wait until they find out that the car is named after a confederate general, the car’s horn played “Dixie” and that it had the confederate flag emblazoned on it’s top. Optics in the 21st century are everything, not an issue in 1985, bad look in 2021.
Now, pause, open a new tab in your browser, go to https://www.oreillyauto.com in the search bar, type 121G (you’re welcome) and let’s go back to 1985. None of these things I’ve described were offensive. If they were, they wouldn’t have been on TV (because (spoiler alert) TV is only interested in $$$). In my opinion, should they have been? OF COURSE! They should of been offensive in 1985, 1975, 1965, 1955, 1945, 1935, 1925, 1915, 1905, 1895, 1875, 1865, 1855, 1845…and well you get the picture. Racism sucks. Let’s put a diamond on it…RACISM SUCKS! It offends me to my core and I’ve never even been a direct victim of it. Spiritually, I know my soul suffers as everyone’s does from this most basic separation from the ideal of God and humanity. Quote:
“27So God created human beings in his own image.
In the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.”
Just going from my Bible because it’s my playbook. If it ain’t yours, that’s cool but in mine, it says nothing about: “ and He made black ones, and white ones and yellow ones and red ones…” just says man and woman. RACISM SUCKS and purveyors of racism will end up on the losing end of this argument eventually but before I get too far down a rabbit hole, let’s get back to the “Kenny” issue; here’s how it breaks down as I can tell: dude gets successful, gets some money and buys a car that meant something to him from his childhood. Has it for some years. Somebody finds out that he owns it and puts him on blast and attempts to destroy his career and that’s what it comes down to, it’s a character assassination based on something he did in his past. Did he learn from it? I don’t know. Does he deserve an opportunity to show remorse and do better? Yep. Will it help to flog him and send him to entertainer hell as punishment? Nope. Thank God my past isn’t being thrown at me! (or yours at you?)
Blues family (which I consider myself a part of) we need to enlighten, educate and inspire. Not, eliminate and expel. I never met Muddy Waters, although I wish I had. I did know John Lee Hooker a bit and he would never go back to Mississippi after he made it. I heard horror stories from Buddy Guy about touring in the deep south in the late 50’s and early 60’s. I wouldn’t blame ANY black entertainer from not going back once they got out. (even though the North’s record ain’t so clean either so…) The mandate is on us as a Blues community of musicians, fans and advocates to educate, enlighten and inspire and create an environment that icons like Muddy, Wolf and John Lee can look down and be proud of the work! I don’t think that mandate is best served by banishing people who are obviously fans and devotees to the artform but by helping them reach that higher groove that we ALL should be aspiring to. To sum up, I think Kenny is getting a raw deal based on something that really isn’t even an issue and we as a people need to get back to the ideal that we have bigger fish to fry when it comes to racial equality and the absolute eradication of racism. And in case I haven’t been clear up until now; RACISM SUCKS! (I wanted to end with FUCK RACISM but I don’t want to offend anybody;))
