CAF's JU 52

[mustangdriver]

August many good points there, and I hope you know I don't mean to make you feel like I was arguing with you, or meant anything less than being respectful. The way I am seeing it, it is the lack of education of that is the problem on these things. People are offended by misinformation or the lack of information.
And for the record Daisy Duke's shorts are in the Smithsonian. ha ha

[k5083]

Yeah, I knew that about the shorts. That part of the campaign to elevate the Dukes to its rightful place in the pantheon of TV masterpieces was a success. It might have been better if they had taken the car, but the shorts take up a lot less space. Really a LOT less.

August

[gregv]

I ran into this with my Charger at car shows. It was used and is painted as a "General Lee". It proudly flies the rebel flag on the roof. Some people complained it was racist. Did you ever watch the show? They are not racists in the least.

Very true. I watched every episode of that show growing up, including in Italian during those summers spent with my cousin in Italy who loved it more than I did, and he even had a Confederate flag painted on the roof of his Escort MkI which he would drive mostly sideways at full chat (with myself as the terrified/thrilled passenger) through the vineyards and orchards surrounding the farm, much to the dismay of the field workers. Then again we were only 12 years old...what a hoot.

But I digress. While the characters on the show were distinctly not racist, people of color did seem to be a bit thin on the ground. I only remember the Sheriff from the next county over, who always wore the highway-police style helmet and big mirrored aviator sunglasses. My only beef with the show is the amount of Chargers they wrecked, but still better than the F&F franchise I suppose. Plus one could argue that the popularity of the show generated much interest in the 68-70 Charger, resulting in many being saved from otherwise inglorious fates.

BDK brings up an interesting point, I have never heard of people getting all up in a fuss over the hinomaru or the IJN flag being displayed. Same with the Italian fasces. Or the Spanish falange. Maybe a few sideways looks though....

cheers

greg v.

[k5083]

Dukes wasn't racist or not-racist. Although it was a redneck show, it was set in a fantasy world where race didn't exist. There may have been an episode or two where an African-American appeared as an out-of-town villian, one of the city slicker types.

The swastika's potency as a cultural symbol is in many ways unique; neither the hinomaru, the fasces, or even the Soviet hammer-and-sickle come close. You could point to a few reasons: the effectiveness of Nazi propaganda at linking the symbol to their regime, the effectiveness of Allied propaganda at doing the same, the peculiar nature of the Holocaust atrocity, the use of the symbol by neo-Nazis. You can offend people with other political symbols if you try hard enough, but the swastika you always have to be careful with. We might think that reactions to the symbol are silly, that we should just be able to say, "It's historically accurate; get over it." Some people won't.

To go back to the Ju 52, this makes me wonder whether in negotiating the attempted move to Lansing, it was ever offered or proposed that the swastika be permanently painted over as a condition of moving. I have no idea whether this would have satisfied the local powers-that-be, or if the well had already been poisoned by the anonymous letter-writer's talk of a "Nazi plane". But it seems to me the idea should at least have been worth considering. I'm sure some within the CAF and airplane-buff community would have objected to removing an accurate marking for the sake of what they would call "political correctness." And, if the CAF had an unwavering commitment to historically accurate paint schemes, they might have had a principled objection to doing this. However, the CAF has no such commitment; their planes are splashed with bogus nose art, incorrect markings, and tramp stamps, for reasons ranging from making them look pretty, to paying tribute to a donor-member, to promoting the organization, to saving the trouble of doing 10 minutes' research. In context, removing a swastika to ensure that a plane has a new home would make a lot of sense. But like I said, I have no idea whether it would have helped. Most likely not, I guess.

August

[RareBear]

I wouldn't think the CAF would have any issues at all in bowing to what some would consider "political correctness".

Walt

[Chappie]

I've not read every post here, but hate everything the Nazi Party stood for, plus both my grandfathers fought the Nazis in Europe. I have no problem with the swastika being correctly displayed on a restored German aircraft and the type-guy who wrote the nameless letters in Michigan really irritate me.

Anyway, I hope Yagen keeps the markings as they are on the old Iron Annie. Should not be a problem at Pungo since it is a private airport. I hope they have the Junkers up here in time for the Warbirds Over The Beach in May.


Chappie