TORONTO — A Hamilton, Ont., restaurateur's use of the Confederate battle flag on the sign for his southern barbecue diner is a call for trouble, according to a U.S. history professor.
James Carson, chair of the history department at Queen's University, said the owner of Hillbilly Heaven is glossing over the racist overtones of the flag and its links to slavery.
The owner, Cameron Bailey, has told Sun News Network that he thinks the flag is akin to the '80s TV show The Dukes of Hazzard in its representation of the U.S. South.
"What is more iconic than the Confederate flag, the Dukes of Hazzard, the General Lee?” he said. “Everyone knows what it is. The connotation's debatable."
But Carson, who's from the U.S., said that the flag immediately evokes powerful images of racism and slavery associated with the American Civil War."
