Behind the Racist, Anti-Gay, Patriarchal Rantings on "Duck Dynasty"
January 6, 2014 | Revolution Newspaper | revcom.us
Editor's note: This issue of Revolution includes "An observation by Bob Avakian, Chairman of the Revolutionary Communist Party," on "The crude and venomous rantings of Phil Robertson, 'patriarch' of the "Duck Dynasty...". The following is background for readers unfamiliar with the TV show "Duck Dynasty" and the content of those rantings.
Duck Dynasty is a widely promoted (and widely watched) "reality show" on the A&E Network. It is described by the distributor as a "family show," featuring a family of self-described "Bible-thumpers" in Louisiana who run a lucrative business making duck hunting products.
In a January 2014 article in GQ magazine, Phil Robertson, one of the central figures in the show, is quoted as saying that "America was a country founded on Christian values" which have now become "diluted" and where there's a situation where "sin becomes fine." Asked what he considers "sinful," Robertson answers, "Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men… Don't be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won't inherit the kingdom of God."
Along with these anti-gay attacks, the article quotes Robertson whitewashing racism in the Jim Crow South. He claimed that growing up in the pre-Civil Rights Movement era South, he "never, with my eyes, saw the mistreatment of any black person. Not once."
And Robertson spewed the most obscene, patronizing, slavery-whitewashing stereotypes of Black people, saying "They're singing and happy." And, "Pre-entitlement, pre-welfare, you say: Were they happy? They were godly; they were happy; no one was singing the blues."
After protest and controversy over the interview, A&E said they were "extremely disappointed," reportedly in part in response to protest among their staff, as well as from others including gay rights groups. Phil Robertson was temporarily suspended from the show.
But that move was immediately met by howling cries of outrage from the likes of Sarah Palin, Christian fascist and former nominee of the Republican Party for Vice President of the United States. After the suspension, Palin posted a picture of herself with members of the Duck Dynasty family. And she tweeted "Free speech is endangered species; those 'intolerants' hatin' & taking on Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing personal opinion take on us all."
Nine days later, A&E ended Phil Robertson's suspension. On FOX-TV he proclaimed, "I follow Christ and also what the bible teaches."
This isn't a "free speech" issue. Duck Dynasty is not just a bunch of racists and bigots ranting a bunch of bigoted and racist bullshit in their backyard (although it is that). The show is a significant cultural phenomenon in the United States with the backing of powerful forces in the "mass media" (so-called not because it is controlled by or essentially reflects the sentiments of the masses, but because it is a tool for programming the masses by those who sit atop a whole economic and political system of exploitation and oppression).
Duck Dynasty is part of that picture. The show's network, A&E, is partially owned by Disney-ABC Television Group and the Hearst Corporation. The show has broken ratings records on both A&E and cable television as a whole. The fourth season premiere drew 11.8 million viewers; it was the most-watched nonfiction cable series in history. Walmart, America's largest retailer (and through that, a purveyor of culture, values and outlook), has embraced the show and its aisles are stocked with Duck Dynasty gear. And in the wake of exposure and outrage over Phil Roberton's racist, patriarchal and anti-gay comments, the Duck Dynasty group launched its own line of guns.
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