Kenny Wayne Shepherd had his 2021 Blues Music Award nomination for Best Blues / Rock Artist rescinded by the Blues Foundation because of the Confederate flag images that Shepherd used in the past. In a statement, the Foundation said it made the decision based on “continuous revelations of representations of the Confederate flag on Shepherd’s ‘General Lee’ car, guitars and other places,” as Advertising panel reports.
A few days ago, the Foundation published a statement against racism after public criticism of Shepherd and his use of the Confederacy flag on a muscle car he owned and had the flag painted on, supposedly a tribute to the TV show The Dukes of Hazzard. They did not mention Shepherd by name in that statement, but wrote:
The Blues Foundation unequivocally condemns all forms and expressions of racism, including all symbols associated with white supremacy and the degradation of people of color. We will take responsibility, as well as all blues musicians, fans, organizations and members of the music industry, for racist actions and encourage concrete commitments to recognize and repair the resulting pain.
They went on today to remove Shepherd’s name from the contest for the nominee list in the awards program. Shepherd replied with his own statement:
I just learned that the Executive Committee of the Blues Foundation Board of Directors made the decision to terminate my nomination for the 2021 Blues Rock Artist of the Year award.
We were told that this decision was made because, in the past few days, concerns have arisen about one of the cars in my muscle car collection. The car was built 17 years ago as a replica and a tribute to the iconic car from the television series The Dukes of Hazzard. That CBS program was one of the most popular and rated programs of its time, and like millions of others, I watched it every week. In the show, one of the central ‘characters’ was a muscle car that displayed a Confederate flag on its roof. Years ago I put that car in permanent storage and some time ago I made the decision to permanently cover my car’s flag because it was totally against my values and offensive to the African American community that created the music I love so much and apologize to anyone who has hurt you unintentionally because of it.
I want to make something very clear and unambiguous; I completely condemn and oppose all forms of racism and oppression, and I have always done so.
How Variety points out, while Shepherd says he retired the car years ago, members of the blues community say he recently posted photos and videos of the car on social media. Shepherd has been asked about the car before, including in a 2015 Wall Street Journal profile, to which he replied: “I get everyone’s thumb, regardless of race. The African American community created the music I play; racism is not part of my DNA. ”
The Blues Foundation also asked Kenny Wayne Shepherd’s father, Ken Shepherd, to resign as a member of the Board of Directors.