That Time Bunnie Rabbot Said Some Confederate Bullshit

Okay, yes, I had to pull this to the side because y'all, I had to talk about it. So here you go, your first Some Sorta Recap: Gaiden. Because comic panels are also something I obsess with.

In a future Princess Sally post, I will mention that she was actually my second favorite character from the Archie Sonic series. Number one was Bunnie Rabbot. Something about the cool robot arm and relatable accent.

That is, until she got demoted.

What Happened?

Oh, nothing big. Just Bunnie Rabbot saying some Confederate slogan in the middle of a mecha brawl.

Aww, look; Albi's First Record Scratch Moment. And in case y'all think I'm doing some fucking treachery, here's the full fucking scan.

The fullpage shot of badassery right after it couldn't take the bad taste out of my mouth. It was a shame, because I was always down to appreciate the work of Patrick Spaziante. But I really couldn't. Because my favorite character at least earned an eternal side-eye. Put on notice. Filed under "keep an eye on that gal" as I move as a BIPOC/Black person.

I couldn't look at her the same way again.

This uncle could have been (and later, was) referring to the fictional location of the Southern Baronies. Fictional place, right? But c'mon, put on your media literacy hats on; this shit doesn't exist in a vacuum. Look at it. That's a gotdamned plantation and this shit is clearly pulling from the USian South. I bet it was just shy of some antebellum shit.

Furthermore, we don't find out more about this place until issue #217... which didn't release until 2010! Since I've yet to see things 14 years in the future, I did not have that knowledge– not that it would have helped, as you can see.

So, yeah. To be clear: I was 11 years old while reading this. That's old enough to get the SparkNotes of the Civil War (something something Floridian education system), and I was just learning how insidious racism can be. So when homegirl said "The South" I knew she was on some bullshit.

A casual Internet search reveals

• generally understood to gain popularity in the 1940s
• Urban Dictionaryists Frown Upon It, in General
• obligatory Reddit link
• a redacted link when I clocked that it was an AI content farm
• and another one
• I really should cite an encyclopedia or history book or sumthin'

And in 2017, white nationalists were chanting this in Charlottesville. If you want one credible source, it'd be this one:

Again reflective of the alt-right’s neo-Confederate sympathies, this slogan dates back to the post-Civil War period, when the apologist “Lost Cause” revision of the war’s history was in full swing, leading to the widespread (and incorrect) belief that the war was primarily about “states rights” rather than slavery; that same movement, mostly at the turn of the 19^th century, also was responsible for the construction of many of the same Confederate monuments that are now the focus of much of the alt-right recent agitation. The “Lost Cause” ideology remains popular with neo-Confederates.

-- "When white nationalists chant their weird slogans, what do they mean?" by the Southern Poverty Law Center

And there's like, a whole official song by the same title. You can find it; I ain't linkin' that shit.

So you can see why this got me fucked up. And how, a few decades later, I'm still thinking about that panel.

Beeyotch, It Wasn't Just Me

So what does one do when a Canon Event from 30 years ago won't leave their brains? You run to social media and cry about it. And I tapped someone specifically because I knew he'd understand.

After all these years I gotta turn to someone and go "you seeing this shit?!– and how to better get that from the guy who worked on some Archie Sonic? While Jon Gray wasn't around for that issue (his first pencils were #134) he's not in the least surprised:

Yeah, that tracks actually.

I do remember these comics were fond of their throwaway gags and random pop culture references... for a far less egregious example, these are the same people who had Sonic utter "whoops apocalypse" instead of cussin'. (If I ever unearth that exact panel, I will post it!) Just, you know, sometimes, there's really bad misses.

And yeah, shit like this is still a problem (tho if that exact panel happened now, they'd be a lot more uproar about it). Most media is still a minefield of Unfortunate Implications. Shit, I'm still fighting off poison damage from REDACTED and have the tumblr-shaped scars to prove it.

But I feel less alone now. Thank you for your work, insights, and input, Mr. Gray.

And that's my story.

One More Thing

I know you're thinking it, and Ken Penders is usually responsible– just not this time. He's already got plenty to answer for...

And check out this tumblr: Thanks, Ken Penders. It has a lot of info about Archie Sonic, with the bonus of not just dunking on Ken Penders. There's designated zones for that sort of thing.

And finally, for fuck's sake, get some diverse folx in your rooms so some random blogger doesn't complain about you decades after the fact.

P.S.

I had to read this, so now you do too.