The Golden Girls has been in the news lately due to Hulu taking down an episode featuring mud masks (which the Disney-owned service believes could be taken as blackface). But instead of repainting The Golden Girls franchise as somehow behind the times, we need to remember how progressive the franchise actually was. Case in point–this scene featuring Don Cheadle in The Golden Girls spinoff, The Golden Palace.

The spinoff was short-lived, but it gave viewers this poignant episode, “Camp Town Races Aren’t Nearly As Much Fun As They Used To Be,” in which Cheadle’s character, the manager of The Golden Palace hotel, forces Blanche Devereaux (Rue McClanahan) to confront the racist history behind her beloved Confederate flag, which was hung while the hotel hosted a function for the Daughters of the Traditional South. The scene showcases how the flag has been refashioned in the minds of white southerners as a symbol of righteousness and liberty, when it’s actually a symbol of hate and slavery.

I’ve spent the past few months binge-watching The Golden Girls and its ill-fated spin-off, The Golden Palace. Tonight I got to the episode where Don Cheadle’s character confronts Blanche about her nostalgic worship of the Confederate flag. This scene feels especially relevant: pic.twitter.com/voLMqrAGEs

— Seb Starcevic (@SebStarcevic) June 30, 2020

Part Two:

“The legacy of that flag is alive every time I’m walking down the street with a group of my friends and I see a white person cross over to the other side because they’re afraid… So please don’t tell me about that flag, I’ve battled that flag all my life.” pic.twitter.com/XjlpCfkp3R

— Seb Starcevic (@SebStarcevic) June 30, 2020

Part Three:

“The whole world is messed up right now, and I would like to see that get better, but in order for that to happen white people are gonna have to start making positive assumptions when they see People of Color.”

This episode came out in 1992. pic.twitter.com/ArEfmbTOwl

— Seb Starcevic (@SebStarcevic) June 30, 2020

This clip has been showcased before on social media, but it’s become even more relevant in the wake of the George Floyd protests and mass removals of Confederate monuments all over the country, including Mississippi’s state flag, which contained the Confederate flag in its overall design.

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Photo: Touchstone Television

The Golden Palace

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