The Story of Jimmy Rebel (2024)

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  • Episodes with Uncle Ruckus
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"The Story of Jimmy Rebel" is the fourth episode of the third season of The Boondocks. It originally aired on May 23, 2010.

Contents

  • 1 Synopsis
  • 2 Plot
  • 3 Appearances
  • 4 Cultural references
  • 5 Continuity
  • 6 Critical reception

Synopsis[]

Uncle Ruckus gets the opportunity to meet a racist singer from the South.

The Story of Jimmy Rebel (1)

Plot[]

Ruckus finds his musical soul mate in famed racist country-western singer Jimmy Rebel, who wants to do an album with Ruckus. When doing the album, the workers of Racist Records are not sure about having a black man on the work with Jimmy. But in the end, Jimmy Rebel and Uncle Ruckus do a concert in the same room where Jimmy started out singing. Consequently, Uncle Ruckus comes on stage, and the audience 'boos' the both of them off stage and starts a fight. Ruckus then leaves town and goes back home. Jimmy follows him, and together, they begin to make music about other things. Jimmy suggests that there are plenty of things to sing about in the world--friends, beer, good times, etc. The episode ends with Uncle Ruckus and Jimmy singing a racist song about Mexicans.

Appearances[]

  • Jimmy Rebel (debut/only appearance)
  • Robert Freeman
  • Uncle Ruckus
  • Huey Freeman
  • Riley Freeman

Cultural references[]

  • The character Jimmy Rebel is a parody of real racist singer Johnny Rebel. Additional references include the single "Coon Town" and the album It's the Attitude Stupid!.
    • His other CDs include "Don't Let Your Nigglets Grown Up to Be N----rs" (a reference to "Mammas Don't Let Your Sons Grow Up To Be Cowboys"); "Why Do Coons Fall in Love?" (a reference to "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?"); "Spooks of Hazzard" (Dukes of Hazzard), "Welfare Queen and Cadillac King," "Songs in the Key of Coon" (a reference to Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life), Black Toes and Ghettos, Help Me, I'm Surrounded by N---rs, How 'Bout Those Crack Babies, N---r, Stay out of my Wife and N---rs Don't Die, They Just Smell That Way (a reference to Johnny Rebel's "Some N---rs Never Die (They Just Smell That Way)".
  • When Ruckus falsely renames himself "Toby" upon seeing Jimmy Rebel at the door, it is a reference to the book and TV series Roots in which Kunta Kinte is renamed Toby by his slave master.
  • Ruckus and Jimmy watch Amistad together, laughing at the whipping scenes
  • As Ruckus talks to Jimmy Rebel he says "As if the Internet scams and underwear bombs weren't bad enough, Goddamn Nigerians" This was a reference to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian Muslim who unsuccessfully tried to ignite plastic explosives hidden in his underwear while on board Northwest Airlines Flight 253 on December 24, 2009.
  • The limousine Ruckus and Jimmy escape in is painted with the orange color scheme of the General Lee car from The Dukes of Hazzard.
  • During the limousine ride to "Spoke-n-Hope", there is a "Robert E. Lee Freeway" sign.
  • The sign next to Ruckus's door which says "Wallace for President" is a reference to one of the many presidential runs of segregationist former Alabama governor George Wallace.
  • This episode is one of two Season 3 episodes has been banned from Adult Swim because of its excessive depiction of racism and racial slurs. It is also the only episode to not be available on HBO Max. The other episode that was banned was "Pause".
  • Jimmy Rebel's introduction of "One Good N---r" is very similar to Johnny Cash's "Man in Black."

Continuity[]

  • When Ruckus and Jimmy Rebel are both in Ruckus's house, many racist pictures and antiques towards black people can be seen, such as Confederate Flags and a picture of a member of the Ku Klux Klan. These are seen in an earlier episodes such as "It's a Black President, Huey Freeman".

Critical reception[]

Leonard Pierce of The A.V. Club graded the episode a "B+," only complaining about a few slow stretches in the story while complimenting the "crazily over-the-top" humor involving Uncle Ruckus and Jimmy Rebel as McGruder's restraint in supplying a strong counterweight to the absurdly racist comments.

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The Story of Jimmy Rebel (2024)

FAQs

Why was the Jimmy Rebel episode banned? ›

The episode "The Story of Jimmy Rebel" was banned after its first showing on Adult Swim for excessive depictions of racism and perceived racial insensitivities over the episode's portrayal of a racist country singer named Jimmy Rebel (a parody of real-life white supremacist country singer Johnny Rebel).

Is The Story of Jimmy Rebel on HBO Max? ›

Tomorrow is the 14th anniversary of The Story of Jimmy Rebel the fourth episode of the third season of The Boondocks. Tomorrow I'm going to be talking about this important episode about why it was banned from TV and HBO Max.

What is The Story of Jimmy Rebel about? ›

"The Story of Jimmy Rebel" is the 4th episode of the 3rd season of The Boondocks. Uncle Ruckus wants to meet his idol musician Jimmy Rebel, a Confederate sympathizer and white supremacist who performs concerts singing songs that embrace white supremacy and condemns minorities (especially blacks).

Who was Jimmy Rebel based on? ›

Jimmy Rebel is based on Johnny Rebel, a real-life singer who made racist recordings. Jimmy's statement to Ruckus that he dislikes black people's attitudes, not their skin color, is taken directly from an interview with Rebel.

What is the most controversial episode of The Boondocks? ›

"Return of the King" was the most controversial episode of The Boondocks's first season.

Why episode 38 was banned? ›

The episode is infamous for a scene featuring repetitive visual effects that induced photosensitive epileptic seizures in a substantial number of Japanese viewers, with more than 600 children across Japan taken to hospitals. The incident is referred to in Japan as the "Pokémon Shock" (ポケモンショック, Pokemon Shokku).

How many Boondocks banned episodes are there? ›

Adult Swim has banned an episode of The Boondocks from being streamed. In a report from The Daily Beast, a representative from Adult Swim confirmed that "The Story of Jimmy Rebel," an episode from the third season of The Boondocks, has been "permanently retired due to cultural sensitivities."

What Boondocks episode was about Tyler Perry? ›

Pause (The Boondocks)
"Pause"
Winston Jerome in drag
Episode no.Season 3 Episode 7
Directed bySung Hoon Kim
Written byAaron McGruder Rodney Barnes
9 more rows

Why are boondocks unavailable? ›

Adult Swim has “permanently retired” an episode of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” and an episode of “The Boondocks,” making them unavailable for streaming on the Adult Swim site and WarnerMedia's HBO Max, “due to cultural sensitivities,” a representative for the cable channel told TheWrap Tuesday.

What is the betrayal of Jimmy? ›

Overview. The Betrayal of Jimmy offers a more arcade-like gameplay, while still maintaining the basic structure and controls as Mafia II. Players earn points for doing certain actions, such as fast driving, killing enemies and destroying vehicles. In addition the DLC features online leaderboards.

What is Jimmy Rebel Moon? ›

The JCs, also known as Jimmys or Jimmies, were a series of sentient combat machines assembled centuries ago for use as the king's guards of the Motherworld, the Mechanicas Militarium. At the end of the royal family, they refused to continue fighting and were instead repurposed for menial labor by the Imperium.

Who played Jimmy Rebel in boondocks? ›

Greg Travis: Jimmy Rebel.

Was Johnny Reb a real person? ›

Johnny Reb is the national personification of the common soldier of the Confederacy. During the American Civil War and afterwards, Johnny Reb and his Union counterpart Billy Yank were used in speech and literature to symbolize the common soldiers who fought in the Civil War in the 1860s.

What is rebel based on? ›

Inspired by the life of Erin Brockovich today, Annie “Rebel” Bello is a blue-collar legal advocate without a law degree. She's a funny, messy, brilliant and fearless woman who cares desperately about the causes she fights for and the people she loves.

In what episode does Ruckus make a song? ›

Ruckus finds his musical soul mate in famed racist country singer, Jimmy Rebel. Ruckus finds his musical soul mate in famed racist country singer, Jimmy Rebel.

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