Florida proposes a new KKK friendly vanity license plate to honor Sons of Conferderate Veterans
Posted by HeadNutInCharge on February 28, 2008
If the Sons of the Confederate Veterans get their wish, Floridans can be driving around with all 5 flags of the Confederate Army proudly displayed on their vanity license plate. The group has to show the state of Florida that there are 30,000 Floridians in support of this vanity license plate in order to take the enxt step in getting it passed.
John Walker Adams, a Son of Conferdate Veterans states “Public support has been overwhelmingly positive.”
Read article here.
Obviously, this is a charged topic that I gave this blog title, but I don’t care.
I do understand the whole “it’s history, not hate” cry that Confederate supporters often belt. It’s not those guys that bother me. I am bothered by the people who have never picked up a history book and proudly support the confederacy as a means for racial suppression. Having lived in the South, Mississippi to be exact, I personally watched the KKK march down the street of a major city road proudly chanting hate cries and waving their Confederate Flag all while being escorted by black police officers.
Many of the Son of the Confederate Veterans feel this vanity license plate is literally a driving history lesson and not representing hate. Call me ignorant, but when I see the Confederate I don’t see heritage- I see hate. Hell- if the plate is about history then why don’t they just put a noose on the vanity plate too. I can’t even imagine the vanity license plates that “slip” through the State of Florida’s approval process.
Hmmm… how about KKK4LIF or HANGIN maybe WHT PWR?
This could get UGLY.
Abdul Kargbo said
Yeah, I totally buy the whole “history, not hate” argument. Right up to the point where the Confederate flag became a symbol of the Ku Klux Klan, White Aryan Resistance, and all the other hate groups out there. I gotta wonder, where were all these proud, history-lovin’ Southerners who were so in love with the Confederate flag? How come they didn’t come out in numbers and tell these racist hate groups to leave the symbol of their heritage and pride alone? Because the Confederate flag is a symbol of the oppression and enslavement of Black people, that’s why. And because all these Confederate flag-wavers know it, and they don’t mind that. Oh, not to mention the Confederacy was led by a bunch of treasonous Southern secessionists, so anyone who loves the UNITED STATES of America cannot also love the Confederacy. And vice versa.
vanitylicenseplates said
I agree 100%. Well said. I particulary like the point you made about where were the history loving Southerners when their symbol for heritage was being turned into a symbol of hate.
If they stood by and let that happen and was not concerned with standing up against these group, you can’t expect American to embrance the “history not hate” argument when these hate groups “adopted” their Confederate flag to spread the message of hate!
Thanks for your response.
Karissa Hearn said
This has inspired me to purchase my own vanity plate: MUDSHRK
James said
Saying that a noose should be included on the plate is like saying the descendants of the Salem founders can’t display pride in their heritage without also including an image of a witch being burned at the stake. I hate the fact that racism has become so attached to the confederate flag; it’s akin to the footsteps of Buddha and the nazis. (http://members.porchlight.ca/blackdog/swastika.htm)
and to the comments of the CSA being a treasonous lot, they had separated years before the war and had established their own economy, government and infrastructure. the civil war, although it will never be taught this way, was no different than when iraq invaded kuwait; the southern state had something the northern state needed/wanted, so they invaded and took it. wars are never fought over moral issues like slavery or democracy… NEVER. wars are ALWAYS fought over money and power. things like slavery and freedom are simply the moral “justifications” to get the population to support the war.
i am proud of my southern heritage, but i don’t even own a confederate flag because of the things it implies symbolically. my family never owned slaves, nor did most of the farmers in the south. the majority of farmers did just well enough to get along and there were many slaves in the south living better and eating more often than my ancestors. just like today, only the wealthiest 1-2% had slaves and only a percentage of those abused their labor force. (don’t get me wrong, i hate the idea of slavery, and even if they weren’t being beaten, they were still not treated as well as other humans.)
i’m not trying to justify the ways of the south during and before the civil war, but there are a lot of misconceptions about the reasoning for the war, what the CSA was before the war and the political motivations of the time. i would love for a certain level of understanding to take place regarding the confederate states, but i know it would be a huge pill for everyone to swallow. the racists and rednecks won’t like the truth any more than those who have always hated and despised the south for the misconceptions. this writing of the history books is probably the most valuable spoil of war there is because tyrants and invaders can go down in the history of man as heroes instead of occupiers and violent reprobates.
the truth is yet to be seen about the current war, but i can assure you that there will be two stories (possibly more). There is some truth in all sides’ accounting of the history.
vanitylicenseplates said
Thanks for your insight. Great points made. Like I stated before, I understand the whole “hertiage not hate” thing but I feel the proud Southerners that view this symbol as historic and not racist should do more to be vocal and show the world the history and take a stand against the groups abusing your historical flag. I don’t feel at this point I can identify your historical flag without the feelings of hate groups attatched to it.
Until, the proud southerners and hate groups can seperate the use of the flag there will still be overlapping feelings of resentment to that flag.
Reg said
The real hatred of these flag-wavers isn’t directed at blacks– you can’t hate those below you, only those above. It’s directed at the “Yankee”. (Never mind that the real Yankee hasn’t even controlled his own states for a good 75 years.) The scarcely controllable rage of the Southerner causes him to do the most outrageous things. Like vote for Woodrow Wilson and Franklin Roosevelt.
vanitylicenseplates said
“You can’t hate those below you, only those above.” I’m sorry-do you mean to say that black, in your opinion, are “below” whites and the true southern enemy is the Yankee?
I’ll reserve my comment until Reg can responsd.
chet said
Blacks were below in the values of the time. And how on earth are Southern secessionists treasonous? Was George Washington a traitor? He seceeded. How is it different? Both were ruled by a “foreign” power. Because the Northern population was larger, there say in the House was larger, and they could often decide the course of the country while southern states remained a minority. And yes, slavery was wrong. But, like previously states, only 2% of white southerners owned slaves. Ill bet 2% of Americans are rapists or child predators or some other type of convicted felon. Does that make the US a land of sex predators and bank robbers? No. The minority is overlooked in favor of the majority of law abiding citizens. Besides, Lincoln clearly states when campaigning for office that he had no intention of getting rid of slavery.
Also, the Emancipation Proclamation was nothing but a diplomatic move. England was on the verge of an alliance with the CSA to break the Union blockade because much of the British economy was creating textiles with Southern cotton. However, England had recently outlawed slavery and Queen Victoria was an outspoken abolitionist. Because of this, when the purpose of the war shifted from deciding the importance of states rights v.federal government to slavery, England was forced to back off. And by the way,Washington DC and Maryland allowed slavery.
The Confederate Flag has long served as a symbol of personal freedom triumphing over the tyranny of big government. It was flown in Germany when the Berlin wall fell. It was flown in Belgrade when NATO intervention brought down the regime of Serbian dicatator Milosovic. And it has become the international symbol of south Sudan rebels. Black rebels. The Confederate Flag is something all Americans should be proud of, not resent.
One final argumant. It is true that the KKK and other white supremacy orginizations use the flag of the CSA as a symbol. But the immortal, primary symbol of the Klan is the cross. Does that mean that the cross should be removed from churches, labled “ignorant”, and become the catalyst of steryeotypes of backwater fools? Most of the great civil rights black leaders have been preachers: MLK, Jesee Jackson, Al Sharpton. I am sure that on more than one occasion they have worn, used, or worshipped a cross. Are they KKK friendly?
Steven said
That’s really terrible. I am half Sri Lankan, and many people have thought that my dad was black. The confederate flag is personally offensive to me, and don’t even get me started on the kkk. I think that it is terrible that they are willing to make these license plates displaying 5 different confederate flags, especially in Florida, a place that I love. And what really bugs me is when black police men have to escort the kkk during their rallies.
Ryan said
I believe the license plates would be a great way to show southern pride and herritage. Race has nothing to do with the confederate flag. I fly several on my house and truck to show support for the brave young men and women who fought for what they believed in. My great grandfather fought in the civil war and hired several blacks on at his sawmill in northwest florida and helped them however he could. People and ignorant in using the confederate flag as a symbol of racism and for thinking it has anything to do with the kkk. It simply stands for a southern flag, that the south chose to represent their new country.