From the State Flag to Your Car’s Exhaust

Georgia Vanity Plate

It’s one of those stories that fires up interest groups on both sides of the Confederate flag debate as well as the mainstream media, which can’t get enough of it. I completely understand why some in Georgia take offense to this particular vanity plate, but it should be remembered that this is a revision of a plate that is already in circulation. Here’s the thing, according to the story:

The state sold a total of 439 of the earlier version in the last two years. There are 35 orders already for the new tag, according to the Revenue Department.

That basically means that the vast majority of Georgians can probably go their entire lives without seeing one of these plates on the back of a car. In other words, there really is no reason to get upset. In fact, Georgians should be reminded that this divisive symbol was once part of their state flag dating back to 1956. We all know what it was meant to symbolize. Now it can only be found next to a car’s exhaust.

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14 comments… add one
  • London John Mar 7, 2014 @ 4:11

    Not very highly correlated with this topic, but I thought the following from the BBC might be of a little interest:
    “Inside the columned central hall of Kiev’s city council, an activist base of operations, hung a giant banner with a Celtic cross, a symbol of “white power,” and an American confederate flag.

    Over the doorway was an immense portrait of Stepan Bandera, the Ukrainian nationalist partisan leader during World War Two, who at one point was allied with the Nazis.”
    It’s quite unusual for a BBC report to acknowledge the neo-fascist element in the new Ukraine govt. I wonder if the Flaggers have anything to say about the company their flag is keeping.

  • Billy Bearden Feb 20, 2014 @ 11:00

    Mr. Bearden,

    You will understand if I no longer allow you to comment on this website.

    • R E Watson Feb 21, 2014 @ 3:00

      Yippeeeeeeeee !!

  • Connie Chastain Feb 19, 2014 @ 14:54

    The South isn’t “moving away” from “accepting that particular symbol as representative of its culture and history.” It’s being forced to. There’s a difference.

    • Kevin Levin Feb 19, 2014 @ 15:00

      I have no doubt that in you little distorted world view that this is indeed the case. See you next week, Connie.

    • Douglas Egerton Feb 19, 2014 @ 15:04

      I think that Ms. Chastain means “white southerners” rather than “the South.” I see little evidence that black southerners have embraced this symbol, or indeed ever have.

      • Kevin Levin Feb 19, 2014 @ 15:14

        Don’t be too hard on her. It can’t be easy living your life as if everyone is out to get you. BTW, I am thoroughly enjoying your new book. Congratulations.

  • Chris Evans Feb 19, 2014 @ 13:42

    I agree with the sentiment that there are worse things in the world. I think there should be bigger issues to get up and arms about in this flawed world of ours than a SCV vanity plate. This issue crops up every couple of years and is more boring than the last time.

    Chris

    • Kevin Levin Feb 19, 2014 @ 14:07

      This issue crops up every couple of years and is more boring than the last time.

      Agreed. I think it’s important for all the players involved to acknowledge what I jokingly referred to at the end of the post. That Confederate flag was once a part of the state flag. It no longer is, which suggests that the general trend in the South continues to move away from accepting that particular symbol as representative of its culture and history.

  • James Harrigan Feb 19, 2014 @ 10:14

    In other words, there really is no reason to get upset
    I don’t agree, Kevin. Misguided people have every right to fly the Confederate flag or put a white supremacist bumper sticker on their car, but the state government should not be in the business of providing official state-produced legally valid plates that glorify the Confederacy. I say, keep the government out of the neoconfederate nostalgia racket – leave that sordid market segment to Dixie Outfitters.

    • Kevin Levin Feb 19, 2014 @ 10:18

      I say, keep the government out of the neoconfederate nostalgia racket – leave that sordid market segment to Dixie Outfitters.

      I tend to agree with you, but at the same time no one is going to see it.

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