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Some VA Drivers Refuse to Give up Their Confederate Flag License Plates
“I am not taking it off and I won’t take it off.”
That is what Suffolk, VA resident Kevin Collier said to a news crew when asked about his refusal to give up his expired Confederate flag license plate–and he isn’t the only one taking a stand. Collier is just one of many in the state refusing to relinquish expired tags in response to a new state law banning the plates.
Virginians are refusing to give up recalled license plates featuring the Confederate flag http://t.co/QzvFCRnpML pic.twitter.com/zRGXemIXIG
— Intl. Business Times (@IBTimes) October 19, 2015
Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe announced plans to begin phasing out the plates in June, after a Supreme Court decision determined that specialty plates are a “form of government expression” and therefore aren’t subject to First Amendment protections.
As a result, in August approximately 1,600 people still using specialty plates with the Sons of Confederacy emblem were sent newly designed plates by the Department of Motor Vehicles, and were given until October 4 to comply before their current tags became invalid and subsequently illegal. So far only 187 plates have been returned to the DMV.
Virginia’s push to abolish plates bearing the Confederate flag was a direct result of the June shooting at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina that left nine African-Americans dead. The horrific attack reignited pleas to ban the flag once and for all after Facebook photos of the 21-year-old shooter, Dylann Roof, showed him posing with Confederate flags. Roof is said to have targeted the church hoping to incite a new “civil war.”
However, despite the flag’s roots in slavery, those in favor of keeping it around maintain that it is a symbol of their heritage rather than a symbol of hate. Collier said,
It wasn’t about hate, it was a battle flag, a battle flag that we fought for. It had nothing to do with hate, and nothing to do with racism.
He then added.
I was born a 150 years too late because I would have loved to have fought for the Confederacy like my ancestors did, but at least I can fight how I can in modern times. I will fight however I can.
But, it’s hard to argue that a flag isn’t racist when one person coming to its defense claims they would have gladly fought for the side advocating for the continued enslavement of African-Americans.
According to a Charleston NBC affiliate, the DMV tried to work with the Sons of Confederate Veterans on the design of the new plate, but the organization did not respond. Now any violators choosing to still drive vehicles with the canceled plates could face a misdemeanor and a hefty fine. But is fighting for a racially offensive “heritage” really worth breaking the law? These Virginia drivers will soon be finding out.
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