The SC plate: 
And the Virginia plate: 
}:-)4
Posted on 04/03/2006 2:37:14 PM PDT by stainlessbanner
TALLAHASSEE -- It's time for Florida to authorize a specialty license plate displaying the Confederate battle flag to honor the heritage of participants in the Civil War, a Sons of Confederate Veterans organization said Friday.
The proposed plate would feature the rebel flag centered between black numerals with "Florida" in red above and "Confederate Heritage" in red along the bottom.
"It is not racist to promote a common heritage," said H.K. Edgerton, former NAACP president in Asheville, N.C., who led the group in a rousing version of "Dixie" before introducing the proposal. "There will be those uninformed individuals who will attempt to categorize this plate in unflattering terms."
The SCV proposal, however, is unlikely to get far with Florida lawmakers who are already halfway through the 2006 session.
"If it comes up here for a vote it's not something I'm going to support," said state Rep. Jennifer Carroll, a black Republican from Jacksonville. "I think we have greater issues."
Florida has authorized 106 specialty license plates since its first one memorializing the Challenger shuttle that exploded in January 1986 on takeoff, killing seven astronauts.
"I'm not going to sign up," said Gov. Jeb Bush, who has been uncomfortable with the Confederate flag as a symbol. In 2001 he ordered one taken down at the Capitol, where it had flown for more than two decades.
"We have enough license plates," Bush said.
Florida, like much of the South, continues to struggle with parts of its history resulting from the war between the states between 1861-1865.
In recent years, South Carolina removed a rebel flag from atop its Capitol, Georgia removed the Confederate battle emblem from its state flag and the University of Mississippi retired Col. Rebel at its on-field mascot.
However, several southern states do offer license tags observing the Confederacy heritage.
In South Carolina, the tags are sold only to SCV members at $30 above the regular $24 registration and the group keeps profits from the sales under a law that took effect a year ago without the signature of Gov. Mark Sanford.
Virginia, which offers 180 specialty tags, began selling a "Sons of Confederate Veterans" plate in 2002.
The group seeking the plate in Florida must hire an independent organization to complete 30,000 surveys of vehicle owners in the state to comply with a requirement to gauge consumer interest. They are also required to pay an application fee of $60,000 to the Division of Motor Vehicles and provide long-term marketing plans before production could begin on the proposed plate.
"There are tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of people who would be proud to have this license plate on their vehicles," said Robert Hurst, spokesman for the group. "We feel that those people deserve the opportunity to buy that flag, to buy that tag and have it on their vehicles."
Proceeds from plate sales would be used to pay for the restoration of the original Confederate flags housed in the Museum of Florida History as well as grave locations and markers of Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the state.
The proposal's sponsors said they would not have a problem finding a sponsor in the Legislature for their idea.
Dixie Ping - HK in FLA
I wonder how many of these folks were outraged by the Mexican flag flying during these protests?
Yankee bump
Yea, that’s what we need, a state licensed Confederate X on every 3r vehicle down here, Malcolm’s X on every 2nd, and a La Raza fist on the 3rd. No thanks.
Stick whatever flag you want on your bumper, but this would be bad public policy.
Once you open that can of worms, it's got to be managed properly and justly.
Interesting. When, “Save our Seas” and “Family Values” becomes as deeply emotionally charged as the Confederate and Malcolm Xs, I’ll call it a slippery slope.
I may very well get flamed for this, but here it goes anyway;
While I in no way view the Confederate battle flag as a racist symbol, I also do not understand the reasoning for displaying it. The South lost, the North won, and as Jim Rome says; SCOREBOARD! To the victors go the spoils.
All joking aside, I really don't care if someone wants to display the Stars and Bars.
Many politicians are cowards, yellow bellied scum of the earth, caving on the flag just like they caved on the Schiavo case. My ancestor(s) took a stand and fought to the death for it, as did many of the framers/founders. Lord I wish a politician these days had their fortitude.
We're good enough for them when they send out solicitations, as they prostitute themselves for contributions and votes, but we're simply second class citizens when it comes to standing up for us.
All we want is to be allowed to honour our dead, either by flying a flag over their graves, or by honouring our valiant men in grey with a flag on a license plate, reminding others of their sacrifices.
We will never forget.
The SC plate:
And the Virginia plate:
}:-)4
I'm a Floridian and I support the right to such a plate. I should also add that I'm a "carpetbagger" from the North and many of my ancestors died fighting for the Union. However, the point is that this is part of our common national historic heritage. We've all seen how the PC brigade has sought to distort - even deny - U.S. history. By the way, I have a historical fact I can share that I know would truly astound many FReepers as well as most Americans -- about our Civil War. Anyone curious?
I'll bite, T.L. Sink - what is your astounding historical fact?!
I remember when Jeb took the Confederate flag down from the capitol, there was an outcry but it quickly died. I'm very glad Jeb didn't kowtow to the "git-r-done" crowd.
For those who don't remember, the Florida display was an historical display of the flags that ruled over Florida. It included French, Spanish, Confederate, State/Republic, and USA flags. It's important to note that Jeb removed the flags without a single complaint against the Confederate flags nor any other flags in the display.
I can cite several historical sources for the fact but it's most recently been repeated in the highly acclaimed history by Jay Winik, "April 1865: The Month that Saved America". The fact is that if we take the fatalities of ALL of America's wars COMBINED the total is less than that of the Civil War. Yes, 620,000 dead from the Civil War alone! As Winik points out this was "...one-twelfth of the North and an astonishing one-fifth of the South; all told, it was the most battle deaths in the country's history, as great as in ALL the nation's other wars combined." (p.354) And this when the population of the country was only about 40 million. The point of this incredible fact is that this was one of the seminal events in America's history -- an indeliable part of our common heritage and history and one we have every right to acknowledge.
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