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.
see below immediately below -- meant to include your name too.
ping
"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?"
Bring it.
Go back to 18 -- to stainlessbanner. Were you surprised?
You might be interested in this link - it has casualties broken down the sides, battles, and percentages.
No. I would be surprised if most people on the Dixie ping list were unaware of it.
Very interesting link! I agree with what you say about those who denegrate and dispise the bravery and sacrifice of our heroes of the past. I've never been a Civil War buff but (in my opinion) one of the best and most comprehensive histories is the 3 volume work by Shelby Foote. What's remarkable about this is that it's so readable and it captures the humanity of the struggle. To me, it takes a great writer to capture your attention, make history "real", and write in a style that's engaging -- but without oversimplifying a complex subject. Anyway, that's my two cent commentary!
This is a little off topic, but it's our common history that we love. A very easy-to-read first hand account of the war is Co Aytch by Sam Watkins. Fantastic read, one of my favorite WBTS books.
I lost count of how many different Florida Tags there are.
In the past I have fought for the right to display the Confederate flag but no more.
I've decided that history needs to be re-written to condemn all those that now use that flag for their purposes. It has become soiled and stained with hate and rage.
If you want it so badly on your car, paint it there, if you want it on your license plate, put it there, but don't ask the rest of us to fund a special plate for your entertainment.
These vanity plates were mean to champion good causes not lost causes.
Yes, he's talking about military casualties. By the way, who was the "log cabin" president born in a Kentucky log cabin? Answer: Jefferson Davis. Yes, he and Lincoln were both born in Kentucky log cabins within 8 months of each other and less than 100 miles apart. Another one of those facts that would surprise many!
Can I ask some simple questions here about the Confederate Flag?
Which party designed it?
Which Party used the Klu Klux Klan to target and intimidate Blacks from Voting for republicans while using the Confederate Flag as a symbol of that party's White dominance of the south?
Which party still uses the confederate flag as a symbol of racial hate today to make Black people vote for the very party that has spent decades oppressing and enslaving them?
I Know the answer I would just like for once to hear those that profess such intence love for the confederate flag to admit for once that those that created it and have used it as a weapon of terror since the end of the civil war were and are the same people that freely condemn it to insure that they continue to get the votes of those they once lynched for voting republican.
You may love it as a symbol of your heritage, but that party is the creator of that heritage, do you really want to embrace how they have used that flag?
Well, to the extent any of these men took oaths to protect and defend the United States of America, they were traitors to the USA and to their oaths. They may have found such treason to be justifiable, in the same way the Founding Fathers' treason against the British Crown was thought by them to be justified, but it was objectively treason. That being said, no one should spit on anyone's grave.
Is that where you hang out when you aren't flying the Flag of the Democrats' Rebellion in here?
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