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Racist Licence Plates in Alabama???
Alabama AP ^ | April 18, 2002 | none given

Posted on 04/18/2002 12:02:52 PM PDT by jra

MONTGOMERY - Dixie Protest

A criminal justice professor is fighting a ticket she got for putting tape over part of the "Heart of Dixie" logo on her Alabama license plate.

Karen Taylor, who teaches at Alabama State University, was pulled over for speeding by a Montgomery police officer last month and also cited for covering the word "Dixie" on her tag.

Taylor's case was originally set to be heard yesterday but it was postponed until August 23rd.

Taylor said she placed a piece of red-and-white tape over the word "Dixie" ten years ago in protest of the song's racist heritage.

When she was pulled over last month and issued a ticket for having an illegal tag, it was the first time her tag protest caused a problem.

She paid the 118-dollar speeding fine for going 51 miles-per-hour in a 35 miles-per-hour zone, but fought the tag violation.

Montgomery Police spokesman Sgt. Huey Thornton said Taylor broke the law and the officer acted properly. Thornton said Alabama's criminal code requires that all plates have a conventionalized representation of a heart and the words 'Heart of Dixie' on them


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Alabama
KEYWORDS: dixielist
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First of all, the song and the southeastern region of the Unites States share the same name, but does that association make either evil?

Just as New York is the Empire State and Florida the Sunshine State, Alabama's 'nickname' is The Heart of Dixie, with no connection whatsoever to the song.

Furthermore, the professor's attempt to call the song racist is a hollow one. Assuming a similar connection to the Civil War that the NAACP tries to make with the Confederate flag, it doesn't fly, because the song was written BEFORE the Civil War had even begun...
1 posted on 04/18/2002 12:02:52 PM PDT by jra
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To: jra
Some of these NAACP'ers won't be satisfied until "south" is removed from the compass and the letter "K" is banished from the alphabet.
2 posted on 04/18/2002 12:06:41 PM PDT by aomagrat
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To: jra
Guess she's going to have to put tape over "The United States of America" on all her paper money, since slavery was acceptable for a lot longer than the Confederacy was around. :)
3 posted on 04/18/2002 12:07:10 PM PDT by dpayton
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To: jra
Meanwhile illegitimacy skyrockets, drug abuse is rampant , school dropouts everywhere , crime keeps doors locked and windows barred in the black communities

I don't think protesting DIXIE has had a very good effect
4 posted on 04/18/2002 12:07:18 PM PDT by uncbob
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To: jra
Also, the song was written by a Northerner.
5 posted on 04/18/2002 12:07:31 PM PDT by Rodney King
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To: jra
Another liberal academic troll.

A few years ago, Alabama used the following lame slogan in its tourism commericials: "Alabama, the State of Surprises." I would probably be more likely to visit had they used the ACTUAL state motto: We dare defend our rights.

Come to think of it, they should put that on the license plates as well! --- Clemenza of the Empire State, in temporary exile in the Sunshine State.

6 posted on 04/18/2002 12:08:32 PM PDT by Clemenza
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To: aomagrat
Some of these NAACP'ers won't be satisfied until...

Close, but you're still too trusting. Some of the NAACP'ers will never be satisfied. Everyone ought to stop trying.

7 posted on 04/18/2002 12:10:50 PM PDT by Snuffington
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To: Rodney King
Now waiting for the first Southerner resident in Illinois to blot out "Land of Lincoln" on his plates, and the first pacifist in New Hampshire to tape over "Live Free Or Die".
8 posted on 04/18/2002 12:11:44 PM PDT by Argus
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To: jra
Interesting... Here's a related editorial from someone who likes "Heart of Dixie". Is he serious about "Stars Fell on Alabama"? He can't be!!!!

Stars fell on my license tag

The new license tags are starting to circulate, and the more I see them, the more I wonder what the designer was thinking.

I see what the "Heart of Dixie" fans are complaining about: The red heart, with those words inside, has shrunk so much that you can no longer read it in traffic.

For years "Heart of Dixie" was written in large letters on license plates, a proud statement of the state's Southern heritage. License tags have traditionally been used by states as rolling billboards to promote tourism. "Heart of Dixie" was an effective slogan. It spurred visions of cotton fields, magnolia trees, Spanish moss, cornbread and sultry Southern belles in the minds of millions of out-of-staters who glimpsed the tags on the nation's highways.

Now we have "Stars Fell on Alabama."

More...


9 posted on 04/18/2002 12:12:19 PM PDT by LurkedLongEnough
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To: jra
Thornton said Alabama's criminal code requires...
A criminal justice professor is fighting a ticket...

There you go: she simply is not aware of the criminal code; she just teaches it.

10 posted on 04/18/2002 12:12:37 PM PDT by TopQuark
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To: jra
A couple comments:

1. Why even bother with the ticket? Was the cop being an a$$hole or was she?

2. Any license plate holder covers up the Dixie anyway (mine say St Louis Cardinals!)

3. When I first saw this, I thought it might be an extension of the "Stars Fell On" controversy currently going on here in AL. They recently took “Heart of Dixie” off of the top of our plates and put “Stars Fell On” in its place. State law requires that “Heart of Dixie” be on each plate, so they added a tiny heart with the phrase (and I do mean tiny). So, folks have been covering up the Stars with the old Dixie phrase. Now, I wonder if they are making a quick example of this lady and then they will go all out on the folks covering up them Stars.

11 posted on 04/18/2002 12:14:30 PM PDT by TankerKC
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To: stainlessbanner; billbears; Twodees; Constitution Day; Colt .45; shuckmaster
Look at this.
12 posted on 04/18/2002 12:15:43 PM PDT by aomagrat
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To: aomagrat
Thanks partner.

Taylor said she placed a piece of red-and-white tape over the word "Dixie" ten years ago in protest of the song's racist heritage.

Hey Taylor - move North. We don't need your kind in Dixie.

For the life of me, I can't understand why these people want to move down here and dictate how we do things. Pack your bags and take a few of your racist scum friends with you, Taylor.

13 posted on 04/18/2002 12:19:05 PM PDT by stainlessbanner
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To: jra
"Repairations! Reparations! I want my reparations. My professor job doesn't pay the speeding tickets!"
14 posted on 04/18/2002 12:19:07 PM PDT by chemicalman
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To: TopQuark
Law breaking Law PROFESSORS???? hmm that kinda sounds like an oxymoron to me
15 posted on 04/18/2002 12:19:24 PM PDT by Nat Turner
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To: jra
Gee...I believe that certain digits are associated with Satan, and thus are an offense to my religious freedom, thus I will tape over any prime number digits on *my* car license tags to express my beliefs. Think that a judge would be understanding?
16 posted on 04/18/2002 12:19:28 PM PDT by OccamsRazor
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To: Argus
Actually, as a New Hampshire resident (refugee from Mass like about 3/4 of New Hampshire residents)I remember somebody tried to tape over "Live Free or Die" about 10 years ago and was cited for doing so. They fought it in court and lost. In Vermont recently, a woman had her vanity plate revoked. After 5+ years of using it, somebody decided the word "Irish" was racist.
17 posted on 04/18/2002 12:22:42 PM PDT by Stirner
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To: TankerKC
RE: #11

I'd be willing to bet she gave him a bunch of crap about the speeding ticket and so he decided to give her some more reasons to rant.

18 posted on 04/18/2002 12:25:42 PM PDT by chaosagent
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To: jra
Ah-hem. Please stand and remove your hat:

Dixie
Oh, I wish I was in the land ob cotton,
Old times there are not forgotten,
Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land.
In Dixie Land, where I was born in,
early on one frosty mornin',
Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land.

I wish I was in Dixie, Hooray! Hooray!
In Dixie Land I’ll take my stand
to live and die in Dixie.
Away, away, away down south in Dixie.
Away, away, away down south in Dixie

Thank you!

(Cool Piano version of Dixie)

19 posted on 04/18/2002 12:26:59 PM PDT by stainlessbanner
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To: Nat Turner
Law breaking Law PROFESSORS???? hmm that kinda sounds like an oxymoron to me

Military Intelligence! Military Intelligence!

20 posted on 04/18/2002 12:27:27 PM PDT by Bobisalwaysright
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