NAACP Commends State for Rejecting Confederate License Plate

The NAACP today praised the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Board’s unanimous decision to reject a specialty license plate featuring the Confederate flag. The board voted 8-0 to reject the license plate design, with one member absent. The Texas NAACP State Conference has been outspoken against the license plate.

“The Confederate flag is a visual representation of a time and a place where racism was openly flaunted and people of color were terrorized for being different,” stated NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Jealous. “It is a stubbornly persistent symbol of hatred that does not belong in a government-sponsored public setting. The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Board made the right call today. Hopefully others in South Carolina and elsewhere will follow their example.”

“I am pleased to see that the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Board has made the decision to reject this symbol of racism, repression, violence and slavery,” stated Texas NAACP State Conference President Gary Bledsoe, who testified at the November 10 Department of Motor Vehicles hearing. {snip}

The license plate would have featured the logo of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which includes an image of the Confederate battle flag. {snip}

{snip}