Texas rejects bid to issue license plates displaying Confederate Flag

Story from The Takeaway. Listen to the above audio for a complete report.

In Texas, a group of descendants of Confederate Veterans wants to emblazon the Confederate flag on their license plates.

The State of Texas says no way.

The DMV’s nine-member board first considered the license plate earlier this year, but deadlocked 4-4 with one person absent. According to the Associated Press, all nine members opposed issuing the plates when they considered them on Thursday.

Nine states issue license plates with the flag on them. Three other states are considering them.

“This is still the south. It has brought up some history some people would rather not relive,” said Hernán Rozemberg, senior correspondent and San Antonio bureau chief for Fronteras.

And Oliver Hill, president of the San Antonio chapter of the NAACP, said he hoped the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles rejected the license plate.

“That flag was used to intimidate and murder and lynch people back when the Ku Klux Klan had its heyday in Texas,” he said. “It’s just a reminder to us that we haven’t gotten as far in race relations as we should have.”

Union veterans said they had no problem with the plates, which surprised many. Sons of Confederate Veterans said rejecting this license plates would be political correctness run amok. They’ve previously threatened to file a lawsuit if the design was rejected.