The North Carolina Motor Vehicle Division said this week that it will no longer issue and renew the issue and renewal of license plates bearing the Confederate flag.
Under the new policy, which went into effect earlier this year, the agency said in a statement to StarNews Online on Monday that it would no longer issue or renew special license plates with the Confederate battle flag or any variation of the flag. not. ”
“The Motor Vehicles Division (DMV) has determined that license plates with the Confederate combat flag could offend those who view it,” the agency told the local outlet. “We have therefore concluded that the display of the Confederate battle flag is inappropriate to display on special number plates, which remain the property of the state.”
According to the outlet, the state agency issued signs with a design of the Confederate flag to members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
A spokesman for the group said members were not aware of the new policy before trying to have their boards renewed this year.
The move comes months after the agency said it had received complaints over the boards during the summer amid widespread protests against police brutality and racism following the murder of George Floyd by police.
At the same time, the protests nationwide also put renewed pressure to get rid of the symbols of the civil war era for slavery in public spaces.
In its statement that confirmed the new policy to StarNews Online on Monday, the agency pointed to a previous ruling in a case between the North Carolina division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and the state.
According to the exposition, the group filed a lawsuit in the late 1990s in an attempt to be branded as a civic organization and therefore they may get a specialty badge. The group apparently won the case. and the verdict paved the way for the specialist plates of the Confederate flag.
“In accordance with the ruling in the North Carolina Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans v. Faulkner, DMV will continue to recognize the North Carolina Division of Sons of Confederate Veterans (‘SCV’) as a civic organization entitled to the issuing a special sign, ”the agency told the outlet.
“However, the classification of SCV as a civic organization does not give it the right to prescribe the content of the government speech on that specialty board,” he added.
Despite the SCV’s backlash as to whether the move was a violation of the ruling in the past, the agency said they were trying to get in touch with the organization to have another design for the boards considered.
“As these efforts have so far proved unsuccessful, the DMV has determined that the agency will no longer issue or renew these specialty plates,” the agency added.
In the meantime, the agency told the outlet that it would “issue standard plates of SCV members and refund any fee paid for special plates, or that they would supply different specialty plates.”