Today, in a historic vote, the South Carolina State Senate voted to remove the Confederate flag from the Capitol grounds. The final vote was 36-3. The easy passage of this bill has led some to question why our own state is moving so slowly when it comes to removing the Confederate flag from license plates. Governor McCrory spoke out against the license plates several weeks ago but said he lacked the power to remove them. State Senate leader Phil Berger disagrees and says the power to prohibit the license plate falls under the governor’s jurisdiction.
Since then, there hasn’t been much activity on the flag front. The legislature is, of course, on vacation. Even when they return, it’s unlikely there’s enough support in the Senate to remove the flags from the license plates. That’s because they’re custom license plates issued by the Sons of Confederate Veterans. They’re arguing that the flags are about heritage, not hate – and because the flags are on the back of cars and not flying triumphantly over the Capitol, they appear much more innocuous. Sure the state is still sanctioning the plates, but they’re not nearly as visible.
The fact that in South Carolina one of those killed in the Charleston massacre was a member of the State Senate also helped the drive to remove the flag and probably helped to bolster the number of affirmative votes. But the move to remove the Stars and Bars would have passed anyway – the South is changing and by and large people agree it’s no longer appropriate for a government to fly what many people feel is a symbol of white supremacy and racism.
At least for now, we still have Stars and Bars on cars in North Carolina. And removing them will probably be a tougher fight than the one being successfully waged down south.
John Wynne is the “conservative voice” at PoliticsNC, where he also provides polling analysis and commentary on legislative campaigns. When not writing about politics, he enjoys gardening and listening to opera. Contact: johncwynne@gmail.com.
Where does this stop? Martin Luther King was a womanizer. Do we remove all the street signs with his name on them. NO. Be careful what you want removed. It will the US Flag or The Bible or something that you love.
Thank you Frank. I have continually seen the battle flag referred to as “The Stars and Bars,” That disturbs me due to the lack of knowledge of our history exhibited by many. The Stars and Bars, as you have pointed out, looks nothing like the battle flag.
As far as your question, the answer is definitely YES, troops from NC definitely fought under the battle flag – as you call the Southern Cross, and I have often called the St. Andrew’s Cross it was modeled after. This was originally the flag of RE Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Troops from Va, NC, SC, & Ga fought for the Army of Northern Virginia. Just west of Appomattox, there is a monument to the NC soldiers from that army near one of the battlefields.
I would point out that the flag in question is the Southern Cross, the Confederate battle flag with the blue X with stars across the red field. The Stars and Bars was actually the Confederacy’s national flag, it had 2 red and 1 white bar across it with a blue field in the upper left corner with 13 white stars in a circle. It was too easily confused with the US Flag on the battle field so the Southern Cross was adopted as a “battle flag” and used by the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of Tennessee. I’m not sure troops from either of the Carolinas actually fought under the the contriversal flag of today. Any historians who can answer that??
Proposals to remove the Confederate flag from the license plate are not the state deciding what is acceptable expression for individuals and what is not; it is deciding what speech the state of NC endorses directly. I agree that eliminating the 40 or so specialty plates that the state authorizes (and also endorses) is the easiest solution, but it is hardly necessary when a broad outcry is presenting against a symbol on one of them. If the state chooses not to eliminate all of the specialty plates, the SCV should be allowed to have a plate; just one without the Confederate battle flag. This argument is academic as the NC House, and probably the Senate, will prove to be too spineless to even debate the matter.
It SHOULD be a tougher fight. Once the PC mob starts determining what is acceptable on other people’s license plates, they won’t stop with the SCV. Free speech is free speech is the speech you probably don’t like. As for the argument that the State shouldn’t be in the position of tacitly endorsing SCV plates, I might agree….provided that all other specialty plates are banned as well, for the same reason that the State shouldn’t be deciding what is acceptable expression and what is not.