Georgia officials will soon roll out a redesigned license plate that still features the Confederate battle flag emblem, months after halting the sales of the state-sponsored specialty tag in the wake of the Charleston church massacre.
The Department of Revenue and the Georgia chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans said this week they reached an agreement on the redesign and that it could be available as early as next week.
The redesigned license plate will look much like this, though without the faded Confederate emblem in the background.
Gov. Nathan Deal ordered a redesign of the license plate in June after nine black worshippers were gunned down by a suspect described by police as a white supremacist. But he stopped short of calling for the Sons of Confederate Veterans tags to be phased out our eliminated entirely, as leaders in North Carolina, Virginia and Tennessee ordered over the summer.
Georgia law for more than a decade has required a “special license plate for the Sons of Confederate Veterans,” with the proceeds of the sales going to benefit the group. So far, more than 3,500 motorists have signed up for Georgia’s Confederate tag, and the group’s leaders said demand has recently surged.
Confederate symbols of all kinds – flags, monuments, statues, license plates, even retail items – have come under unprecedented attack across the South in the months since the Charleston church massacre.
State leaders quietly erased Confederate Memorial Day and Robert E. Lee’s birthday from the official Georgia calendar in August. And debate has swirled over other symbols of the Old South, including the faces carved into Stone Mountain, the portraits and sculptures enshrined in the state Capitol and even restaurants that feature the Rebel flag.
More than 4,200 people signed a petition released by Better Georgia, a left-leaning advocacy group, calling for the state to stop selling the plates. State Sen. Vincent Fort, one of the most vocal legislative critics of the specialty tags, said the redesign was like “stabbing is in the back and only taking the knife out halfway.”
Members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans countered the criticism with a membership drive, a lobbying campaign and the threat of legal action.
Here’s how Tim Pilgrim, a Sons of Confederate Veterans leader, described the new design:
We did agree to remove the faded background as most of the Camps indicated that they would be willing to do as long as the SCV logo was in its place of prominence on the tag. They also agreed to let us darken the red in the logo to a deeper blood red. We hope to have that completed by the end of this week and our tag will start to be available to our membership and the citizens of Georgia by next week.
To those who like to disparage the South today I say.... without slave labor the U.S.A., north and south, would not be what it is today.
Where do you think that cotton went? It was planted, tended, harvested by slaves then put on ships built, most likely in New England and manned by northern sailors.
It was off loaded in northern ports by northern longshoremen, placed on northern railroads staffed by northerners. It was off loaded and carried into clothing mills in the northern "Mill Towns" and made into clothing by northern men, women and child workers.
The northern bankers financed it, profited off of it and employed their workers also. The bankers also financed other industries with those profits initially begun with slave labor.
All of this boosted the northern economy and filled the U.S. Treasury with tariff moneys. This is only off of ONE CROP cotton. It doesn't included all the other crops and products manufactured in part with slave labor.
So the next time some pious, holier than thou northerner looks down their nose at you, ask them what part their ancestor played in the slave based economy of the ENTIRE U.S.A. between its colonization IN THE 1600'S and 1861.
Ask them, what is their "fair share" of the nations past "sin" they're personally responsible for.
Were does the money go that these tags generate?
@Craig Fluck Directly back to Georgia with a small percent going to support the SCV.
John Shelton Reed: "Every time I look at Atlanta I see what a quarter of a million Confederate Soldiers died to prevent." Why don't you libs and Black Lives Matter types get a life and quit worrying about the CBF and other Southern Icons? While you're at it, get an education in accurate Southern history.
Let these people display their stupid flag..that way we can identify who the racist ignorant bigots are..
@Kenn6664
According to you and your ilk, anyone that did not vote for Obama is a "racist ignorant bigot". That must mean a whole lotta folks in Georgia fit your ignorant stereotype.
Must be lonely being so close-minded.
@SaveAmericaFromItself @Kenn6664 This has nothing to do with President Obama..go back and sit in your trailer and drink your kool-aid and keep listening to your fox news blah blah
@Kenn6664 @SaveAmericaFromItself
You & your partner get back in the closet !
I almost feel sorry for these confederate nuts!!!! I guess we all need something to hold on to! I will get a little concern when I see the tags on BMWs, Mercedes, etc ... You only see the tags on old beat up trucks, which tells you a lot about the jerks displaying the flag. I have studied the confederacy extensively, and I agree Lee was indeed a gentleman. The sad thing is that Lee would have nothing to do with any of this confederate foolishness if he were alive today. He said the war was over and we lost .... all confererate things should be put to rest!!!!!
@Cinque Fouronetwo The confederate flag don't need to be on the BMW's and Mercedes' because those affluent people who carry the Confederate ideology in their mind, heart and spirit are the POWERFUL people that write laws and policies in both the pubic and private corporations in America. When we call a person a RACIST, you must understand that RACISM = PREJUDICE + POWER.
@Cinque Fouronetwo
" I will get a little concern when I see the tags on BMWs, Mercedes, etc ."
You need to get out a little more. There is much more to Georgia than inside the Atlanta perimeter.
@Cinque Fouronetwo I don't think my 2015 Chevrolet Silverado is old and beat up. YOU show your ignorance when you open your pie hole!!!
The South fought to preserve slavery. The North fought to preserve the Union. It's as simple as that.
@butchcat
Nothing is perpetual, including this "Union".
@SaveAmericaFromItself @butchcat No there is no more to it than that.
Walt
@butchcat there is far more to it than that
@butchcat ignorant statement
@butchcat you are wrong. lincoln had 0 intension to end slavery. keep making up things though.
I don't think anyone cares anymore because ppl will always find something to be offended about...you can bet on it
There are no sons of Confederate veterans living, so I guess this license plate design can be flushed.
@Ralph-43 Actually, there are. As a matter of fact, there are more than you'd think.
It will be good for the body shops
Because for some, the war will never be over? It was bad enough when the state chose that ugly horse for the horse license plate. Which none of us ordered. Who wants a flag on the license that reminds us of the first yankee invasion of the south? To be followed by more and more waves of yankees moving south over the decades. It's like that In God We Trust tag, who wants to see that on a license plate? If you have to tell people what your beliefs are, do so by your actions not by putting a plate on your car. hmm would my UGA plate be offensive to the north ave trade school guys? LOL.
@partlycloudy What does it hurt you?
This is a major victory for the black supporters of the confederacy!!!
@yeahhi
Without Black labor - free and slave, the Confederacy would not have lasted 4 years.
@yeahhi There are quite a few black supporters of the Confederacy. Look up HK Edgerton and Anthony Hervey (recently murdered in MS for being a supporter of the Confederacy). There are many others.
@BelleSouth @yeahhi and that is supposed to surprise me??? or impress me???
@centgaboy @BelleSouth @yeahhi Neither it isn't about you.. It's great that the Black supporters can get a tag to celebrate their ancestors who fought and died for their personal cause if they so choose. All choices matter.
@SaveAmericaFromItself @yeahhi Without slave labor the U.S.A. (in total north and south) would not be what it is today. Where do you think that cotton went? It was planted, tended, harvested by slaves then put on ships built most likely built in New England and manned by northern sailors. It was off loaded in northern ports by northern longshoremen, placed on northern railroads staffed by northerners. It was off loaded and carried into clothing mills in the northern "Mill Towns" and made into clothing by northern men, women and child workers. The northern bankers financed it, profited off of it and employed their workers also. The bankers also financed other industries with those profits initially begun with slave labor. All of this boosted the northern economy and filled the U.S. Treasury with tariff moneys. This is only off of ONE CROP cotton. It doesn't included all the other crops and products manufactured in part with slave labor. So the next time some pious, holier than thou northerner looks down their nose at you ask them what part their ancestor played in the slave based economy of the U.S.A. Ask them, what is their "fair share" of the nations past "sin" they're personally responsible for.
Wow!
Its only when a white Southerner commits mass murder that an entire region is punished. When Muslims do the same thing in Chattanooga, Ft Hood and other places, we are told the perp is a lone wolf and not to judge. The double standard and hatred for everything Southern could not be more obvious.
Robert Edward Lee was an American soldier best known for commanding the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia in the American Civil War from 1862 until his surrender in 1865. The son of Revolutionary War officer Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee III, Lee was a top graduate of the United States Military Academy and an exceptional officer and combat engineer in the United States Army for 32 years. During this time, he served throughout the United States, distinguished himself during the Mexican–American War, served as Superintendent of the United States Military Academy, and married Mary Custis.
When Virginia declared its secession from the Union in April 1861, Lee chose to follow his home state, despite his personal desire for the country to remain intact and despite an offer of a senior Union command. Lee privately ridiculed the Confederacy in letters in early 1861, denouncing secession as "revolution" and a betrayal of the efforts of the founders. Writing to his son William Fitzhugh, Lee stated, "I can anticipate no greater calamity for the country than a dissolution of the Union." While he was not opposed in principle to secession, Lee wanted all peaceful ways of resolving the differences between North and South.
Lee was offered by Lincoln's presidential advisor Francis P. Blair a role as major general to command the defense of Washington. He replied:
Mr. Blair, I look upon secession as anarchy. If I owned the four millions of slaves in the South I would sacrifice them all to the Union; but how can I draw my sword upon Virginia, my native state?
Lee's army established its formidable reputation at the Battle of Fredericksburg in December 1862. This time the Confederates faced a Union contingent a third again its size, under General Ambrose E. Burnside. Concentrating his forces, and establishing positions that took full advantage of the weaponry of the day, Lee allowed the Northern men to fruitlessly attack his defensive strongholds on Marye's Heights, slaughtering thousands. The Union army survived by escaping across the Rappahannock River, but the defeat badly strained Northern morale.
Early in 1863, Lincoln again changed generals, placing the Army of the Potomac's military machine under Joseph Hooker. Hooker believed he could trap Lee by attacking him simultaneously from several directions. Facing a Union force double his size at a crossroads called Chancellorsville, west of Fredericksburg, Lee again precariously divided his army. Over the course of the fighting, which lasted from May 1 until May 6 and included another Union charge up Marye's Heights, Lee was able to squeeze the Union forces from two directions and then reunite his troops. The Confederates captured the most favorable artillery positions, launched a devastating barrage, then pressed the attack until Hooker had to pull back. Through surprise and daring, Lee had turned a vulnerable defensive position into a brilliant tactical offense.
Even the Union prisoners cheered when Lee rode in front of his troops in this moment of triumph.
@stiffneck Lee was offered the entire Union Army command, not just the DC area.
@stiffneck Yes Lee was offered the command of the union army. And turned it down. A true southern gentleman. He'd not be sporting that confederate battle flag on his Traveler today. It does still gall me that the feds took his plantation Arlington and turned it into a cemetery.
@stiffneck Lee is vastly overrated.
In the eastern theater, Lee had as little success outside Virginia as various federal generals had within it. He is vastly overrated. The Battle of Chancellorsville is often noted as Lee’s greatest victory. But Douglas Southall Freeman notes in “Lee’s Lieutenants” that the Chancellorsville campaign cost Lee’s army 238 field grade officers killed or wounded. Field grade officers are the majors and colonels. When it comes to maneuvering in the face of another army, their skill cannot be dispensed with. This is easy to see with all the ‘almosts’ and ‘not quites’ in the Gettysburg campaign that soon followed the Chancellorsville fight, which of course ended any chance of southern military victory. So even Lee’s most famous ‘victory’ was really a defeat.
After he wrecked his own army for offensive operations, he operated primarily on the defensive in an era when defensive technologies were dominant.
Walt
Yea - how about a specialty plate for "Descendants of Southern Slavery"?
The logo could be lash marks across a black back to commemorate their "southern heritage".
Or maybe shackles and chains in homage to our "genteel southern society".
How about a hangman's noose suspended from a oak tree or bridge - you know
lynching "it's a suthun' thang"? What about a cotton boll - "Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton,
Old times there are not forgotten, Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land".
Hell no I ain't fergettin'. Look away? Ironic.
@LesSmart anything that would increase fees
@LesSmart Why don't you move on versus whining and excuse making? Slavery has been over for 150 years, Jim Crow over for at least 60 years. I suppose all of you descendants of slaves would rather have been left back to enjoy the great life in Africa??? You can take down every Confederate Flag and anything that had to do with slavery and the black situation isn't going to change a bit.
It is clear that this specialty license plate celebrates a bunch of losers.
The life of the so-called Confederate States was like life in the state of nature - nasty brutish and short.
What’s funny is that The CSA didn’t really have much success on the battlefield. Federal battle deaths were 110,000, CSA battle deaths were 94,000. Since the so-called CSA was on the defensive, and the recent wide spread use of the rifled musket magnified defensive power at the expense of offensive power, those figures should show –many- more federal deaths than CSA deaths, in keeping with Napoleon’s dictum that it takes three attackers to drive off one defender. The rebels also had the advantage of interior lines.
Federal armies in the ‘West’ went pretty much from victory to victory throughout the war, capturing Forts Henry and Donelson early in 1862, occupying Nashville not long after that, driving into north Mississippi to cut the east-west rail line to Texas, driving off CSA army after army in the investment of Vicksburg, where an entire army was captured, driving the rebels out of middle Tennessee and capturing Chattanooga, inexorably advancing on and capturing Atlanta, Savannah and Columbia. The single bad check of the western federal armies was at Chickamauga.
In the eastern theater, Lee had as little success outside Virginia as various federal generals had within it. He is vastly overrated. The Battle of Chancellorsville is often noted as Lee’s greatest victory. But Douglas Southall Freeman notes in “Lee’s Lieutenants” that the Chancellorsville campaign cost Lee’s army 238 field grade officers killed or wounded. Field grade officers are the majors and colonels. When it comes to maneuvering in the face of another army, their skill cannot be dispensed with. This is easy to see with all the ‘almosts’ and ‘not quites’ in the Gettysburg campaign that soon followed the Chancellorsville fight, which of course ended any chance of southern military victory. So even Lee’s most famous ‘victory’ was really a defeat.
After he wrecked his own army for offensive operations, he operated primarily on the defensive in an era when defensive technologies were dominant.
Finally, when the big plantation owners reneged on their pledge to raise food stuffs to feed the soldiers’ families, the rebel armies melted away. All that “you fought all the way Johnnie Reb’ is a lot of road apples.
One thing to keep in mind about the so-called CSA is that it never really existed. The various rebel states passed secession documents – you can do the same thing. But since they were no more able than you to give them force, the so-called CSA was just what President Lincoln called them: Combinations too powerful to be dealt with by the US Marshals.
As the so-called CSA was busy collapsing and its armies were melting away, President Lincoln was criticized for treating with the legislature of Virginia. He had not done that he said, he dealt with a group who styled themselves as the legislature of Virginia, because they had power to effect events.
Walt
@Whiskeypapa you are a moron.
"This is a free country!" The Confederacy is a part of both black and white history and if the ancestors of the soldiers who lost their lives fighting for the Confederate army want to fly the Confederate flag it's their business. If you don't like it don't look at it. I don't go over to Selma to watch MLK's simulated march because I don't like it, but it's their right to do it because as I said , "This is a free country!" When we start letting little groups of bigots make the laws we'll be in worse trouble than we already are.
@BobbyDawg Does that also apply to "Religious(Christian) liberty laws?
The United States of America defeated the Confederate States of America (CSA) in the Bloody Civil War !!!
South Carolina was the first State to secede and the birthplace of secession.
Their articles of secession did not mention state rights but did mention SLAVERY,SLAVERY,SLAVERY.
An estimated 750,000 Americans died in this gruesome war.
Ken Burns produced the PBS documentary " Civil War".
Ken Burns stated on CBS "Face The Nation" that the Civil War was about SLAVERY.
The State of Georgia should NOT PERMIT THE ISSUANCE of a Confederate Flag EMBLEM on Georgia license plates.
To own and enslave another human being is immoral and wrong.
@Charles Douglas Edwards
Ken Burns is a film-maker, not a credible historian.
@Charles Douglas Edwards Ken Burns is a liberal blow hard and a carpet bagging yankee!!
Racism is alive and well. This is a bad look for Georgia, and this will not be the last time this is addressed.
@AtlantaSportsVictory Get a life and quit worrying about the CBF
Ye-haw!!! That's yer Georger for yer.
I am offended by the term "miss Black" contest. Why do we have to have a "miss black" when blacks are in the miss America contest? Lets eliminate that.