Virginia Bans Renewal Of Robert E. Lee License Plates Because We Don't Celebrate Losers

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Until very recently, fans of nan losing broadside successful Virginia looking to advertise that truth could salary a small other to get official, state-issued Robert E. Lee aliases Sons of Confederate Veterans licence plates for their cars. As a bonus, portion of nan money they spent buying those plates sewage funneled to nan Sons of Confederate Veterans, an statement nan Southern Poverty Law Center describes as having "strong neo-Confederate principles." However, that statement ended this week, 13NewsNow reports, erstwhile Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger signed a measure into rule that bans nan plates' renewal.

"Renewal" is nan cardinal connection there, by nan way. The rule didn't instantly invalidate nan plates, truthful nan Confederacy enthusiasts who person them will still beryllium legally allowed to thrust pinch them until they expire. After that, they'll still beryllium capable to take connected of Virginia's 342 different specialty sheet options or resign themselves to getting a regular plate. See? The state's moreover being bully astir it. You can't person your Lost Cause propaganda sheet anymore, but you don't person to get free of it immediately. Just do it earlier your adjacent birthday.

State Delegate Dan Helmer, a typical for Fairfax County, wrote nan original bill. He responded to Spanberger signing it into rule pinch a video posted connected Facebook. "The Confederacy was a 4 twelvemonth play successful which traitors hellbent connected preserving slavery tried – and past grounded – to disagreement nan Union," Helmer wrote pinch singular candor successful nan video's caption. "The Confederacy and its leaders do not merit our commemoration, and its adherents surely do not merit payer dollars."

If you unrecorded extracurricular nan U.S. and aren't acquainted pinch our history, you whitethorn person a difficult clip knowing why a authorities government would rumor plates that observe a traitorous wide who led a rebellion against his ain state and lost. I wish I had a bully reply for you, but nan propaganda run that became known arsenic nan Lost Cause of nan Confederacy is simply a analyzable issue. Instead, I'd urge reference "The Myth of nan Lost Cause and Civil War History" by Gary W. Gallagher and Alan T. Nolan, past pursuing it up pinch "Dixie's Daughters: The United Daughters of nan Confederacy and nan Preservation of Confederate Culture" by Karen L. Cox.

But those books really only explicate nan Lost Cause, not really nan authorities ended up trading Lost Cause merchandise that straight enriched a neo-Confederate organization. That's because Virginia allows colleges and universities, fraternities and sororities, municipalities, and typical liking groups to sponsor caller specialty sheet designs. The authorities requires organizations that want their ain plates jump done respective hoops, including obtaining astatine slightest 450 prepaid applications for nan design, and nan Department of Motor Vehicles says to expect nan process to return 2 years, but beautiful overmuch anyone tin do it.

So-called "revenue sharing" licence plates successful Virginia person a $25 yearly sheet fee; "After 1,000 qualifying plate sales," the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles says, "DMV will return $15 of each $25 collected annually to nan designated entity." That's assuming nan gross sharing statement holds 1 of a number of different statuses successful nan state, specified arsenic being an institute of higher acquisition aliases — arsenic successful nan lawsuit of nan Sons of Confederate Veterans' Virginia section – a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

While an exertion could ever beryllium rejected, you won't find charismatic bans connected definite types of organizations going done nan process, and nan authorities has a history of approving sheet designs submitted by arguable groups. Back successful 2015, Virginia did prohibition an SCV plate, but that was only because nan creation included a Confederate flag. When they resubmitted a creation that lacked their favourite flag, that 1 was approved.