I think this is a really silly thing that is even being discussed and while I think you are a complete moron if you have a Confederate flag license plate or any other Confederate flag gear, I also think that everyone has a right to be an idiot provided that it doesn't harm anyone else. I don't mean hurt their feelings either because no matter what you do these days someone is going to get offended.
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There was a time a long while ago that the Confederate flag was just a sign of "southern pride." While there might still be some people out there that feel that way there is no denying what that flag means for most people today. It is kind of a show of defiance for some and a show sign of (dare I say it? ) white power to others. Regardless of how a person feels about it, the public perception of this flag is basically already determined and I think someone is inviting unnecessary problems towards themselves by having one of these things.
It didn't always mean something bad because one of the most wholesome televisions shows ever made featured it prominently.
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The Dukes of Hazzard was a family-friendly show with an underlying message of family values as well as standing up to corrupt authority. It was also a comedy and didn't have any real political messages. The car, just like the Duke boys, were harmless.
So under some sort of pressure from probably the usual suspects who want to make almost anything illegal, there was a movement to completely ban the showing of the Confederate flag. NC actually HAD an option to have a license plate that you pay extra money for that has the flag built into the plate. This stopped being offered in 2021. Some conservatives tried to take this action to court and all the way to the supreme court. Now personally, I think you would have to be a special kind of stupid to want this plate and be even stupider to actually pay money for it. Even in the redneck community that I am a part of we would pressure our fellow redneck pals to get a different license plate if they were to turn up with one of these at the Elks Lodge. It just isn't cool.
Yet, at the same time I don't think that banning these plates is actually going to accomplish anything. The people that want this are simply going to get some other form of Confederate gear on their cars such as a license plate holder
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I would imagine that whoever makes these things is absolutely delighted that NC has banned the state plates with the flag already on it because now they can sell more of them. The argument about why the state-issued plates should be banned is a bit silly but it also has a point: Your license plates don't actually belong to you. When you retire that car you are supposed to return them to the DMV. Most people don't bother with this and this is why you see restaurants and bars that have them all over the walls.
At the moment the Supreme Court of North Carolina is refusing to review the ruling and also has made no comment about it to the public. I think this is the right course of action on their part because this is a waste of time. If you are the kind of person that really wants to have some sort of Confederate flag or honestly, anything else on your car that is offensive or not, you are welcome to do so. You just can't ask the state to provide it for you.
The fact that anyone out there is actually willing to pay lawyers to try to force the state to make them available is a level of idiocy and wastefulness that I cannot understand.