For their 1961 license plates, Spotsylvania County in Virginia issued a design bearing the Confederate battle flag. As reported by the Carolina Times, African-American citizens of the county quickly objected to the plates’ logo. The Virginia NAACP sent a petition to the Spotsylvania County Board of Supervisors, requesting an immediate suspension of the plates. The petition, part of which was reprinted in the Times article, declared,
To us the Civil War stands for the supreme effort of our country to insure freedom [sic]…and we feel personally degraded in being compelled to imply that we thank the Confederacy for doing its best to keep us in physical bondage.[1]
W. Lester Banks, the Virginia NAACP’s executive secretary, argued that the Confederate insignia “should be protested with ‘the same degree of patriotism and fierceness as one protests and rejects the Nazi swastika.’”[2]
However, despite protests from the NAACP and other, the County Board of Supervisors insisted nothing could be done about the license plates. An Associated Negro Press (ANP) report, reprinted by the New Journal and Guide, noted that the auto-tags had been on sale since March 15th. The NAACP’s petition was not issued until May. The chairman of the Board of Supervisors reportedly said that because most of the plates had already been distributed, there was no way to rectify the issue.[3] (This ANP report was also reprinted in the Philadelphia Tribune under a different title.[4])
This state of affairs seems to have continued for over 50 years. In 2015, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles began recalling license plates with the Confederate emblem.[5] At the same time, plates celebrating Confederate General Robert E. Lee, were still being issued, though commonwealth officials had begun to organize the retirement of that design as well.[6]
Olivia Haynie
Please cite as:
Haynie, Olivia. “‘The Same Degree of Patriotism and Fierceness as One Protests and Rejects the Nazi Swastika’: Auto-Tags in Spotsylvania County, Virginia.” False Image of History: Perspectives on Confederate Commemoration from the Black Press (online). Fall 2024 Edition. Schaefer, Donovan O., ed. URL = https://falseimage.pennds.org/essay/spotsylvania-auto-tags/.
References
American Negro Press. “Citizens Protest Emblem: Spotsylvania Auto Tags Carry Confederate Flag.” New Journal and Guide (Norfolk, VA), April 22, 1961.
American Negro Press. “Va. License Plates To Keep Confederate Flag.” Philadelphia Tribune, April 25, 1961.
Carolina Times (Durham). “Protests Dixie Flags Emblazoned on Va. Auto Tags.” May 6, 1961.
Flanagan, Joe/ “Va. drivers with Confederate plates resistant to switch.” USAToday.com, October 15, 2015. Available at https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2015/10/15/va-drivers-confederate-plates-resistant-switch/74006908/
Moomaw, Graham. “Virginia lawmaker says it’s time to scrap the official Robert E. Lee license plate.” NBC12.com, January 18, 2023. Available at https://www.nbc12.com/2023/01/18/virginia-lawmaker-says-its-time-scrap-official-robert-e-lee-license-plate/
Carolina Times (Durham), “Protests Dixie Flags Emblazoned on Va. Auto Tags”. ↩︎
Carolina Times (Durham), “Protests Dixie Flags Emblazoned on Va. Auto Tags”. ↩︎
American Negro Press, “Citizens Protest Emblem: Spotsylvania Auto Tags Carry Confederate Flag,” New Journal and Guide (Norfolk, VA). ↩︎
American Negro Press, “Va. License Plates to Keep Confederate Flag,” Philadelphia Tribune. ↩︎
Flanagan, “Va. drivers with Confederate plates resistant to switch,” USAToday.com. ↩︎
Moomaw, “Virginia lawmaker says it’s time to scrap the official Robert E. Lee license plate,” NBC12.com. ↩︎