Bill backs Dixie flag on South Carolina licenses

Legislators propose to offer specialty license plates featuring Confederate flag despite controversy

Web posted March 6, 1997

Associated Press

COLUMBIA - In a state where flying the Confederate flag above the Statehouse has caused rancor, now there is a legislative proposal to put the flag on potentially thousands of South Carolina license plates.

The proposal has languished in House and Senate subcommittees for the past month. Lawmakers lately have shied away from flag discussions after the session opened in January to the rancor of arguments about Gov. David Beasley's push to move the banner off the Statehouse dome.

``It's an iffy kind of thing,'' said state Rep. Dan Cooper, a white Piedmont Republican who sponsored the House version of the bill. State Sen. Arthur Ravenel, a white Republican from Mount Pleasant, sponsored the Senate version.

The idea came from a Maryland dispute about similar license plates, Mr. Cooper said. Maryland officials recalled the plates, which were issued to about 70 members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, after black lawmakers and residents protested. The SCV sued and won the right to keep the tags.

The South Carolina proposals would create a special Sons of Confederate Veterans tag featuring the group's logo, which includes the rebel flag. There are about 4,000 SCV members in the state, many of whom would want a tag, said R.G. Wilson of Easley, a state division head for the group.

``It honors Confederate soldiers and their heritage,'' Mr. Cooper said. ``I think it's a neat idea. It's not political.''

The Senate is not likely to approve, said Senate Banking Committee Chairman Ed Saleeby, a white Democrat from Hartsville. ``That would just be stirring up more racial feelings,'' he said.

``With all the ruckus still present over the flag flying over the Statehouse, the last thing we need is to add to the confusion by having Confederate license plates,'' said state Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, a black Democrat from Orangeburg.

But Senate supporters said the measure would move forward. ``It's going to surprise everybody,'' said Sen. John Russell, a white Republican from Spartanburg.

The Rev. David Terry, director of the Anderson County chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, predicted there would be protests.

``It says `I'm another person that knows racism still exists and I'm a part of it,''' the Rev. Terry said. ``Or it might say that `I know that I'm a Southerner and I got my butt whipped.'''

Mr. Cooper said only SCV members could get the South Carolina plates and only one would be issued per member.

South Carolina has more than 260 specialty tags, ranging from wildflower plates to university booster tags.