DMV board rejects rebel soldier license plate

AUSTIN — The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles board Thursday rejected the latest iteration of a license plate celebrating Confederate soldiers, dealing a blow to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which has long fought to sponsor a novelty plate.

The board voted 5-3 without comment to reject the plate featuring a rebel soldier clad in a gray Confederate uniform carrying a Texas regiment’s flag, said Adam Shaivitz, a department spokesman. The plate design did not include a Confederate flag.

The plate was sponsored by the Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, who has argued that Texans should not hide parts of history now considered offensive.

The board’s decision marks the second time the Sons of Confederate Veterans have failed to create a plate commemorating Confederate soldiers. The group, which claims to have about 3,200 members in Texas, first sought a novelty plate with a Confederate battle flag in 2007. The board rejected that design in 2011, a decision that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2015, underscoring that government agencies are not bound to approve messages with which they don’t want to associate.

About 380 people weighed in with the department to support the plate through an online portal, with some writing that the imagery preserves the memory of soldiers who fought in the Civil War, according to the DMV, which omitted commenters’ names.

“This allows those that want to support and recognize the history of Texas and their ancestors (things Texans are surely proud of ) in a unique way,” read one comment. “Due to the controversy of the Confederate flag, this plate instead represents a flag of one of the many Texas regiments that fought in the Civil War as a way to remember their service and sacrifice.”

An additional 88 people disapproved of the sign, arguing that the imagery is a reference to slavery.

“Do we really need an official, state-sanctioned license plate celebrating a group of people that undertook armed rebellion against the United States in order to defend a system of racial slavery?” read another comment provided by the agency. “I can’t imagine what it would feel like to be a black Texan and see this plate in 2018 — to know that my state, supported by my tax dollars, is giving its imprimatur to the glorification of people that believed in going to war to keep my ancestors in a state of bondage.”

The Texas Bicycle Coalition Education Fund, a nonprofit that benefits from the sales of a God Bless Texas novelty plate, was also against the Confederate plate. The group argued that the design is too similar to its own because both feature a flag on the left-hand side.

Board members in favor of approving the plate were Robert “Barney” Barnwell III of Magnolia, Luanne Caraway of Kyle and Gary Painter of Midland. Those who voted against the plate were Chairman Raymond Palacios Jr. of El Paso, Brett Graham of Denison, Kate Hardy of Trophy Club, Paul Scott of Lubbock and Guillermo “Memo” Treviño of Laredo. Board member John M. Prewitt of Cypress was absent. andrea.zelinski@chron.com