The appropriateness of Confederate flag-themed paraphernalia has been a national topic of debate for the past few months — with opposing views clashing publicly on media outlets and the internet.
Baton Rouge Organizing executive director Shamaka Schumake has taken the debate a step further in Louisiana with an online petition calling for Gov. Bobby Jindal and legislative leaders to begin phasing out a Confederate flag license plate option, available since 1999, referred to as the Sons of Confederate Veterans specialty plate, which is offered in the state.
Although Schumake said she believes the Confederate flag is a symbol of hate and intolerance, according to the petition website, the petition itself is not designed to protest the controversial symbol, but rather its presence within government.
“As a representation for an ideology of violence and discrimination, having that being state sanctioned, by using it as a license plate emblem, [the] state sanctions those ideas — even if that was not the intention,” Schumake said. “I think that’s problematic.”
As it was first posted on Change.org in late June, the petition has since gained the support of 645 people, as of Wednesday, with an overall goal of collecting 1,000 signatures by a tentative deadline of July 31. The petition acts as a way to show that this measure matters to a significant amount of people, Schumake said.
“For every one person who says something or does something, it represents 10 to 100 people who just don’t engage,” Schumake said. “So, it’s not about how many [signatures are collected], it’s just about giving people a platform to say, ‘I don’t like this.’”
Jindal received a similar request in the form of an open letter from NAACP Louisiana State Conference President Earnest L. Johnson last month, asking that he immediately take steps to oppose, abandon and remove the Sons of Confederate Veterans specialty plate, which he referred to as a symbol of racial oppression and
terrorism.
The governor has made statements in the past saying he would not push to remove the Confederate flag from plates. But, this isn’t concerning for Schumake, who said she sees this petition as an opportunity to get gubernatorial candidate’s position on whether or not they support the state sanctioning of the license plate.
“It doesn’t end with [Jindal],” Schumake said.
The idea for this now controversial license plate was first introduced as a house bill sponsored by then Louisiana Rep. James J. Donelon — which passed during the 1999 Regular Session, with a unanimous vote in the Senate and two opposing the measure in the House, according to the Louisiana State Legislature website.
The plate clearly displays the Sons of Confederate Veterans organization’s symbol, a Confederate battle flag wrapped in text that reads “Sons of Confederate Veterans 1896”. There are approximately 160 of these out of the 4.5 million license plates issued in Louisiana, according to
Nola.com | The Times-Picayune.
Since the recent murder of nine members of a black church in South Carolina by white supremacist Dylann Roof, who is seen in photos posing with the Confederate flag, there have been calls for the removal of Confederate monuments and symbols across the country, such as in Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina.
“This [symbol] represents something very ugly,” Schumake said. “And if we want to be able to move forward collectively, then we need to be able to address the wounds that are current.”
Schumake is a candidate running for State Representative of District 70, East Baton Rouge Parish. Information and updates on both the petition and her campaign can be found on her Facebook page “Shamaka Schumake for Louisiana State Representative – District 70.”