SPOT THE RACIST (VIRGINIA PLATES EDITION)

ITEM: Virginia's Department of Motor Vehicles recalls the vanity plate of the owner of a Ford truck that reads “14CV88” on the grounds that it’s actually a secretly coded racist message, according to the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

The number 88 stands for the eighth letter of the alphabet, H, doubled to signify "Heil Hitler," said CAIR's Ibrahim Hooper. "CV" stands for "Confederate veteran" -- the plate was a special model embossed with a Confederate flag, which Virginia makes available for a $10 fee to card-carrying members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. And 14 is code for imprisoned white supremacist David Lane's 14-word motto: "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children."

I’ll take CAIR’s word for it that the number is a white-supremacy code of some kind. The thing is, though, I’m not sure that rejecting the plate accomplishes anything when (1) most people who aren’t already white supremacists presumably would never understand what the code means, and (2) the truck looks like this.

I’m not saying people who spout bigoted bullshit should be censored (because I don’t believe they should be). But if the issue is concern over people expressing racist sentiments on their vehicles, the license plate is not the biggest problem here.

Coded language,

This is dF

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EDITED TO ADD [30 APRIL 2010, via bedsitter23 ]: The owner of the truck tells his side of the story – the license plate is a reference to NASCAR drivers Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and Tony Stewart. "There is absolutely no way I'd have anything to do with Hitler or Nazis," he says.

Then he goes on to denounce Islam. Then someone finds his Facebook page, which has lots of white supremacist links on it. And this is his bio:

100% WHITE MAN, 100% ARYAN, 100% PRO-LIFE (Children are innocent), 100% PRO DEATH PENALTY (Criminal Scum aren't innocent). Over the past 28 years; I, like David Duke, have had an Awakening.

BEST STOP SIGN EVER

You can’t touch that,

This is dF

LISTEN TO IT #4: I WONDER F*** YOU BOY

I’ve insisted for years that Mix Market is probably the best band most of you have never heard. They’re a Japanese indie pop-punk band that have been around for a decade, and they have pretty much never disappointed me. They are also one of the few bands whose songs always manage to cheer me up when I’m cranky.

They may not have the same effect on you. But you can test them out here with their latest single, which I’m hoping means a new album is in the works.

WARNING: Somewhat NSFW thanks to the use of typographic lyrics in the video and the lyric, “I wonder, fuck you boy”.

I feel sick to you,

This is dF

NO LESBIANS HAVE EVER ATTENDED OUR HIGH SCHOOL. OUR YEARBOOK PROVES IT.

From the state that brought you the Straights-Only Prom b/w Fake Prom For Gayz saga earlier this year, yr new favorite high-school bigotry story:

"It's like she's nobody there, even though she's gone to school there for 12 years," Rodriguez said. "They mentioned none of her accolades, even though she's one of the smartest students there with wonderful grades. They've got kids in the book that have been busted for drugs. There's even a picture of one of the seniors who dropped out of school. I don't get it. Ceara is a top student. Why would they do this to her?"

Why indeed. The school’s official answer: dress codes.
 

 

"We have had our legal counsel research the validity of the position of the School District on this matter," Copiah County Superintendent Ricky Clopton said in the statement. "We are informed by counsel that this exact issue has been litigated in federal court. The decisions of the federal courts completely support the policy of the district in this regard."

Except that the case they cite, Youngblood v. School Board of Hillsborough County, Fla, was settled out of court, and the school changed its policy. Also, it doesn’t explain why they erased all mention of Sturgis rather than simply running her entry without the pic.

Mississippi goddamn,

This is dF