Md. Governor Favors Recall Of Confederate License Plates
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) -- Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Thursday that he supports taking some steps to address concerns over the Confederate flag and whether it is a historic symbol or racist reminder, but extreme measures only represented "political correctness run amok."
"Where do we draw the line?" Hogan said during a news conference. "Some of this is our history. We could get into an hours-long discussion about what we should or shouldn't do, but I think that it's getting to the point it's gone too far."
Since the killing of nine people at a historic black church in South Carolina last month, calls have grown louder across the country demanding the removal of the Confederate flag from merchandise, license plates and flag poles above statehouses.
The calls have been fueled by pictures of Dylann Roof, the 21-year-old man charged in the mass shooting, holding a Confederate flag.
The Hogan administration said it would pursue the removal of Sons of Confederate Veterans license plates, which have the image of the Confederate flag.
Hogan said Thursday only about 150 people would be affected by the recall. A spokesman for Hogan said the administration is still looking into what steps need to be taken for the plates' removal.
A spokesman for the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration said only three requests for the license plate have been made since June 18, when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Texas' refusal to issue a license plate with the flag for that state's Sons of Confederate Veterans.
Asked whether he would review Confederate statues around the state in the same way that the city of Baltimore is doing, Hogan said he "would have no interest in that."
Earlier this week, the South Carolina state legislature voted to remove the flag from above the statehouse.
Hogan said he's heard some calls for digging up Confederate cemeteries in Maryland.
"Some of this other stuff to me has really gone too far," he said, adding that if every reference or person related to the Civil War or slavery was removed, that would include any likeness of George Washington, who was a slave owner himself.
(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
