Rick Perry has finally filled the vacancy on the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles (TXDMV) board.   Raymond Palacios Jr., president of Bravo Chevrolet Cadillac and Hummer, was appointed last week as the 9th board member.  The appointment is important as Palacios could be the deciding vote on the controversial proposal by the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) to create a vanity license plate featuring the image of the Confederate Flag.

With the vacancy filled the TXDMV board could vote on the issue as early as November 10th.  Palacios stance on the issue is unclear as he refused to make his intentions known when recently asked by the Associated Press.

What is known is that over 25,000 Texans from across the state have already taken a stand and called on the TXDMV board to reject the Confederate Flag license plate proposal.

In response to this overwhelming opposition Jerry Patterson, Commissioner of the Texas General Land Office and SCV member, recently released a statement supporting the hateful images of the Confederate Flag and called himself a “sponsor” of the proposed plate. 

Patterson called opposition to the proposal “race-baiting.”

Belittling the complaints of 25,000 Texans who find the images of the Confederate Flag offensive and hurtful is disgusting and inappropriate for an elected official.

The simple fact is that Patterson doesn’t understand or simply doesn’t care that millions of Texans find the image of the Confederate Flag offensive.  Texas does not need a state-sanctioned license plate that divides us with hurtful images.  We should feature images that all Texans can be proud of.

It is important that Texans continue to make their voice heard and tell Rick Perry, Jerry Patterson and the 9 members of the TXDMV that Texans do not support state-sponsored Confederate Flags on our plates.

We will keep you updated as this issue develops.