Battling bumper bigotry: DMV fights ugly messages on the road

The white nationalism that seems to have flourished over the past year is showing up in an unlikely place: applications for vanity license plates.

The California agency that fields thousands of foulmouthed, often childish requests for personalized plates — think “PASZGAZ and “BUBEEE” — is turning down dozens of applications every month because they appear to embrace bigotry, according to public records reviewed by The Chronicle.

Plate requests rejected by the Department of Motor Vehicles in the second half of 2016 often included the letters “HH” and the numbers “88” and “18,” which can represent well-known codes for Adolf Hitler and Nazism.

One motorist was denied a bid for “1KTKKK8,” with the DMV noting the possible reference to the Ku Klux Klan.

Another wasn’t allowed to get “PEPE Y,” despite explaining in the application that it signified both a “peppy car” and a “dog’s name.” The state reviewers noted that the request probably referred to the cartoon character Pepe the Frog, an Internet meme and a symbol to many of white nationalism.

DMV officials can’t be sure that all the references are intentional. Some of the “88” submissions, for instance, may refer to the number as a symbol of good fortune in Chinese culture.

But since last spring, the agency has denied as many as 80 plate requests a month for being possibly associated with white supremacy and intolerance. The DMV does not track specific reasons for denials year to year, making historic comparisons difficult.

The drivers’ explanations for wanting the plates, and the DMV’s explanations for shooting them down, were obtained through a public records request.

The rejections are made by trained reviewers who each year screen tens of thousands of vanity plate applications for indecency. The group is picky, regularly nixing any request even stretching sensitivity or hinting at impropriety, from configurations believed to denote gangs with a certain color, such as “ICRED”, to connotations to drugs and alcohol, including “IVYPRFN.”

Sexual themes are also off limits, as are most references to race and ethnicity and guns. “LADYGRY” was scrapped because of its possible association to the steamy novel and film “Fifty Shades of Grey.”

Although the DMV was reluctant to discuss trends in the past year, an examination of the agency’s records shows references to sex, vulgar language and violence topped the roll of rejects. But potential references to white supremacy were not far behind. And they outnumbered other political statements, including “IH8TRMP,” which was also rejected.

The requests for coded symbols like “88” on license plates may mark “another extension of this troll-ish culture that’s intimately associated with the alt-right,” said Keegan Hankes, a research analyst who tracks white nationalist groups for the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Ala.

Keegan and others who study extremism say President Trump’s rise made many people with racist views more comfortable expressing themselves.

“They feel a little more emboldened now,” he said. “They start feeling like they’re not as fringe as they actually are.”

The rejected plate configurations included “USA 88” and “VADER 18.” According to the Anti-Defamation League, “88” is code for “Heil Hitler” because “H” is the eighth letter of the alphabet. The more esoteric “18” can reference Hitler’s initials, while “14” can stand for a 14-word slogan popular among white supremacists.

Lawrence Rosenthal, chair of UC Berkeley’s Center for Right-Wing Studies, speculates that many seeking such plates want the codes on their cars to reflect what they see as a secret society.

“There’s undoubtedly some type of recognition within this extreme neo-Nazi right of who’s in and who’s out,” Rosenthal said. “The closest thing we’ve had historically to these neo-Nazis is the KKK, and they were famous for the way in which they confided in who belonged and who did not.”

Although the records reviewed by The Chronicle don’t include the names of those applying for personalized plates, several motorists told the DMV they had benign reasons for pursuing configurations that were ultimately denied. One person seeking “88 PWR88” explained that it was a combination of family initials and the lucky number “88” — but didn’t get it.

While state law requires the DMV to screen plates for appropriateness, what that means is largely left to the reviewers.

Agency officials, who declined to be interviewed but answered several questions via email, said they had no blanket policy of banning numbers like “88.” Each request, they said, was evaluated on its merit.

If a reviewer can’t determine the meaning of a plate or it appears questionable, officials said, it is forwarded to an eight-person committee. The members, who vary in age and ethnicity and are fluent in many languages and cultures, are experienced at decoding communications and understanding symbols and slang.

“The DMV seeks to reject any application that may carry connotations offensive to good taste and decency, or which would be misleading,” said spokesperson Artemio Armenta.

While Trump and top members of his administration have said they don’t tolerate the type of bigotry that recently has become more vocal, the president’s anti-immigration policies and his disparaging statements about Mexicans and Muslims have drawn a following on the far right.

Despite the state’s diversity, many of those who embrace white supremacy are from California, said UC Berkeley’s Rosenthal. The Southern Poverty Law Center identifies California as one of the top places for hate groups.

“They have been mobilized and energized as never before by the Trump candidacy and now the Trump presidency,” Rosenthal said. “Just imagine you have been at the fringe of American society for so long, and suddenly someone is talking your language in presidential politics. How would you feel?”