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 wasnt allowed to get PEPE Y, despite explaining in the application that it signified both a peppy car and a dogs 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 cant 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 DMVs 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 agencys 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 thats 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 Trumps rise made many people with racist views more comfortable expressing themselves.
They feel a little more emboldened now, he said. They start feeling like theyre 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 Hitlers initials, while 14 can stand for a 14-word slogan popular among white supremacists.
Lawrence Rosenthal, chair of UC Berkeleys 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.
Theres undoubtedly some type of recognition within this extreme neo-Nazi right of whos in and whos out, Rosenthal said. The closest thing weve 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 dont 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 didnt 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 cant 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 dont tolerate the type of bigotry that recently has become more vocal, the presidents anti-immigration policies and his disparaging statements about Mexicans and Muslims have drawn a following on the far right.
Despite the states diversity, many of those who embrace white supremacy are from California, said UC Berkeleys 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?
Kurtis Alexander is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kalexander@sfchronicle.com
Twitter: @kurtisalexander
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Battling bumper bigotry: DMV fights ugly messages on the road ... - San Francisco Chronicle