Ga. Law aims to put "America First"on State License Plates

Georgia Senators want to frame a message of white supremacy and antisemitism on our state license plates, thanks to a Senate bill to create specialty car tags that proclaim “America First.”

Thirty-four senators recently voted to pass Senate Bill 507, seemingly unaware that the name "America First" has been used by organizations promoting antisemitism, religious intolerance, fascism, Nazism and white supremacy in the United States since the 1940s.

The sponsor of the bill is State Senate Majority Leader Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega, who framed the America First slogan as “patriotic.” Sen. Gooch and other GOP lawmakers are wildly and dangerously overstepping their bounds by designating themselves Chief Definer of Patriotism for the state of Georgia. Would they still choose that slogan if they knew the actual history of “America First” beyond Donald Trump’s embrace of the phrase as a campaign slogan in 2016?

During the presidential election of 1944, the America First Party ran on a platform that included calls for Jews to be sterilized and deported. Around the same time, an organization called America First Inc. made a patent for a club-like weapon that was designed to murder Jews in America. The America First Committee, an anti-war group formed in 1940, faced controversy because of its support by fringe hate organizations and antisemitic, fascist-leaning members like Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh and aviator Laura Ingalls. At an America First Committee rally, Lindbergh said the United States should “defend the white race against foreign invasion.” Ingalls used pro-Nazi rhetoric and straight-arm Nazi salutes on her America First speaking tour.

In the Georgia Senate, Sen. Gooch said, “If you’re not a patriot and you’re not for unity in this country and supporting what’s good for our nation, hit the red button (to vote no)… If you want to put our nation first and make America a priority, hit the green button.”

Sen. Josh McLaurin, D-Sandy Springs, who opposed SB 507, ironically suggested changing “America First” to “Donald Trump First’’ instead. In response, state Sen. Bill Cowsert, R-Athens, said, “Are you American? Or are you a communist infiltrator?”

The tone-deaf Senators who voted for SB 507 are voting to normalize the expression of racism, antisemitism and white supremacy in Georgia. This would be bad enough if they weren’t also using McCarthy-era rhetoric to strongarm the bill’s passage.

At face value, a debate in the General Assembly about specialty car tags seems trivial compared to issues like tax cuts, religious freedom, gun control, reproductive rights, and other measures that are in front of Georgia lawmakers right now. But we have to ask, what is the real intent and purpose behind SB 507? This bill boils down to a group of majority lawmakers trying to exact a forced tribute to their specific ideology, a tribute blatantly designed to support Trump and the policies of the GOP. These lawmakers are essentially providing a platform to Georgians who support the political views of one party, a platform that will be widely viewed by anyone driving in our state. Those of us with a different point of view, of course, have not been offered such a visible platform for their political or philosophical views. This partisanship would be bad enough, but the menacing subtext that occurs when politicians invoke patriotism, unity, and national pride as reasons to support their legislation makes the whole thing simply unacceptable.

Senator Gooch and his colleagues are treading on dangerous ground that has no place in the legislature. They want to canonize a political slogan under the pretense of patriotism. At best, SB 507 is a politically motivated attempt by egotistical majority lawmakers to affix campaign bumper stickers across Georgia in an election year. At worst, it is the revival of a call to nationalism that has sinister reverberations in our very recent history.

This bill still requires passage in the House and a signature from Gov. Kemp to become law. Georgians can contact their House lawmakers to vote NO on this shameful bill.