Kansas Recalls Hundreds of License Plates After Ethnic Slur Complaint

Zachary Stieber
By Zachary Stieber
November 28, 2018US News
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Kansas Recalls Hundreds of License Plates After Ethnic Slur Complaint
A vintage photograph is displayed at Manzanar War Relocation Center at Manzanar National Historic Site near Independence, California on Dec. 9, 2015. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Kansas recalled hundreds of license plates after a Japanese-American complained they contained an ethnic slur.

The situation arose after a driver in California spotted a car with a Kansas plate in traffic that contained the letters “JAP” and a story about his photo was published by the Pacific Citizen, the newspaper of the Japanese American Citizens League.

The Kansas Department of Revenue sent a letter on Nov. 27 to 731 people who own plates with the letter combination, asking them to return the plate to their county vehicle office within 30 days, reported The Associated Press.

The motorists will get a replacement at no cost.

Any owners who don’t return the plates within the next 30 days will have them replaced at their annual renewal.

It’s not clear if any other states have taken similar measures on certain letter combinations.

California Driver, Kansas Woman

The California driver, Keith Kawamoto, sent several letters to Kansas officials, including Gov. Jeff Colyer.

“I let them know it is considered a very derogatory racial slur and I don’t think it should be allowed anywhere,” Kawamoto, 70, told NBC 2. The states motor vehicles division sent him an apology.

A Kansas woman of Japanese heritage also saw a plate with the letters and contacted the state, asking them to recall any plates with the letter combination.

Barbara Johnson, 67, told NBC that after reading the story it brought back unpleasant memories of her own childhood.

Johnson noted that she was prepared for a long and drawn-out campaign only to receive a phone call shortly after contacting the state that the “JAP” sequence of letters wouldn’t be placed on any license plates in the future, and that any existing plates with the letters would be recalled.

“I wasn’t quite prepared for it,” Johnson told the Pacific Citizen. “I kind of had to shake my head and do a double-take because I was expecting to be in a long-term fight and to hear this news — I had to ask her [Lee Anne Phelps, Vehicle Services Manager at the Kansas Department of Revenue Division of Vehicles], ‘Can you tell me that again?’” Johnson told the Pacific Citizen.

“I was shocked, really, and almost crying because this was totally unexpected.”

Kawamoto was also surprised by how quickly the government took care of the matter.

“I don’t think anybody expected this. I don’t think anybody really knew what to expect. There’s no formula or manual on how to address an issue like this,” he said.

Rachel Whitten, a spokeswoman for the Kansas Department of Revenue, told NBC 2 that the issue came before the department’s review board in late October, and they chose to restrict the letter combination on future plates in addition to the recall.

“We do take these types of complaints very seriously and appreciate that it was brought to our attention,” Whitten said.

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