TOPEKA, Kan. (NEXSTAR) – Kansas officials are recalling hundreds of license plates over concerns that a letter combination might be seen as a racial slur.
Zach Fletcher, a spokesman for the Department of Revenue, told The Kansas City Star in a statement that the letters NGA are a combination that “if read as a phrase, can be perceived to read as a racial epithet.”
Fletcher said there are 828 license plates under recall, and the state has sent letters to the vehicle owners warning that a failure to return the license plates could result in being ticketed.
It’s not the first time Kansas has ordered such a recall.
In November of 2018, the Department of Revenue recalled more than 700 license plates bearing the letter combination “JAP.”
Officials issued the recall after a motorist took a photo of one of the license plates in Culver City, California. The picture ran in a newspaper published by the Japanese American Citizens League, prompting complaints to the Department of Revenue.