(Associated Press)

When we were discussing our Editorial Board topic for this week, someone brought up the fact that the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Board had voted unanimously to ban license plates featuring the Confederate flag.

The only thing we could all say was, “Finally.”

We believe that the confederate flag is a symbol of racism and hatred. While there is historical value to the flag and we are not demeaning the thousands of Southern soldiers who died fighting under it, the Confederacy represents a part of our history as a state that most people are not proud of.

Texans driving around with the confederate flag on their license plate is offensive to most and the Board was right to ban the plates.

The DMV has standards for personalized plates available to Texans and messages of hate are forbidden.

The Confederate flag certainly falls into that category.

This is not an issue of free speech; this is a matter of the state deciding whether or not to support such a racially charged issue. The Sons of Confederate Veterans, who have been fighting for the plate, are still able to “honor” their forebears through bumper stickers and decals, but there is no state-sanctioned symbol.

However, our real question was not whether or not Texas should allow these license plates, but rather, “Why hasn’t this already been done?”

It has been 146 years since the end of the Civil War and it seems as though we are still fighting it sometimes. There is a thin line between honoring our past and reliving it, and on this issue, it seems to be blurred.

For most Texans and Americans alike, the Civil War does not represent a struggle between the North and South. It was a fight for ideology and most would agree that the right side won.

Fighting for the confederate flag license plate brings back up the issues of racism, the Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow laws, all little pieces of our history that most Americans would like to lay to rest.

There is no denying that the Confederate flag in any capacity is racially charged and Texas should have taken a stand against its sanctioned use years ago.

However, nine states do allow the use of confederate flag license plates, including Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Maryland, Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Despite the time it took to get here, we are proud that Texas is not among them.

While we can’t ignore our history, at least we don’t have to have constant reminders driving down the street.