It was an odd question to hear from a mechanic.

"You're a Jew hater?"

Uh, no, Frank Gumina replied. So the mechanic called Gumina around to the back of his car, a 1974 Volkswagen Thing.

The license plate read: HA8 JWZ.

"And I still stared at it," Gumina said. "I guess I don't pay attention to the letters and stuff."

Others sure did. And they read it: "Hate Jews."

Gumina, who lives on Lake Wildwood, said he'd gotten a few odd looks before the mechanic sounded things out for him. He'd even had a stranger or two at the grocery store ask him, "You're a Jew hater?"

"People say weird things," Gumina said. "So I didn't really know what they were saying."

But when he figured it out, Gumina did what any good Protestant would. He called the Bibb County tag office, and he called his preacher. His preacher called Rabbi Larry Schlesinger, the rabbi at Temple Beth Israel and a Macon city councilman-elect.

"Tell you the truth, I didn't know what to think," Schlesinger said.

So he called the Anti-Defamation League in Atlanta, a group that works against anti-Semitism and bigotry. A league spokesman called the Georgia Department of Revenue, which handles license plates. Long story short, according to the department: It was all just a coincidence. Gumina's getting a new plate, and the one he has will be taken out of circulation.

What's more, the state will stop issuing prestige plates - also called vanity or personalized plates - that start with HA8 or H8, revenue department spokesman Charles Willey said.

"Hate has become a very popular prefix to a vanity plate," ADL spokesman Bill Nigut said. "I just don't think there's room for that in our civil discourse."

Just to be clear, though: Gumina did not request his HA8 plate. Everyone agrees on that. He simply asked for an antique - or Hobby Automobile - plate, which is different from a vanity plate.

The Hobby Automobile plates all start with HA, and the rest was just a series of numbers and letters that spelled out something unintended, Willey said.

"I think it'd be far-fetched" to think someone did it on purpose," Willey said. "They make so many at a time."

About 1.2 million a year, according to the state Department of Corrections. License plates are made by prisoners at the state facility in Telfair County, department spokesman Paul Czachowski said. Prisoners are given a list of number and letter sequences from the Department of Revenue. They arrange number and letter molds in the right order and press the plate.

It's similar to old-time movable-type printing presses, he said.

Said Schlesinger, "Let's give them the benefit of the doubt."

Gumina said it doesn't really bother him that he was driving around with the plate, though the irony that it was on a Volkswagen Thing - basically an old German Jeep - isn't lost on him. Now he drives the vehicle a lot less, pretty much just at night and near home.

"I don't hate Jews," Gumina said. "I don't want anybody else to have (the plate), but to me, it's just a bunch of letters."

"Hate's a terrible word," he said. "That's right up there with can't."

Edit for pic:

Modified by CosmicTDI at 2:22 PM 11-30-2007

Quote, originally posted by Rob »

How about 1?

seriously though, how would he not know?!??!

Quote, originally posted by jackboots »

I hereby annex this thread in the name of the MX-5 Miata Roadster, the single most important invention in the history of mankind.

Looks like you got the gist of it... thanks for sharing.

-Rick

edit for quote.

Modified by Volkswackin at 6:21 PM 11-30-2007

Quote, originally posted by felixthecat, on why his genitalia are important to him »

Good god, I do have a wang and I just couldn't trade it in for a Prius.

http://themagsreport.blogspot.com

Quote, originally posted by Turbiodiesel! »

Wonder if the owner of HA8 BLK has experienced any problems?

They actually just reopened that case on that previous owner... RIP.

-Rick

"Grand Wizard, your car is ready."

Quote, originally posted by felixthecat, on why his genitalia are important to him »

Good god, I do have a wang and I just couldn't trade it in for a Prius.

I mean, what if I hate VW's, I can't have "I H8 VW"?

Some harmless ideas:
H8 FWD
H8 HONDA
H8 GMC
H8 VW
H8 BMW
H8 MYCAR
H8 BOSOX
H8 YANKS

All gone forever in Georgia. What a shame.

WANTED Squat Rack • $150 neg • LI/NYC area. I'll p/u. PM me

Quote, originally posted by Big Morgan »

Huh? Do you mean you know you're high so you pay better attention to the road, or do you mean it actually helps you focus better? As in, you have a big test this morning so you chief a fat blunt so you can focus.

First thing I thought of. Jew didn't even come to mind

No, it's just the Hobby Automobile plates, hence the "HA" prefix.

I don't think it affects vanity plates.

HA! 8 Jews!

I think you better check your sarcasm meter, it seems to be broken.

Yeah, well the guy went a little overboard. It's offensive, but anyone that gave it more than half a second though would realize it was just a random alphanumeric sequence with a rather unfortunate arrangement. To get the ADL involved is just , and kinda forced the hand of the various bureacrats and agencies responsible for plate production.

No, the article states that vanity ("prestige") plates will no longer have HA8 or H8.

Look for love and understanding to return to the state of Georgia.

You think so? Tell me, what good Protestant wouldn't immediately call the county tag office as well as his preacher?

Ned Flanders: "Hello, Reverend? I think I swallowed a toothpick!"

Modified by Big M at 2:00 PM 11-30-2007

WANTED Squat Rack • $150 neg • LI/NYC area. I'll p/u. PM me

Surprised there was no mention of the "AH" key. The worst part about it, is that he feels like he can no longer enjoy the car. Shame.

Quote, originally posted by GahannaKid »

First thing I thought of. Jew didn't even come to mind

Same here.

License plates should not be platforms to announce one's hatred for something. The last thing we need is more road rage.

So, I'm a 'Yankee' from VT and I drive a VW.....and YOU THINK IT"S A SHAME
Wrap yourself in your confederate flag.

You are EXACTLY the mouthbreathing bottomfeeder they're trying to deal with.

Quote, originally posted by axe »

The fact this was on a VW Thing makes it a hundred bajillion times funnier

h8r

while i think *MANY* things the local/state govts of GA do is silly, i'm in total agreement with this one

bill

Quote, originally posted by axe »

The fact this was on a VW Thing makes it a hundred bajillion times funnier

Why is an innocent tag a problem, but multiple comments in this thread on how much funnier it is because its on a german car is ok?

Not only is the Type 181 riding on a platform that was commissioned by Adolf Hitler, but the Thing bears a strong ressemblance to the Kübelwagen, that saw use by the Wehrmacht and other branches of the German military in WWII!

If this plate were on a Camry it wouldn't be half as funny!

I think he was refering to the NY Yankees team. The one above it says H8 BOston RedSOX

I totally get the "irony", if that's what you want to call it. I call it bad taste.

What I don't get is why anyone would be upset at the tag equivalent of an image of the Virgin Mary on a grilled cheese sandwich, but it's ok to get a kick out of the fact that a anti-semetic inferrence is found on a car created by a country that murderd millions of Jews. Call me crazy.