Kansas government officials are scrambling to collect hundreds of state-issued license plates after complaints they contained a racial slur.
The Kansas Department of Revenue estimates there are 731 active registrations containing the random letter combination “J-A-P” — a term used to denigrate Japanese-Americans.
A letter was sent this week to motorists whose license plate contain the letter combination, asking them to return the plates and get new ones for no charge, according to the Associated Press.
The controversy started last year, when Keith Kawamoto, 70, from California, snapped a photo one of the license plates in traffic near his neighborhood and wrote to Kansas officials demanding a recall and apology.
“I let them know it is considered a very derogatory racial slur and I don’t think it should be allowed anywhere,” Kawamoto said at the time. He received an apology from the states motor vehicles division but Kawamoto pressed on to push Kansas to get the plates recalled.
Outrage over the license plates intensified after the Pacific Citizen, a newspaper of the Japanese American Citizens League, published the Kawamoto’s photo. “We do take these types of complaints very seriously and appreciate that it was brought to our attention,” a Kansas Department of Revenue spokesperson told the AP.
