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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to assume my new neighbour is a massive racist?

178 replies

QoFE · 11/02/2019 13:06

New neighbours over the road moved in over the weekend.

They have 3 vehicles, one car each and a sports car.

The sports car has what can only be a personalised number plate reading XXXX KKK (obvs not actually XXXX but a combination of letters and numbers that would definitely be one you'd have to pay for).

So... Why would you pay for a number plate with KKK on? DP thinks I'm being judgemental and maybe it was the only one with the first part that they wanted so they overlooked the ending but surely nobody would do that? I mean it's like having a number plate reading N4ZI - you just wouldn't would you?

OP posts:
YogaDrone · 11/02/2019 14:42

You didn't used to be able to have KKK. I know this because I bought a car once (pre-internet days) and they faxed me the registration details so that I could get it insured and it looked (blurry fax) like KKK. So I rang the dealer to tell them that I wouldn't accept the car with KKK in the licence plate and he gave me the correct registration mark and told me that KKK wasn't a valid combination with the DVLA.

But that was a long time ago so perhaps it's deemed okay now. I still wouldn't like it though.

redandyellowandpinkandgreen99 · 11/02/2019 15:05

YABU! What a silly OP you are.

Our number plate reads TW8T P1G. Doesn't bother me.

.

(I may be making that up............)

redandyellowandpinkandgreen99 · 11/02/2019 15:08

I know KKK stands for ku klux klan, but to assume a British family who has a car reg with it on, are 'white supremacists' is fucking hilarious!

wink1970 · 11/02/2019 15:08

You would have to be living on a different planet not to know what kkk sounds for

Not necessarily; we older ones, or USA-based netters (or people with an interest in history or politics) may know, but younger UK people would be more familiar with UKIP or BNP. The KKK have little

OP, go say hi, we need to know!

wink1970 · 11/02/2019 15:10

posted too soon: was going to say '...have little foothold here'

steff13 · 11/02/2019 15:11

well, if it was in US, then yes, I woudl say it is deliberate.

I don't think it would happen here; personalized plates have to be approved, and nothing offensive is approved.

Plenty for sale here

You can just buy a license plate from some sort of dealer? Here they're issued by the goverment. You have to buy them, but from the goverment.

Allusernamestakenbutthis · 11/02/2019 15:11

Why don't you ask them why they chose that plate.

TortoiseLettuce · 11/02/2019 15:12

Wouldn’t occur to me to think it’s racist tbh. Any more than I’d think an EDL plate was racist. You’re just looking for something to be offended about.

redandyellowandpinkandgreen99 · 11/02/2019 15:13

Maybe they DIDN'T choose the numberplate! Confused

The vast majority of people don't.

explodingkitten · 11/02/2019 15:18

Don't assume too much. I once bought an indian bag with a lot of beading on it and I needed someone to point out to me that the top row of the beading were swastika's (which actually are a positive symbol in India). Two of my grandparents were camp survivors so it wasn't that I was ignorant. I really just didn't register it.

goldengummybear · 11/02/2019 15:21

Playing Devil's Advocate

My first assumption would be that K is initials- Kerry and Kit King might be the owners.

Maybe it was picked because the first half of the plate was so appropriate ?

My neighbour has a plate that are the initials to her business.

Ariela · 11/02/2019 15:26

I went to infant school with a Karen Knight and her middle name was Katherine. All her stuff was marked KKK. Don't suppose she's late 50s, blue eyes, mousey hair always in a ponytail (well it was when I was at school with her)?

Springwalk · 11/02/2019 15:47

wink1970

UKIP are hardly the same as KKK I wouldn’t dream of supporting UKIP, but it is ridiculous to compare them to a group like the KKK. You really need to further your education a little. We do not have an equivalent here in the UK, and let’s hope it stays that way.

BTW my 13 year old knows about the KKK, it isn’t the case that young people only know about the Kardashian’s!! God forbid they may have actually have learnt something in their lives beyond trash TV. Confused

steppemum · 11/02/2019 15:49

KKK was a huge thing in the 90s. I totally disagree with pp that they have had no influence here. Yes they absolutely did, it is how I learnt about it. I found it terrifying as a teen, having not experienced racism before (I am white, I have black friends) the KKK had off shoots here, esp in London and SE. It died off ages ago, but def left a huge and massively negative impression on all of us.

I'll just point out that

  1. The 90s are 20 years ago, so anyone 40 and under would probably not be aware
  2. I don't live in the London or the SE and no, it really was NOT a thing here.

of course I am well aware what KKK stands for IN THE US, but I would never make that connection in the UK.

Many people wouldn't.
KKK these days is most likely to stand for Kardashian as pp have said

wink1970 · 11/02/2019 15:51

FFS Springwalk it was an example. My education (Masters in Politics) is fine thanks. Pull your judgy pants down a bit, you must have a wedgie.

sagradafamiliar · 11/02/2019 15:53

You're being ridiculous. Even if they're into KKK why would they broadcast that via a personalised reg plate?
I have non racist politics and ideologies that I'm proud of but I wouldn't put them on my reg plate!

RiverTam · 11/02/2019 16:01

steppe so we shouldn't expected young people to know about horrific events from the past? No 'Lest we forget' in your world?

JFC.

steppemum · 11/02/2019 16:08

RiverTam - no, I am not commeting on if they SHOULD know it, I am simply saying that most of them will not

easyandy101 · 11/02/2019 16:10

thought everyone would know about the KKK but reading this maybe I'm wrong

to assume my new neighbour is a massive racist?
steppemum · 11/02/2019 16:11

If I saw it as grafitti, or similar, then it would immediately cause concern, but a number plate? No, I would assume it was just the number plate you got

stevie69 · 11/02/2019 16:13

Its parked facing my front door. I can see it every time I go in or out. It's a very shiny flashy car in an unusual colour that attracts a second glance, hence me noticing the number plate at all. Based on the price bracket of the house and vehicles I am going to say it's a safe bet that they could afford to change it if they wanted to.

Yeah, well I can afford to change my less than beautiful face, should it not be to your taste, but I'm really not planning to do so Hmm

RiverTam · 11/02/2019 16:15

steppe which makes them pig ignorant in my book.

Buster72 · 11/02/2019 16:18

Well I did hear David Duke was looking to move into a nice area in the UK....

YABU.

beachyhead · 11/02/2019 16:18

Unless they’re burning crosses in the front garden and you see an awful lot of white linen on the washing line, I wouldn’t assume anything just yet.

Wait till wash day

Itssosunnyout · 11/02/2019 16:21

Yabu

Do you even know their name. It could be their initials.