After several months of rules negotiation, leaders from the Ku Klux Klan and NAACP met this Saturday in Casper, Wyoming. Jimmy Simmons, president of the NAACP branch in Casper met with John Abarr, an organizer for the United Klans of America. According to Simmons, "If you want to talk about hate, get a hater. Let him tell you something about hate."The meeting itself went quite cordially. Dressed in formal clothes, both sides discussed the history of their groups and their current goals. Abarr billed himself as a more moderate member, not participating in violence and even stating "I like to recruit really radical kids, then calm them down after they join." Simmons expressed his his surprise towards his apparent lightheartedness, stating "You're not serious about this, I don't think."
The meeting then took a stranger turn when Simmons offered Abarr a membership application in the NAACP, which he filled out and thena dded a $20 donation on top of the $30 membership fee. If this meeting is any indicator of future events, then the only thing we can say for certain is to expect the unexpected.
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4 comments:
I thought it was really interesting how a man who believes in white supremacy married and raised his children liberally. I also was pleasantly surprised that despite his KKK membership, he still had a liberal take on gay marriage and African American groups such as the NAACP. Despite knowing that one klan member thinks like this however, I am still skeptical of the growth for good by the KKK. I hope more meetings take place between contradictory groups, hopefully with more substantial outcome than a membership.
It's interesting and worrying that John Abarr, the KKK member present at the discussion, seems to perceive racial hate crimes and the KKK as completely and ever unrelated, contrary to what we have learned of the KKK in school over the years. While I do think it's possible that the KKK has left its violent ways, I find it troubling that Abarr seems to deny and dismiss the Klan's notorious history of hate crimes altogether; he says, “I had relatives in the Klan in the ’20s and they didn’t lynch anybody,” and although this may be true, it is hard to believe this of the KKK as a whole as it immediately brings to mind ideas of white supremacy and violent crimes committed to meet such an end.
If the KKK has become a "non-violent Christian group focused on political issues," as Abarr claims, then perhaps it is legitimately no longer a hate group. But even so, operating under the "KKK" title alone raises eyebrows (mine included); Abarr's claims of the KKK's current aims and motives (that differ from those of the past) would be far more convincing if the "non-violent Christian group focused on political issues" chose to identify with a different name, one not associated with racism and violence.
I think the fact that these two groups were able to have a cordial, civil meeting is in itself a milestone. Contrary to popular belief, racism is still very much alive in America today, but I think that this meeting might be more than just a get together to discuss radically different ideologies. To me, this meeting means that we are getting closer to stamping out racism in our country, and though some people believe that it cannot be done, I bet they never thought something like this could happen either. If more cordial meetings between progressive groups and hate groups such as this one can take place, and if hate groups are willing to listen to reason, it could bring us closer to the end of racism in America.
I think the fact that these two groups were able to have a cordial, civil meeting is in itself a milestone. Contrary to popular belief, racism is still very much alive in America today, but I think that this meeting might be more than just a get together to discuss radically different ideologies. To me, this meeting means that we are getting closer to stamping out racism in our country, and though some people believe that it cannot be done, I bet they never thought something like this could happen either. If more cordial meetings between progressive groups and hate groups such as this one can take place, and if hate groups are willing to listen to reason, it could bring us closer to the end of racism in America.
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