KILLING THE KKK WITH KINDNESS
Aug. 30th, 2009 01:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrogFormer KKK Imperial Wizard Johnny Lee Clary tells Australian TV presenter Andrew Denton how Rev Wade Watts, Oklahoma leader of the NAACP, defeated him with love and a wicked sense of humor.
DISCLAIMER: As someone who grew up in the South in the 70s and has had to deal with KKK fuckery, I’ve got mixed feelings about this. Clary tells a great story, and I take the point that one good way to handle terrorist groups (and let's be clear – the KKK is a terrorist organization) is to refuse to be terrorized. But the Rev Watts method, gutsy as it is, would probably result in physical violence more often than not.
Also, if yr going to fight the KKK with love and humor, I prefer the Klan Chaos Disruption Team model proposed by Mr Henry Rollins – which basically involves hiring 3,000 gay black Jewish men to dress up in wild fashionista KKK robes, crash every KKK rally riding pogo sticks and Big Wheels and then start making out, thus changing the Klan image to the point where any anti-Semitic homophobic racist would be too embarrassed to join.
And no, that wouldn’t solve the racism problem either. But it’d be f***ing hilarious.
You can listen to Hank outline his plan here (though it’s part of a much longer piece that’ll take up 20 minutes of yr time, but trust me, it’s worth it – assuming this Grooveshark widget works).
READ MORE ABOUT IT: The transcript from the Denton/Clary interview is here. Whether you accept Clary’s apologies or not (and incidentally, I’m not too impressed with his born-again Christianity angle, at least not as an antidote to racism – Thom Robb and Fred "God Hates Fags" Phelps are "Christians" too) the details of the inner workings and mentality of the Klan are worth a look. Know yr enemy, as they say.
Big Wheels a’rollin’,
This is dF
DISCLAIMER: As someone who grew up in the South in the 70s and has had to deal with KKK fuckery, I’ve got mixed feelings about this. Clary tells a great story, and I take the point that one good way to handle terrorist groups (and let's be clear – the KKK is a terrorist organization) is to refuse to be terrorized. But the Rev Watts method, gutsy as it is, would probably result in physical violence more often than not.
Also, if yr going to fight the KKK with love and humor, I prefer the Klan Chaos Disruption Team model proposed by Mr Henry Rollins – which basically involves hiring 3,000 gay black Jewish men to dress up in wild fashionista KKK robes, crash every KKK rally riding pogo sticks and Big Wheels and then start making out, thus changing the Klan image to the point where any anti-Semitic homophobic racist would be too embarrassed to join.
And no, that wouldn’t solve the racism problem either. But it’d be f***ing hilarious.
You can listen to Hank outline his plan here (though it’s part of a much longer piece that’ll take up 20 minutes of yr time, but trust me, it’s worth it – assuming this Grooveshark widget works).
READ MORE ABOUT IT: The transcript from the Denton/Clary interview is here. Whether you accept Clary’s apologies or not (and incidentally, I’m not too impressed with his born-again Christianity angle, at least not as an antidote to racism – Thom Robb and Fred "God Hates Fags" Phelps are "Christians" too) the details of the inner workings and mentality of the Klan are worth a look. Know yr enemy, as they say.
Big Wheels a’rollin’,
This is dF
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no subject
on 2009-08-30 06:59 am (UTC)~M~
no subject
on 2009-08-30 12:43 pm (UTC)I am wary about any born-again Christian's confession... isn't that perv who kipnapped the 11-year-old was caught while he was handling out religious pamphlets?
no subject
on 2009-08-30 04:57 pm (UTC)sanctioned born-again brand.
Anyway, it was a point worth making, as I know people who will point to Clary (and Watts) saying that's why we need Christianity in schools and govt and such. I usually refer them to good Christians like abortion clinic/Olympics bomber Eric Rudolph. Bottom line: Christianity is no guarantee of a better, safer world.
no subject
on 2009-08-31 03:21 pm (UTC)