HUGE TURNOUT FOR KLAN RALLY IN GEORGIA; IN OTHER NEWS DOG BITES MAN

While we were cussin’ out Andrew Breitbart at CPAC and shutting down white supremacist conferences on Feb. 20, our compatriots in the Jacksonville, Florida crew of OPP were taking in a Klan rally in a town with fewer residents than were at CPAC! The town was Nahunta, GA, and it looked as though half the town came out to witness the spectacle. Only it wasn’t a spectacle to the majority of folks there. No, a lot of the folks that took in the rally were there to party like it was 1866. It was a hell of a scene, as evidenced by the pics we have for you here, and that means that whomever put together this thing is going to get a lot more attention to a lot more people who don’t take too kindly to this gaggle of chumps. UPDATE 3/3/10: We fixed the problem we were having with the pictures. To view, go to www.onepeoplesproject.com/images/GeorgiaKKK.

One People’s Project, Jacksonville

Nahunta is a small, rural town in southeastern Georgia, about 40 miles west of Brunswick. It is not the type of place that generally gets much attention, and the town’s slightly more than 900 residents like it that way. Racism is not a problem in Nahunta, and in fact no public white power events have ever been held there. On February 20, the people of Nahunta unwillingly played host to what ended up being a large Klan rally.

The Knight Riders of the Ku Klux Klan chapter in Brunswick decided to use Nahunta mainly because of its predominantly white population, even though the residents made it clear that the Klan was not welcome, and told the local media that there are really no racial problems there and everyone gets along. When the Klan initially applied for a permit to hold their rally in the courthouse parking lot, they were rejected on the grounds that no groups are ever granted permits to use that space, and instead were offered a ballpark about 15 miles away as an alternative location. The Klan refused this offer and said that they were coming to Nahunta permit or not. The rally ended up being held in a blocked off street in the tiny downtown area.

I honestly did not expect this rally to amount to much of anything, because recent Klan rallies have not seen big turn outs. A reporter I talked to said that the most recent rally in Georgia only brought out seven supporters. Over the past few years, the Klan has for the most part confined their activities to private events on private property, or if they have a public event they usually don’t admit to it being organized by them and try to disguise it as something else.

The local media reported that about 500 people turned out for this rally. I’d say there were at least 350 there, mostly Klan supporters, but also some people who just wanted to see what a Klan rally was like. About 40 robed Klansmen from Georgia and Alabama were seated on the stage. A disappointingly small number came out in opposition, only about 50 or so, including about 10 members of the Waycross chapter of the NAACP. Despite the small number of protesters, the opposition presence was definitely visible. Throughout the speeches, protesters held up signs and shouted, which clearly frustrated the speakers and annoyed their supporters. One speaker said that he was going to ignore the protesters, but then devoted a good 10 minutes to talking about them. There was no violence whatsoever. Seven different law enforcement agencies were present, and any time it appeared that something might be about to happen they moved towards that area.

Three speakers were featured, and they addressed topics of current events interest: illegal immigration, unemployment, the deficit, the role of religion in schools, the 2nd Amendment, and general dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of the current government. The racist rhetoric was kept at a minimum, and it was clear that the intent was to reach people who might be put off by blatant racism but who might otherwise agree with the Klan’s take on issues. This strategy worked frighteningly well. I kept watching the reaction of a couple of people who had come out just because of curiosity. At the beginning of the rally, they looked uncomfortable and like they were really skeptical about what the Klan stood for. But by the end, they were really into it and applauding. I overheard some people saying that they agreed with much of what the speakers had said, and even heard one woman say that “we need people like them.” It was as if the hoods and robes disappeared, and the audience forgot they were listening to Klansmen. The speakers were telling them what they wanted to hear, and were giving voice to their concerns. This reminded me of the strategies Hitler used in the 1920s to gain support: focus on what people are worried about and save the racial rhetoric for later once you have them hooked.

When racist comments were made, 99% of the time it was directed towards Mexicans. One speaker said that all the Mexicans in America should be sent to Afghanistan to fight the war so all the white boys can come home. Illegal Mexican immigrants were also accused of bringing tuberculosis to America, and the audience was warned to avoid standing too close to Mexicans who are coughing. There was also a crazy conspiracy theory proposed (as fact of course) saying that Mexican farm workers did not wash their hands after going to the bathroom and were therefore infecting produce with godknowswhat. The speaker implied that these farm workers were basically turning produce into WMDs as agents of biological warfare. Mexicans were also blamed for the high gas prices because apparently they all drive gas-guzzlers, and attendees were told to not sell their used vans to them. The speakers made comments about President Obama, but their criticism was directed at his policies and no real mention was made of his race. In fact, one speaker actually said that he didn’t really have a problem with African Americans. This same speaker did have a problem with the use of the term “African American,” saying that one is either African or one is American; to my surprise, some African Americans in the crowd applauded this.

Throughout the speeches, the audience response was positive. Even people who had come out of curiosity seemed to like what they were hearing. This tells me that we have a lot of work to do. History has shown time and time again that extremist groups gain support during times of economic crisis, and the Klan is taking full advantage of our current economic crisis to gain the support, or at least toleration, of people who probably wouldn’t give them the time of day otherwise.