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Post by Toby Benoit on Apr 27, 2006 13:49:56 GMT 12.75
I was just reading a news brief ( I confess that I didn't read it entirely) about the KKK holding a march at the Antietam Battle field in the near future.
Am I the only one that gets a bug up his ass about these guys?
I acknowledge their right to assemble and all that, but it's the way their hate has tarnished our heritage and history. The Confederate flag (the one most commonly acknowledged as such) has become a symbol of racism and bigotry to many, many people. I attended a casual party a few years ago where some of the men present were very open about their affiliation and I was actually encouraged to seek membership. After listening to their rhetoric, they seemed more like idiots than anything else.
Now they march among the Civil War parks carrying on their misrepresentation of the war and our Southern history making all of us look equally as foolish. I feel that they are more dangerous to the preservation of our Battlefields and history than any other single group.
Am I off base on that one?
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Post by shiloh on Apr 28, 2006 3:08:38 GMT 12.75
You are 100% correct. The KKK is a dying organization, thank God. They have almost no active members, but have many racists that "claim" membership even though they never attend rallies or pay dues or wear hoods. What it realy seems to be more today is a loosly knit confederacy of splinter hate groups, like Aryan Nations, The US Naziis, etc. that all support the Klan in theory even if they are not actually members. The KKK and most hate racist orgs are much stronger in the Northwest and mid-West than in the South despite common belief as portrayed in Hollywood. I believe these orgs will gain strength to some extent over the illegal alien issue, but not by much. The KKK shows up sometimes at re-enactments and tries to get members, especially in the CS camps. When news gets out they are on site, all re-enactors are warned ahead of time and we all do our best to ignore them, even the CS guys. This sometimes angers these kooks enough that they make bigger fools of themselves than usual, but I am not aware of any re-enactors ever joining them at any events I attend. I know 2 brothers that once were actual "skin heads" in WA before moving to TN. I couldn't stand being around them the first few years I knew of them, but now they are decent guys. They attend Church regularly and no longer spew the obscene racist crap. I asked 1 of them a year or so ago about his change. he just chuckled and said where he grew up, skin heads were like any other gang, and he joined it as most kids join any gang or club. He didn't know any better until he came South and was suddenly living among the blacks daily, and realized that the Southern whites didn't belong to the KKK and wouldn't tolerate his rhetoric as he had expected would be the case because of his beliefs about the South. He can't stand the racists now. I get angry at seeing the racists march and swing the CS battle flag around, and carrying crosses. They show their ignorance and stupidity by doing both. Jesus does not approve of the use of the cross symbol as a hate-club, and real Southerners and Americans do not approve the use of the CS battle flag symbol as a hate emblem. Neither have anything to do with their misuse. But, as Americans even the stupids have a right to look stupid.
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Post by Bro. Freddie on Apr 28, 2006 7:35:42 GMT 12.75
One thing I have never figured out is why the KKK carries the cross. Jesus taught love, not hate. Jesus loved us so much that He died on one. So why do they carry a symbol (therotically) of love when all they spew is hate?
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Post by shiloh on Apr 28, 2006 9:18:05 GMT 12.75
I think in their twisted view, it is against Jews. They consider themselves the Christian army and hate Jews "theoretically" because Jews killed Jesus. It has more today to do with tradition with them though. Few if any actually have any idea why they carry a cross. The original KKK, which had some good ideas and points, didn't seem to carry a cross. I don't know where the burning of a cross came from. The old KKK did carry the old (ORIGINAL often) CSA flags because the original KKK riders were often real CSA war vets that simply rode again under the old flags. They had to hide their faces because it was under the martial law days of reconstruction and it was a hanging offense to ride armed under those flags. The original KKK was out to right wrongs the Southerners were suffering as an occupied land, and to police the populace where the Federals would not, or needed policing themselves. That KKK only existed for about a decade and was disbanded. The modern KKK reformed in the 1930s as a hate group.
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Post by wayne187 on Dec 10, 2006 5:20:50 GMT 12.75
Gentlemen I agree completely and whole heartedly.I may not be a southern gentlemen but I am southern by heart and not a racist! I am however a young man who shaves his head and has a few tattoos that have the battle flag in them. I enjoy explaining to ignorant people who think me racist about the war and how the KKK is to blame for what they think the flag stands for.And if they would come to an event they may learn something.Then to actually see the same people at an event is a wonderful feeling. for your knowledge and not being afraid to discuss such things. It makes me proud to know I am not the only one that feels this way. Corporal Mud Dog
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Post by Paws on Dec 10, 2006 13:32:33 GMT 12.75
A very wise fellow once said; "There ought to be a KU on the KLUX in the KLAN!" I think it was Alfred E. Neuman, MAD Magazine 1960. Racism is a hurtful, cancer that eats up and destroys not only the targets but the racist as well. Shiloh said the right word; "idiots". No other explanation even comes close. So I guess that makes me a Klanaphobe?
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