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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsRebranding the KKK: How Can They Prove to America That They're Not a Hate Group?
Racists in America never seem to tire of trying to outdo one another. The ink was barely dry on the story of the white supremacist whose alleged shooting rampage at two Jewish institutions in Kansas was followed by a cry of Heil Hitler! when we were treated to the psycho rants of everyones new favorite deadbeat, Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who declared that black Americans (Negroes to him) have problems today because they never learned to pick cotton and they were perhaps better off as slaves.
That sent Bundys opportunistic supporters like Nevada Senator Dean Heller and prez hopeful Rand Paul, both Republicans into a frenzied panic. Appalling! Offensive! Racist! they shouted, trying desperately to create some distance between them and the guy who just moments before was a blue-blooded hero for attempting an armed insurrection against the federal government.
It seems that racists just arent getting all the love like they used to. Could it be that theyre misunderstood?
Enter the Ku Klux Klan, whose Imperial Wizard, Frank Ancona, declared this week that hes got BIG IDEAS for a new KKK a KKK for today, one thats about educating people and looking out for members who might be discriminated against.
Unbelievably, this is real. In response to a rash of crimes, the KKK has now started a neighborhood watch in Fairview Township, PA, one that includes a 24-hour Klanline and flyers that cry, You can sleep tonight knowing the Klan is awake!
Were not so sure if everybody is going to sleep better. This is in spite of Anconas repeated assurances that this will be just like any neighborhood watch program, and that they wouldnt even think of targeting minorities. We dont hate people, he said. We are an organization who looks out for our race.
Are you feeling safer yet? Sure, Ancona admits the KKK still believes in racial separation, but theyre normal people, he insists, just like everybody else: professional people, business people, working types.
Members could be the guy who is delivering your pizza, he said. It could be law enforcement from the local sheriffs office. It could be the nurse taking care of you in the emergency room.
Now how safe do you feel?
Marketing experts expressed extreme skepticism that the KKK could ever successfully re-brand itself as anything other than a hate group. Violence and racial intimidation were the KKKs raison detre, said Jelani Cobb, director of the Africana Studies Institute at UConn. Theyre not simply a controversial civic organization.
But we gotta give em credit for trying, we suppose. And Ancona insists that his Klanline is already popular with some residents. Surely, if true, that will only encourage their rebranding efforts. So were wondering: What will the KKK do next in their effort to prove theyre not a hate group? What do YOU think?
- Enlist Skittles as a corporate sponsor?
- Claim that some of their best friends are black Supreme Court justices?
(Reposted by author. Original article and poll at http://lesterandcharlie.com/2014/04/24/how-to-rebrand-the-kkk/)
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Rebranding the KKK: How Can They Prove to America That They're Not a Hate Group? (Original Post)
bondwooley
Apr 2014
OP
They should consult with Michael Richards, Cliven Bundy and Paula Deen n/t
951-Riverside
Apr 2014
#7
Niceguy1
(2,467 posts)1. skittles???
I don't get it.....
I hope we dont have to boycott them, yummy.
fayhunter
(221 posts)2. Think Trayvon Martin and neighborhood watches. nt
I get it. Even though zimmy is Hispanic., not what one would consider their target membership.
scrubthedata
(382 posts)10. Depends on what you mean by target. nt
TheFarseer
(9,322 posts)3. Adopt a Highway
or swimsuit calender
fayhunter
(221 posts)5. Did they ever end up adopting that highway
or were they blocked?
TheFarseer
(9,322 posts)6. apparently
they were dropped from the program for failure to fulfill their obligations. Missouri subsequently passed legislation to prohibit hate groups from participation in Adopt a Highway. But they adopted it for a while anyway.
fayhunter
(221 posts)8. Failed to fulfill their obligations?
They must have been too busy bleaching their sheets and hoods to bother with candy wrappers on the highway.
pipi_k
(21,020 posts)13. I hear that highway
was so disturbed it actually petitioned itself to be disowned by its adopters
bondwooley
(1,198 posts)12. Hopefully they were run over. nt
951-Riverside
(7,234 posts)7. They should consult with Michael Richards, Cliven Bundy and Paula Deen n/t
scrubthedata
(382 posts)11. Paula Deen is too busy
returning her Aunt Jemima at the Piggly Wiggly.
Warren DeMontague
(80,708 posts)9. Kittens, kittens, kittens!