Klan power wanes; hate, bigotry edge toward
the militias
By NICHOLAS KENNEY
NCR Staff
The Ku Klux Klan and militia groups increasingly are speaking to
the same listeners, according to Klan experts, who say that one in five militia
groups now has direct ties to white supremacist movements.
Those figures are from KlanWatch of the Southern Poverty Law
Center, in Montgomery, Ala. A spokesperson for the group, in a recent
interview, said that many KKK members have transformed themselves into
"patriots," switching over to militia groups as the Klan continues to falter in
attracting new members.
The Center for Democratic Renewal, an Atlanta-based racism
watchdog group, also said the KKK and the militia movement ideologically
overlap. The racists have codified their language. Now instead of saying they
hate blacks, they will speak out against government-supported "welfare
mothers."
"Hate group leaders that once spouted racist language, now
emphasize more antigovernment rhetoric," said KlanWatch. For example, The
Messiah Militia was founded in Potter County, Pa., by a former Klansman, August
Kreis, who told KlanWatch that any future confrontation with the government
"won't be like Waco (the deadly 1993 Texas battle between the federal
government and Branch Davidian sect members). They won't have to wonder who
shot first. It will be us."
In the late 1980s, Louis Beam stepped down as Texas KKK leader to
become ambassador-at-large for the Aryan Nations white supremacist group. Beam
is credited with the "leaderless resistance" strategy that recommends building
multiple cells of rebellion uncoordinated nationally, all primed to take up
arms against the government.
Are there still willing KKK recruits? KlanWatch sees the Klan as
"badly broken. Most of the groups are splintered." The Center for Democratic
Renewal noted that as the Klan's overtly racist message has changed, its
membership has declined.
CDR reported that when KKK leader Thom Robb in Harrison, Ark.,
spoke not so much of hating blacks as "loving the white race," his supporters
criticized him for "sounding more like a young Republican than a Klansman."
Anti-Racist Action, based in Columbus, Ohio, told NCR that
the Klan's current recruitment method is to hold a rally and then build a
fledgling group in the local high school.
However, the KKK is competing against the militias and more
peer-oriented hate organizations that speak directly to the next generation of
racists, CDR said.
Reports of hate activities by militia and Klan groups continue to
surface. West Virginia militia members have been charged with plotting to bomb
the FBI's fingerprinting headquarters in Virginia; black churches have been
burned (NCR June 28 and Aug. 29); this summer a black family's home was
burned down in Alma, Mich. The cross left on the lawn failed to ignite.
Michigan looms as a hate campaign test area.
Earlier this year there was antipolice violence by white groups in
Ann Arbor and Lansing, Mich. The Klan selected the cities of Midland and
Saginaw, Mich., for July 4 weekend recruiting drives.
CDR sees the Klan as an existing but minimal threat. But the
militia movement, CDR said, has gained more and more support and holds the
greatest potential for violence.
National Catholic Reporter, October 25,
1996
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