So I've been wondering something for a while, and I was reminded of it this post, where a bunch of democrats dressed up in KKK robes and tried to block Trump's appointment for Attorney General.
The KKK has become this all-purpose boogeyman, similar to how Nazis used to be the universal badguy 30 years ago. People seem to think they're this terrifying threat that could start burning crosses and lynching blacks at any moment. We all know this is BS, and they're this generation's Emmanuel Goldstein from 1984: something for people to hate, that makes them easier to control. Wiki told me that there were something like 3 crosses burned in the last decade, and one of them looked like an obvious hoax to me. I'm not sure when the last lynching was, but it was a while ago. But I'd like to go a step further beyond that rather obvious analysis.
I've lived in a lot of places, and been in a lot of spots on the socioeconomic ladder, and I have never met anyone in the KKK. I don't know anyone who's met anyone in the KKK. I've never heard anyone talk about meeting someone in the KKK. I have literally seen more penguins and polar bears in my life than I have KKK members.
But it may be that I'm just sheltered. This forum has a lot of people with a lot of life experience, and I'd like to hear what you have to say. Have you ever met a KKK member? What were they like? Did you ever see them commit a crime, or threaten to commit a crime, against a minority? If you are a minority, did you feel scared around them?
My suspicion is that I'm not going to get a lot of people saying yes to this, but I'd be very interested in hearing what you have to say.
(As a general request, I'd like to keep this discussion limited to actual KKK members. Not white nationalists, not racists, and not people who read Stormfront or Daily Stormer. Only people who are in the KKK. If you asked the person you're talking about, "Are you with the KKK?" and they wouldn't answer, "Yes, I am!" please don't write about them here.)
The KKK has become this all-purpose boogeyman, similar to how Nazis used to be the universal badguy 30 years ago. People seem to think they're this terrifying threat that could start burning crosses and lynching blacks at any moment. We all know this is BS, and they're this generation's Emmanuel Goldstein from 1984: something for people to hate, that makes them easier to control. Wiki told me that there were something like 3 crosses burned in the last decade, and one of them looked like an obvious hoax to me. I'm not sure when the last lynching was, but it was a while ago. But I'd like to go a step further beyond that rather obvious analysis.
I've lived in a lot of places, and been in a lot of spots on the socioeconomic ladder, and I have never met anyone in the KKK. I don't know anyone who's met anyone in the KKK. I've never heard anyone talk about meeting someone in the KKK. I have literally seen more penguins and polar bears in my life than I have KKK members.
But it may be that I'm just sheltered. This forum has a lot of people with a lot of life experience, and I'd like to hear what you have to say. Have you ever met a KKK member? What were they like? Did you ever see them commit a crime, or threaten to commit a crime, against a minority? If you are a minority, did you feel scared around them?
My suspicion is that I'm not going to get a lot of people saying yes to this, but I'd be very interested in hearing what you have to say.
(As a general request, I'd like to keep this discussion limited to actual KKK members. Not white nationalists, not racists, and not people who read Stormfront or Daily Stormer. Only people who are in the KKK. If you asked the person you're talking about, "Are you with the KKK?" and they wouldn't answer, "Yes, I am!" please don't write about them here.)