Ku Klux Klan

Is the Ku Klux Klan legally obligated to admit minorities? Everyone knows they don't LIKE minorities, but if for some bizare reason a non-wasp wanted to join, could the the Klan legagally bar them?

I don't see why not. I mean, the Boy Scouts can legally prevent atheists and homosexuals from joining (as I understand it), so I don't see why the KKK couldn't stop blacks and Jews from joining.

I know that businesses are prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race and religion (which I think is a bad law, but nobody asked me), but I don't think the same prohibition applies to other organizations. I mean, it would be pretty weird if Catholics, for example, were told they had to admit a Buddhist into their "organization" (heck, Catholics can excommunicate their own!).


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"It's a very dangerous thing to believe in nonsense." -- James Randi

Indeed, there was a black man who joined the KKK some years back. Of course I can't remember who he was nor do I have any evidence to back up this claim. Anybody else?


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Tim
"My hovercraft is full of eels."

Clarence Thomas?

Is the Ku Klux Klan legally obligated to admit minorities? Everyone knows they don't LIKE minorities, but if for some bizare reason a non-wasp wanted to join, could the the Klan legagally bar them?

No. A private club that doesn't accept federal (and probably state) funds is not required to admit into membership anyone they don't want.

Indeed, there was a black man who joined the KKK some years back. Of course I can't remember who he was nor do I have any evidence to back up this claim. Anybody else?

I recall the story in the early 70s, though I can't recall the source. Some Black man from Idaho, I believe, signed up just as a joke. Turned out there were very few KKK members in Idaho, so he ended up becoming Grand Dragon for the state. Evidently, he didn't attend many of the meetings.


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www.sff.net/people/rothman

I recall the story in the early 70s, though I can't recall the source. Some Black man from Idaho, I believe, signed up just as a joke. Turned out there were very few KKK members in Idaho, so he ended up becoming Grand Dragon for the state. Evidently, he didn't attend many of the meetings.

Are you sure the whole story isn't a joke? I have no idea what the KKK hierarchy is like, but I doubt they'ld make anyone a Grand Dragon sight unseen.

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"I had a feeling that in Hell there would be mushrooms." -The Secret of Monkey Island

I can't think of a single reason why a black person would want to join the KKK.

Maybe to piss them off?

This story isn't exactly someone wanting to join the KKK, but never mind. A few years ago I read about a scheme in the US whereby groups or individuals could buy up several miles of land next to motorways and use them for advertising or whatever, but on the condition that they were kept clean and tidy.

The KKK wanted to buy a stretch, but there was a big outcry about racist organisations advertising and so they had to go to court about it. The only lawyer they could get was a black man who represented them free of charge because he reckoned that if the KKK owned land by a motorway any sensible person living in a 20mile radius would go and dump their rubbish there instead of in the dustbin.

Don't know if it's true or not, but it's quite amusing anyway.

The issue was just settled recently in St. Louis, MO. The Klunkheads...I mean Klan...had attempted to adopt a stretch of highway in the city (or county, can't remember which) of St. Louis which, of course, led to a large outcry (the adopt-a-highway program is supported by gov't funds). The local courts or municipality (I really should try to pay attention to the details sometimes)decided the easiest thing to do was drop the adopt-a-highway program. Case closed - thereby avoiding the sticky legal questions of freedom of speech vs. recognition of hate groups.

I believe the Klan was trying something similar in Georgia or the Carolinas but don't know the results there.

But just think about it: you're driving down the road with a bag of rotten tomatoes and your thinking, "what the hell am I gonna do with these?" and suddenly you see a bunch of Klansman lined up on the side of the highway...

"I read about a scheme in the US whereby groups or individuals could buy up several miles of land next to motorways and use them for advertising or whatever, but on the condition that they were kept clean and tidy."

Basically correct. You don't buy land along the highway, but a company or organization "adopts" a section of highway. They agree to pick up the trash along that stretch of highway in exchange for signs at the ends of the section with the name of the company or organization prominently displayed.

An unrelated but funny fact is that a section of highway not far from my house has been adopted by the "Imperial Klingon Armada". However, I have not yet seen any Klingons cleaning this stretch of road. (^:

For those in metro Chicago, I'm talking about Irving Park Road as it passes along the O'Hare Airport fence, between just west of the intersection with Mannheim Road and just west of the railway trestle. Look for the triangular signs the next time you're out that way. Or look for aliens picking up trash along the road. (^:

The KKK tried to do take on a stretch of highway in Maryland just about a month ago. It made all the local news because initially they were not allowed to get the land. (BTW it was near Baltimore and for those of you not from around here, Baltimore is mostly Black) Anyway, Similar to the St. Louis story, the state government ended up abolishing the litter control program rather than giving the Klan advertisement. IMHO, all the hooplah over them not receiving the stretch of highway not only gave them recognition that they don't deserve, it also laid the groundwork to end an essentially free service designed to keep the highways clean. Since,in my understanding, clubs and other organizations keep their designated areas clean, the city, county, or whatever governing body has jurisdiction over the land then must contract out the labor which involves picking up the litter and in many cases mowing the lawns. I know that this does not sound like much, but in Texas (where I am from, but not currently living) this would take many thousands of man hours to do and in Bexar county (the county that San Antonio is in), it would pretty much be a never ending/tedious/sweltering job. The expense of ending the program, I think would far outweigh the slight propaganda value of the KKK's use of the land. Still on along the same vein, does anyone know if a group does not actually keep their assigned area clean if it will be taken away from them? If it is I think the KKK would have an extremely hard time keeping it clean especially if any of the patrolling officers in the area are not fond of them (I know that seems like a stretch of the imagination to say a policeman would not be sympathetic to the Klan, especially out in the Boondocks.)

My $0.02.

Sqrlcub

Canwch! Dw i'n meddwl dw i neis, rhwydegau.