# Report Says "Klansman Spotted on Your Local College Campus" - You Believe It? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 16, 2016, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348 "2016-04-16T13:08:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/41 "2016-04-17T01:21:53Z")
It’s not really something I would evaluate enough to decide whether it was true or false. It’s a very large public university in an urban setting. All kinds of crazy people pass through. Maybe there’s a klansman, maybe there’s not. There’s probably been one before and there will be one again. But he’ll have to compete for attention with the people carrying bloody fetus posters, the pastor preaching fire and brimstone, and the box truck covered in anti-gay slurs. And the really annoying ones, gathering signatures “for the environment.” ---
**Author:** ![delphica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9a140/32.png) [@delphica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/delphica)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/42 "2016-04-17T02:34:36Z")
I work at my local college campus, so my response would be very context-specific, and the report I would be getting would be swift and internal, as opposed to a news report. WHERE on our campus? Doing WHAT, exactly? I would not think someone made up the story out of whole cloth (heh) to stir up trouble. The most likely scenario on our particular campus would be a student who was genuinely engaging in political protest of some issue and naively thought using KKK imagery would call attention to their cause. We would quickly have an, um, educational intervention with such a student. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t think this is something that is likely to happen, but on the slim chance that it did, that possibility would be toward the top. It wouldn’t even occur to me to think it was an actual member of the KKK roaming around. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/43 "2016-04-17T03:24:51Z")
The Klan is active enough in areas around me that I wouldn’t be surprised; we do get the odd “papers tacked to telephone poles” here and there in the city now and then. I wouldn’t expect any kind of great reaction though; all our colleges and universities are pretty calm and the “message” would be falling on pretty deaf ears. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/44 "2016-04-17T05:09:49Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > but I still don’t get why the response would be a campus shutdown. I don’t get the logic. [sorry if this is GD territory] The reason Oberlin shut down is because they have a deep psychological need to prove to themselves that they are good liberals.The university officially cancelled all classes, and spent the entire day holding rallies and demonstrations against racism. There are youtube clips of it, and I found them scary to watch.The entire student body marched across campus holding signs and singing (believe it or not)-- “We Shall Overcome”. In the year 2015, they were acting like it was still 1958. They don’t care that there’s a black guy in the White House. It doesn’t fit in with their witch-hunt narrative of finding oppression everywhere. (The “Klansman” they all saw so vividly had been a homeless guy wrapped in a sheet) You can just imagine the pressure on the students to all join in. (Both social peer pressure,and official pressure from the university staff, who control the students’ grades). And you can imagine the disdain they would express for any student who dared not take part in the theater of political-correctness-run-wild. As you say --you don’t get the logic. Because there isn’t any. Instead of attending classes and getting the education they paid for\*, they were engaging in navel-gazing. But it made them feel good about themselves. \*(an education that is supposed to teach critical thinking and logic, ironically) ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/45 "2016-04-17T07:14:26Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > That definitely sounds way more serious than the way \*\*astorian \*\*put it, but I still don’t get why the response would be a campus shutdown. I don’t see what it would accomplish - how it would do anything to stamp out the hate campaign, or identify the perpetrator(s), or make students feel safer, or anything useful at all. I could well be missing something, but I don’t get the logic. I’m not familiar with the specific incident, but my guess: Klansmen don’t go around wearing their hoods in public just for shits and giggles – they do it specifically to terrorize. Generally if they intend to terrorize, they probably don’t plan to stop with just a lone guy wandering campus in his hood. A parade or rally might make sense – several KKK members showing solidarity with each other to “send a message” – in which case security would _at least_ want to be nearby watching to make sure nothing got out of hand. Or they’re aiming to hang some nooses or burn some crosses – but again, these acts of terror are generally done in groups. The lone guy? Security might be wondering what his agenda is. He’s calling very specific attention to himself without the benefit of herd safety. So: does he have a gun? Is he planning a mass shooting? A bomb? And if you’re wondering that, it makes sense to get students and employees contained and out of the way while you investigate. We _do_ have a lot of school shootings here, as well as racially motivated mass shootings like Charleston. There was that whole mess at Mizzou last November, too, which included multiple incidents like death threats and black students being circled by a pickup truck while the driver yelled racial slurs. It’s not a completely unreasonable precaution to take. As for mistaking a Dominican priest for a Klansmen… eh, maybe it was my Catholic upbringing, but not even knowing that Dominicans had special vestments until this thread, I would have recognized a Friar Tuck outfit for what it was regardless of color. Yes, even with the hood up. Klan hoods are rather distinctive. ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/46 "2016-04-17T07:25:13Z")
Also, what hoax hate crimes? [This is literally the only one I’ve ever heard of](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1080189/Young-Republican-claimed-Obama-supporter-carved-letter-B-face-robbery-story-police-say.html), and it wasn’t faked by black folk… ---
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/47 "2016-04-17T10:50:44Z")
My 1st thought was what would Oberlin consider a worse threat to their little sensitive dears, a Klansman or a Priest ? ---
**Author:** ![Sahirrnee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sahirrnee/32/13937_2.png) [@Sahirrnee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sahirrnee)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/48 "2016-04-17T13:15:48Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Not like that, no. The Dominican vestments have a [hood](http://www.standrewschurchsupply.com/images/040-1988.jpg) but most Dominicans choose to keep it down because they realize what it looks like. > > But when they go full on, it can be [disconcerting](https://losthunderlads.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/129849480-1680x1050.jpg?w=600). I could see that, I would certainly do a double take. I think the footwear would give them away. It looks like they are wearing Jesus boots, more priestly than klanny. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/49 "2016-04-17T13:54:53Z")
At the big & diverse University of Houston, students would point & laugh at a guy in KKK drag. There are Catholic students who could identify a Dominican. Rice University is pretty diverse & the students are even more sarcastic. I doubt they’d be scared, either. By the way–there are Klan & Klannish groups in every state. Not just the South. ---
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/50 "2016-04-17T16:03:32Z")
> [@Kaio](#): > > Also, what hoax hate crimes? [This is literally the only one I’ve ever heard of](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1080189/Young-Republican-claimed-Obama-supporter-carved-letter-B-face-robbery-story-police-say.html), and it wasn’t faked by black folk… Heard of google ? Perhaps some kind souls here could give you hints on how to use. You shall find plenty there. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/51 "2016-04-17T16:37:01Z")
I think they’re laughable and very wrong, but there is nothing illegal about being a klansman in full regalia walking in public. Any institution of learning going on lockdown or just into “freak out” mode is also laughable and wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/52 "2016-04-17T17:49:08Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > My first reaction would be that it was a college student dressed up as klansmen as a tasteless joke. This - or a performance art project. We had a bunch of “armed Sandinistas” come in and kidnap people from the dining hall when I was an undergrad. They were trying to show the horrors of living in El Salvador. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/53 "2016-04-17T18:10:02Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Those look a lot alike to me. The klan outfit only looks like a klan outfit because of the hood. If I saw the Dominican without a hood up, I’d think “oh, a Catholic cleric” and get on with my day. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/54 "2016-04-17T20:01:41Z")
In my local college campus it would most likely be a [penitente](https://www.google.es/search?q=penitentes+de+semana+santa&rlz=1C1IRFF_enES541ES541&espv=2&biw=2133&bih=1061&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj_-YCcu5bMAhVEOhQKHcmOCfcQ_AUIBigB&dpr=0.9)… ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/55 "2016-04-17T20:56:48Z")
Maybe they’re [Death Eaters](http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/harrypotter/images/1/1b/Death_eaters_worldcup.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20080104234426) who accidentally used the wrong detergent? ---
**Author:** ![Kaio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c68b51/32.png) [@Kaio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaio)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/56 "2016-04-18T07:41:35Z")
> [@davida03801](#): > > Heard of google ? Perhaps some kind souls here could give you hints on how to use. > > You shall find plenty there. Around here the standard is, if someone makes an assertion, that same someone has to back it up. We don’t do your homework for you… I literally googled for my own cite, btw, so I’m sure you all can do it too. The most helpful one would be stats on the relative frequency of legit vs. fake. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/57 "2016-04-18T15:17:07Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Living on the West Coast, I’d think it was a hoax. Skinheads, maybe. KKK? Never. You might want to rethink that “[never](https://news.vice.com/article/road-tripping-to-south-carolina-with-the-new-kkk)”: > [@](#): > > Will Quigg has a long title: California Grand Dragon West Coast King Kleagle of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. > > He is, in short, head kommandant in charge of the KKK from Texas to the Pacific. The KKK is not much of a real threat anymore, but they do exist (in small numbers) all over the US. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/58 "2016-04-18T16:10:47Z")
Yes I believe it, and no, I don’t care. Colleges are kind of their kryptonite anyway, they’d likely be happier somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/59 "2016-04-18T16:39:52Z")
Southern Indiana has been a stronghold for the Klan for over a century. Although they saw their heyday in the 1920s, their activity is still strong and their open presence, particularly in the south of the state, is still formidable. Even as late as 2014, they still openly walked the streets in rural Indiana towns, distributing leaflets and looking for converts. There is a heightened sensitivity to the Klan that exists in that area, so I can understand how someone at Indiana University could make the mental leap from clerical robes to Klan robes. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348/60 "2016-04-18T18:27:34Z")
When I went to Mizzou back in the late 80s/early 90s, we’d see Klansmen in full gear at least once a year, “demonstrating”. I understand that’s dropped off, so that they’re not out in full gear, but they’re obviously still making their presence known. So, yes, I’d believe such a report. (and roll my eyes when it turned out to be a Dominican in habit.) I’m pretty sure Mizzou wouldn’t shut school down for a day if they saw a KKK hoodie, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/report-says-klansman-spotted-on-your-local-college-campus-you-believe-it/752348.md?page=4)