# The KKK in the 1960s **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 3, 2012, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kkk-in-the-1960s/611625 "2012-02-03T04:25:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kkk-in-the-1960s/611625/21 "2012-02-03T17:14:29Z")
> [@Dorjan](#): > > The part that seems a bit unbelievable to me is anyone giving a damn about white people sitting in the “Colored” Section. People weren’t exactly gung-ho about enforcing that. If you were white, you could sit anywhere you please. If you were black, you’d better be in the section “reserved” for you. if the establishment is full and there are white people sitting in the coloreds section, They are not going to be asked to give up their seat for any black customer who happens to walk in. I do not find the claim of Klan in full regalia believable, (robes get in the way when one is trying to flail away on someone at a lunch counter and no Klansman wants mustard splattered on his dingy white robe, there are rather few references to the Klan involved in the sit-in violence, and in the one really violent event where they are known to have been involved, Jacksonville, FL, they were not robed). However, attacking whites particularly college kids–generally considered “outside agitators”–was not in any way unusual. Joe Clueless from the North or West might sit down by himself at a colored section and simply be told that he was in the wrong place and he had to move. A group of college kids sitting down in what was clearly the wrong section would have elicited a much more violent reaction. ---
**Author:** ![reddog\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/da6949/32.png) [@reddog\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/reddog_1)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kkk-in-the-1960s/611625/22 "2012-02-03T17:58:40Z")
I guess I am going to go ahead and believe my professor, because I’m thinking that the group’s deliberate intent to sit in the wrong section probably would get them harassed like has been said. Maybe over the years the story has just been embellished a little. Again, thanks for the insight everyone. Interesting responses and very educational. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kkk-in-the-1960s/611625/23 "2012-02-03T18:24:57Z")
What a bunch of other people said – a violent reaction is likely, but the odds are against the Klan actually showing up in their dunce caps and muumuus. ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kkk-in-the-1960s/611625/24 "2012-02-03T19:46:40Z")
How old is this professor? We’re talking nearly half-a-century ago, and he was a college student then. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kkk-in-the-1960s/611625/25 "2012-02-04T05:53:46Z")
> [@FeAudrey](#): > > How old is this professor? We’re talking nearly half-a-century ago, and he was a college student then. So he would be in his 60s now. What is the problem? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2012, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kkk-in-the-1960s/611625/26 "2012-02-04T05:57:08Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > So he would be in his 60s now. What is the problem? Close to 70, or over unless he was a prodigy. But his age is credible. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-kkk-in-the-1960s/611625.md?page=1)