The FBI has released their extensive files on US Senator Edward M. Kennedy to the public, covering their relationship with him between 1961 and 1985. The seven files, totaling more than 2,200 pages of documents
reveal (among other things,) the perhaps unsurprising news that the late Senator
received "scores" of
death threats from radical groups, including the Ku Klux Klan, “Minutemen” organizations, and the National Socialist White People’s Party. The release was initiated by a Freedom of Information Act Request from
Judicial Watch on May 3, 2010, (Complaint
pdf) but the FBI gave the Senator's family the
"rare opportunity" to raise objections before releasing the file.
posted by zarq
on Jun 14, 2010 -
20 comments
At least one of these things is true, and possibly both: (a)
This was the most tense game of baseball ever played; or (b) relations between Jews and the Klan have deteriorated dramatically since 1926. Bill Francis, a research librarian at the Baseball Hall of Fame, unearths a tantalizing newspaper clipping.
[more inside]
posted by kosem
on May 11, 2009 -
44 comments
This Highway Adopted By The Ku Klux Klan The US Supreme Court has declined an appeal by the state of Missouri seeking to reverse an 8th Circuit opinion which allows the Ku Klux Klan to adopt a highway. Under the controlling ruling of the 8th Circuit, "desire to exclude controversial organizations in order to prevent 'road rage' or public backlash on the highways against the adopters' unpopular beliefs is simply not a legitimate governmental interest that would support the enactment of speech-abridging regulations."
posted by expriest
on Jan 10, 2005 -
114 comments
Greensboro, NC , a
relatively progressive southern city, is not without it’s own
skeletons.
“On Nov. 3, 1979, Klansmen and Nazis pulled rifles and pistols from the trunks of their cars and opened fire on a group of anti-Ku Klux Klan marchers in the Morningside Homes neighborhood of Greensboro, N.C. Five of the demonstrators were killed by the bullets and several others were injured. The victims had close ties with the local Communist Worker’s Party..”
The Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Project, the first of it’s kind in the United States, using the concept of
restorative justice, “seeks to heal relations between opposing sides by uncovering all pertinent facts, distinguishing truth from lies, and allowing for acknowledgement, appropriate public mourning, forgiveness and healing.” ( a little more inside)
posted by lyam
on Dec 7, 2004 -
34 comments
The Today Show really pisses me off. They never have links to the stories I want to pull up (like the head of the KKK in Jackson saying "why is everyone so bigoted and full of hate when it comes to *us* trying to preserve our heritage"), but they
do have stories like
Allowances, sleepovers and street crossing...
Is your child ready to take that next step?
Regarding the KKK piece, the story was about a Missouri Legislator planning to introduce a bill to rename a section of road "Rosa Parks Highway" in response to the KKK's participation in the Adopt-a-Highway program. While it seems pretty obvious to me that the KKK would just move to another section of road, I was a) offended by the comments of the KKK spokesman, and b) irritated by the State Legislator's lack of preparation for the interview. Why didn't he directly respond to the accusation of hate and bigotry? Why didn't he have facts on hand about the 'heritage' that the KKK was trying to preserve? Why didn't he have information about it's past and present activities and mission? Why didn't he point out that membership in the KKK is
in and of itself sufficient to get you booked on the Jerry Springer Show? These things always bug me, because it's clear that groups like the KKK do quite a bit of preparation in fact distortion and spin control, but the Voices of Reason seldom do any prep work at all.
posted by CrazyUncleJoe
on Feb 9, 2000 -
3 comments