An article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on April 17th reported that the Ku Klux Klan wants to hold recruiting rallies in Milwaukee and Madison this summer.
Klan rallies inevitably raise the question: how should we respond? Should we ignore them? Should we organize an alternative event, some kind of "celebration of diversity", on the other side of town? Should we protest the Klan rally? Do protests just ensure them more publicity? (That last question is easy to answer - the Journal Sentinel has already run several articles about the planned rally, before any protest has been suggested.)
We are convinced that the only reasonable response to the threat of a KKK rally is the strongest, most vigorous mobilization and protest we can muster.
In the last five years, various KKK groups have held rallies in Janesville, Elkhorn, Rockford, and Beloit. among other cities. Evidently, the Klan feels Wisconsin holds the potential for recruitment. In each case, local governments have spent huge amounts of money to provide police protection for the racists.
In August of 1994, the Klan held a rally in Rockford, 111. Local and regional police departments provided massive security for the Klan at a cost of close to $100,000. Before tiie day was over, some 1,000 people had come out to voice their opposition to the 20 or so Klan members huddled on the courthouse steps. After the protest, the Klan leader was quoted in the Rockford daily paper as saying his group would not be back. because the city didn't seem to be very "receptive" to its message.
It has been reported that one of the Klan members at that rally - trying to recruit new members to carry out its "message" -was Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
According to the Columbus, Ohio-based group Anti-Racist Action, McVeigh joined the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Harrison, Ark. in late 1992. This is the group that rallied in Rockford. On April 19, 1996, McVeigh blew up the Oklahoma City Federal Building, killing hundreds c)f people and wounding many more.
The KKK is not a debating society. It is a secret, paramilitary, white supremacist organization dedicated to carrying out terrorist attacks against Blacls, Latinos, immigrants, lesbians and gays and anyone else who doesn't meet their twisted definition of "American". They hold their rallies to recruit new members to commit racist, violent acts. During their December rally in Beloit. one Klan leader from Michigan bragged about how many Black people his group has murdered.
This isn't a question of free speech - There is no right to racist terror. If this were an organization of child molesters, they'd never get a permit to hold a rally. An organization of dope dealers wouldn't be allowed to recruit new members. So why should the Klan be allowed to hold a rally to recruit new members to carry out criminal acts of racist terror?
What can be done about this threat? We have some suggestions:
1) We are calling on all organizations in the Milwaukee area - all unions, all community, student and religious groups - to pass resolutions condemning the Ku Klux Klan, clearly stating that these vermin are not welcome in our city.
2) We are calling on the City and County governments not to grant rally permits to the KKIC. There is no obligation to allow the promotion of racist terror.
3) If either the City or County does grant a permit for the Klan to hold a rally, we call on them not to spend the enormous amounts of money that other localities have spent to ensure police protection for the Klan. Without a massive police presence to protect them, the Klan would never think about rallying in Milwaukee. If the City or County has $100,000 or more to spare, they can spend it on summer jobs for our youth. They can use it to open up the city swimming pools shut down for lack of funds. They could find a thousand and one good uses for the money. Where is it written that the people of Milwaukee must pay huge sums of money to ensure the promotion of a violent gang of racist thugs?
4) In the event the Klan does decide to rally in our town, we call on every fair-minded person in the area to come out and protest. Bring your picket signs. Bring your bullhoms. Bring your anger. Let the forces of racism see that this city can still stand shoulder-to-shoulder together and say no to racism, no to racist terror.
| James Cameron | Melissa Froiland | |
| Sole Living Survivor of a KKK Lynching | Anti-Racist Action/Milwaukee | |
| Jeff Rivera | Kate Ludwig | |
| Committee in Solidarity with the People of Mexico | A Job is a Right Campaign |