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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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KKK, NAACP Leaders In Wyoming Have Historic Meeting
The Huffington Post | By Paige Lavender Posted: 09/03/2013 9:10 am EDT | Updated: 09/03/2013 12:01 pm EDT
Leaders from branches of the Ku Klux Klan and the NAACP had a historic meeting in Casper, Wyoming on Saturday to discuss recent acts of violence against black men and the distribution of KKK pamphlets in the area.
Jimmy Simmons, president of the Casper branch of the NAACP, had reached out to John Abarr of the United Klans of America about meeting in June, according to the Casper Star-Tribune. The two didn't meet until several ground rules were established, including an agreement to meet under heavy security.
The two discussed the KKK's desire to secede from the union, segregation and violence against black men. Abarr revealed that he saw an uptick in new members after the election of President Barack Obama and shared why he likes being in the Klan.
“I like it because you wear robes, and get out and light crosses, and have secret handshakes,” Abarr said, according to the Star-Tribune. “I like being in the Klan -- I sort of like it that people think I’m some sort of outlaw.”
But Abarr -- who believes violence against black men is a hate crime and touts his group as a non-violent religious organization focused on political issues -- said his branch of the KKK isn't hateful enough for some, and that he really likes to "recruit really radical kids, then calm them down after they join."
Click here for more from the Casper Star-Tribune.
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Tue Sep 03, 2013 2:34 pm |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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NAACP And KKK Meet In Wyoming To Discuss Violence Against Black Men
By Evan Bleier, Tue, September 03, 2013
Two local organizations in Wyoming got together to discuss some happenings in the community of Casper. Normally this wouldn’t be news except the two organizations were the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Ku Klux Klan.
Jimmy Simmons, the president of the local NAACP branch, reached out to KKK organizer John Abarr because he wanted to discuss several instances of black men being beat up in nearby Gillette, Wyo. Surprisingly, Abarr accepted Simmons’ invitation to meet.
Simmons had apparently first considered rallying against the KKK after Klan literature began showing up around town, but decided to try a different approach.
During the meeting, Abarr revealed that he is a member of the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center. However he also argued for segregation and said that white police should remain in white neighborhoods and black cops in black neighborhoods, The Blaze reported. Abarr also spoke against interracial marriage, “because we want white babies.”
He defended the KKK literature as nothing but a public service.
“I like it because you wear robes, and get out and light crosses, and have secret handshakes,” he said. “I like being in the Klan — I sort of like it that people think I’m some sort of outlaw.”
NAACP member Mel Hamilton, criticized Abarr for not knowing the vile history of the KKK.
“It’s obvious you don’t know the history of your organization,” said Hamilton. “It’s obvious to me that you’re not going out and talking about the good — you’re not talking about inclusion, you’re talking about exclusion. And it’s obvious to me you don’t know what you are.”
Abarr reportedly filled out an application to join the NAACP at the end of the meeting. He added a $20 donation on top of the $30 membership fee.
Sources: The Blaze, The Casper Star-Tribune |
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Wed Sep 04, 2013 6:29 am |
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untanglingwebs
El Supremo
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NAACP-KKK Meeting In Wyoming Believed To Be A First
By P. SOLOMON BANDA 09/04/13 11:00 AM ET EDT AP
Huffington Post
DENVER — A secret meeting between a representative of the Wyoming chapter of the NAACP and a Ku Klux Klan organizer ended with the Klan organizer paying $50 to join the civil rights organization, participants said.
Saturday's meeting between Jimmy Simmons, president of the Casper NAACP, and John Abarr, a KKK organizer from Great Falls, Mont., took place at a hotel in Casper, Wyo., under tight security, the Casper Star-Tribune reported.
The Southern Poverty Law Center and the United Klans of America said Tuesday that the meeting was a first.
Abarr told The Associated Press on Tuesday he filled out an NAACP membership form so he could get the group's newsletters and some insight into its views. He said he paid a $30 fee to join, plus a $20 donation.
Simmons said he asked for the meeting after receiving reports that KKK literature was being distributed in Gillette, about 130 miles north of Casper, and to discuss race relations, including what he said were reported beatings of African-American men. He did not provide details.
Abarr said he knew nothing about hate crimes or the literature, which was distributed in a residential neighborhood of Gillette in October.
Gillette police Lt. Chuck Deaton said there have been 10 hate or bias crimes reported in the past five years that involved name-calling but no assaults on African-Americans. Deaton said police also were unable to speak with a young man distributing the literature, and he was chased away by neighbors.
"In the 21 years that I've been here, that's the first I heard of the Klan in Gillette," Deaton said.
Eric Wingerter, a spokesman for the NAACP's national headquarters, told the Star-Tribune that local chapter leaders aren't required to get permission to arrange meetings.
United Klans of America imperial wizard Bradley Jenkins of Birmingham, Ala., said in a telephone interview that he sanctioned the meeting and called it a first between the KKK and the NAACP, the nation's oldest civil rights organization.
"I don't know if we accomplished too much," Abarr said. "We're not about violence. We're about being proud to be white."
Mark Potok, a senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said there have been meetings between white and African-American groups, but none between the NAACP and the KKK.
He called the United Klans of America a "copycat wannabe" group that's not the group responsible for violence during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, including the deaths of four girls at a Baptist church in Birmingham. The original UKA was dismantled in the 1980s following a lawsuit by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
"I think it's outrageous and counterproductive," Potok said of the Wyoming meeting. "It gives legitimacy to the Klan as an organization you can talk to."
Simmons insisted the meeting was worth it.
"It's about opening dialogue with a group that claims they're trying to reform themselves from violence," Simmons said. "They're trying to shed that violent skin, but it seems like they're just changing the packaging."
Also on HuffPost: |
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Wed Sep 04, 2013 5:36 pm |
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