KKK plays Ole Miss with depleted roster, is booed out of town
Nov 24, 2009, 10:05 AM EST
Can you really call it a rally if only 11 people show up? That was the turnout for the big Ku Klux Klan demonstration on Saturday at the University of Mississippi, as the group tried to protest the university removing the song “From Dixie With Love” from their marching band repertoire. For added fun, the gathering was planned for the same day as the Ole Miss-LSU football game. Wackiness, but no violence, ensued.
In fact, about 150 counter-demonstrators showed up and drowned out whatever the Klan was trying to say.
Video below.
Then some Mississippi fans who were tailgating nearby were attracted by the hubub, and joined the counter-protesters, swelling their ranks for about 300. But it was all over in about 15 minutes, the Klan led away by a police escort.
The KKK members, in full red, white and black regalia, including hoods that covered the faces of all but one member, silently waved Confederate battle flags and the KKK flag as they stood in front of the Fulton Chapel while a mostly student crowd called the members “white trash,” among other insults.
Klan leaders had said they were holding the rally to support fans’ free-speech right to shout, “The South shall rise again.”
The crowd did not see things that way.
“Go to hell, KKK, go to hell,” the group shouted in unison.
Shane Tate of Tupelo, the grand titan of the Mississippi White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, apparently shouted something in response, but he could not be heard over the crowd noise.
So the university is looking pretty good at this hour: By allowing the rally to take place on campus, it showed a healthy respect for free speech. Yet because the Klan’s turnout was so small and their demonstration so pitiful, the hate group only succeeded in making itself look foolish.
So, a win for Mississippi? Yes, but it did little to help the university in the BCS standings. The Klan’s RPI ranking is so weak that it’s hardly worth the effort to put them on your schedule: It’s like Alabama playing Tallahassee Junior College. A big rally with all this publicity and they can only get 11 people to show up?
Well to be fair, a couple of guys couldn’t come because their robes were at the cleaners and they lost their ticket.
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Students shout down Ku Klux Klan prior to Ole Miss game [The Commercial Appeal]
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- thesepretzels - Nov 24, 2009 at 12:02 PM
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That guy’s uniform needs more flair.
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- Dan - Nov 24, 2009 at 12:07 PM
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“Relax Merle, they’re not saying ‘booooo’, they’re saying ‘KUUUUU’”
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- Stephen - Nov 24, 2009 at 12:10 PM
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The song is called “From Dixie With Love” Just an FYI. It’s a combination of Dixie and The Battle Hymn of the Republic.
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- Threat Level: Midnight - Nov 24, 2009 at 12:28 PM
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Judging by the rainbow sleeves and purple cape, the guy being frisked is also a member of the KKGay.
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- Rick Chandler - Nov 24, 2009 at 12:41 PM
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Thanks, fixing.
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- Tommy Vaughn - Nov 24, 2009 at 12:59 PM
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I was not aware that the Klan had adopted the Nazi salute. Why do they hide their faces? Are they ashamed of the color of their skin? I hereby challenge SHANE TATE of Tupelo to get a genetic test to prove that he is ‘white’, if he can afford it.
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- Peter Fields - Nov 24, 2009 at 1:08 PM
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Are those male burkas?
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- Ken Mier - Nov 25, 2009 at 8:02 AM
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What I understood is that thereapplications for new membership were a several other individuals that were not opposed to their presence.
This is the way the media controls the outward oppinion and mindset of the public.
The racial issue is buried in colums such as this. A white organization is against the grain of the society of indecency that has been forced upon us.
The Alabama Christian Klan has had approx 50
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- ken mier - Nov 25, 2009 at 8:27 AM
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the above comment was interrupted, to correct and continue we want to point out that we the ACK have been flooded with phone calls and new applications since this event, unfortunately the media doesn’t accept any white group of any kind.
I heard not one n word or a single shout of hate.
Many others that attended were not protesters but felt the same way that the Southern heritage of simple Songs have been twisted into unacceptable hate related rhetoric.
Acceptance is the Key to the existences of all American people today.
Its not about segregation or white supremacy. and if you notice the Nazi salute is given with the other arm and not with the open hand.
As a result of this the FBI has launched an in depth cold case investigation into reopening violent acts during the OLD CIVIL RIGHTS ERA.
We of the ACK offer our assistance in an effort to clear the wreckage and stand with dignity In this NEW CIVIL RIGHTS ERA as declared by Sharpton and Jackson at the Jena six protest which proved to be denial of racism and hate crimes.
Where is the Klan when we need them is what we hear under the breath of many concerned Americans today.
We dont hate anyone, we are the hated. and oppressed. therefore it is with dignity that clandestine efforts prove rewarding in situations such as this simple little protest, “not a rally” !
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- Tim H. - Nov 26, 2009 at 12:42 PM
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Is it your “dignity” that prompts you to cover your face with the silk ‘tater sack? What questions does the “application” have on it — “Can you skillfully burn a cross to impose fear in the local racial minority?” or perhaps, “Do you have any ‘impurities’ in your Caucasian heritage?’?
Seriously, the Halloween garb was invented for four reasons. First, it was designed to instill fear by showing a visible threat heightened by the fact the intended targets could never be totally sure where the danger could come from, yet provided a clear signal of caution. Second, it protected the identity of the hooded subject from legal authorities (that were not themselves under a hood). Third, it increased the gap between racial classification. Fourth, it was a symbol to the rest of the nation (though the KKK or other various hate groups exist in all fifty states) “We may have been forced to sign some kind of statement that we lost the war, but we had our fingers crossed behind our collective backs” (or in other words — we are still who we are and we are gonna’ does things the way we do them no matter who in Boston or New York hate it).
