MERGED: KKK Trash Cleanup in Missouri

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I wouldn't worry too much about it. It's hard to see this as a long-term project by the KKK to take over America's roads. I'm guessing that when push comes to shove, these guys are a lot more willing to put the KKK on a sign than they are to actually pick up trash.

So my guess is that the novelty will wear off soon enough, and they'll have to look for some other way to gin up 10 minutes of media coverage.
 
I'll add that I think people worry too much about this kind of stuff in general. I can understand the state being worried about having the KKK signs on the road but it's hard to see anyone deciding that the KKK is suddenly legitimate because they're picking up trash. Or at least, anyone that wasn't already ideologically aligned with their views.

I guess what I'm saying is that this is such an obvious bid for attention that it's a shame the state feels compelled to indulge them. Not only does the KKK almost certainly know that the state will deny them their stretch of road, it's almost certainly their sole reason for trying to get one in the first place.
 
Here in VA they refused to let the Klan adopt a highway. They got mad, but really it's a good thing not to let controversial groups of any kind do this because it only invites vandals and jokesters to pollute it hoping they'd have to clean it, and it just lays there for weeks. Sadly, when a gay and lesbian group adopted a stretch (in front of Pat Robertson's HQ, intentionally ironic) people threw used condoms and sex related items out the window on purpose. :tsk::(
 
This has happened in several states, including Alabama. Here, the Klan was not allowed to do this, and they either didn't appeal or lost an appeal, I forget exactly how it turned out. The Klan has always tried to put on a "respectable" facade, and of course it's pitiful. If the states don't want to have to put up signs saying "courtesy of the local Ku Klux Klan" I don't think they should have to. It's a publicity stunt.
 
This Road Kept Clean By The KKK

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court let stand on Monday a ruling that the Ku Klux Klan white supremacist group can take part in Missouri's "Adopt-A-Highway" program in which volunteers pick up trash along the road and the state puts up a sign thanking the group

Without comment, the high court rejected Missouri's appeal of a U.S. appeals court ruling that declared the state had violated the Klan's constitutional free-speech rights by rejecting its request to adopt a portion of a highway.

Missouri cited the Klan's history of violence and said the group's application showed it "denies membership on the basis of race, color or national origin."

The original Klan was founded after the Civil War in 1865 by former Confederate soldiers to oppose federal reconstruction efforts. Later versions of the Klan violently opposed the civil-rights movement of the 1960s.

In Mississippi last week, suspected local Klan leader Edgar Ray Killen was charged with the 1964 murders of three civil-rights workers, one of the most notorious civil rights-era crimes in the United States. He pleaded not guilty.

Under the highway cleanup program, volunteers agree to collect litter at least twice every six months and put it in bags that state employees pick up. The state puts up signs acknowledging the help at both ends of the section of the highway the group has adopted.

Missouri appealed to the Supreme Court. It said it wanted "to avoid giving motorists the mistaken impression that the state has anything good to say about a horrific, racist group."

State officials warned of problems if the Klan succeeds in forcing the state to allow them into the program.

"Given the KKK's reputation as a hate group, it is reasonable to anticipate that taunts, jeers, insults or objects would be hurled at KKK members picking up trash near the road," they said.

The officials said some people might intentionally dump trash along the road to create more work for Klan members. "The Klan's involvement could lead to more trash along the highway, completely defeating the purpose of the program."

Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas and Vermont all supported the appeal.

The high court's rejection of Missouri's appeal marked the second time it had considered the issue. It denied a similar appeal by the state in 2001.
 
There is another thread on this case, but I will say that the Klan's reputation is anything but impressive.
 
Re: This Road Kept Clean By The KKK

:down:

i wish they all would just go away and not bother us again until they've all had lobotomies to humanize their sick twisted mindsets.

we just want to help keep america beautiful? give me a break.
 
The KKK is a good example of a group that is utterly abusive to their freedom of speech. I would like the government to step in on them, but that first amendment excuse is always their line of defense.
 
Macfistowannabe said:
The KKK is a good example of a group that is utterly abusive to their freedom of speech. I would like the government to step in on them, but that first amendment excuse is always their line of defense.

Actually, it is better that they speak publically. It exposes their beliefs and shows the public the individuals who hold those beliefs. And it draws the proper response: counter speech.
 
nbcrusader said:


Actually, it is better that they speak publically. It exposes their beliefs and shows the public the individuals who hold those beliefs. And it draws the proper response: counter speech.

:up:

the beauty of free speech: it exposes the frauds and the ignorant.
 
nbcrusader said:


Actually, it is better that they speak publically. It exposes their beliefs and shows the public the individuals who hold those beliefs. And it draws the proper response: counter speech.
That is a good point.
 
Oh, I had yet another comment on nbc's post: It would be great to expose their beliefs, but I'm sure they try to get away with buzzwords as much as anyone else. Fortunately, we all know where they stand, and history has taught us that lesson.
 
Unfortunately, trash clean-up programs don't expose the Klan's true agenda. It's a white-wash, saying "we're great, we're cleaning up your roads" and not mentioning their hatred of anyone who's different. That's why I don't like the idea of letting them do this. It's deceptive.
 
nbcrusader said:


Actually, it is better that they speak publically. It exposes their beliefs and shows the public the individuals who hold those beliefs. And it draws the proper response: counter speech.

Absolutely.
 
nbcrusader said:


Actually, it is better that they speak publically. It exposes their beliefs and shows the public the individuals who hold those beliefs. And it draws the proper response: counter speech.

I've thought about this more and come around to this view after all. People already know what the Klan's true agenda is. They know that they're a hate group. All of the clean highways in the country aren't going to change the fact that it's the Klan.
 
I would cringe and feel ill seeing that sign-do they think that is good PR or something?

Sorry, I didn't know there had already been a thread about this yesterday, I didn't see it on the first page.
 
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