← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · Davey Crockett
Thread ID: 16512 | Posts: 7 | Started: 2005-01-30
2005-01-30 19:15 | User Profile
Saturday evening over 400 people showed up to bid on over 150 KKK historical items.
[url]http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050130/NEWS/501300362/1002/NEWS01[/url]
[url]http://www.hometownlife.com/Howell/News.asp?pageType=Story&StoryID=82900&Section=Page%201&OnlineSection=Page%201&SectionPubDate=Sunday,%20January%2030,%202005&RefDate=1/30/2005[/url]
Protesters swarm streets outside auction house
By Lisa Roose-Church
Daily Press & Argus
"No Nazis, no KKK, no fascist USA," a group of about 10 protesters from Lansing chanted as their efforts to enter Ole' Gray Nash Auction in Howell were rebuffed Saturday night.
Another 120 or more people with the Livingston 2001 Diversity Council quietly protested outside the auction house at 202 S. Michigan Ave., holding signs that read: "Hate has no home here."
"Does he just get off collecting this (expletive)?" Lansing resident Andrew Field said about Gary Gray, owner of the local auction house.
"The only thing worse that a racist is a rich racist," said Field, 21. "No one should be making money off the KKK. This is particularly racist because they are trying to capitalize on racism."
Gray's decision to sell about 150 items of Ku Klux Klan paraphernalia - including 10 KKK uniforms and an assortment of items including knives, swords, books, records, shirts and more - drew hundreds of gawkers interested in those who were purchasing items, and some interested in bidding as well as a throng of media.
Field and about nine friends - some sporting spiked hair, leather clothing, and nearly all wearing red bandannas over their mouths and carrying black flags with a circle and slash mark representing "no" around a swastika - walked quietly across Michigan Avenue and into Ole' Gray Nash Auction prepared to protest the auction, which began at 7 p.m.
However, several supporters of the auction house instantly stopped Field's group from moving farther than just inside the door.
"Out," one auction house supporter told the protesters while subtly pushing the group back out the door.
Once outside, Field and his friends, who declined to identify themselves, began their chanting again, stopping long enough to shout profanity at others bidding on items and nodding in agreement with those who agreed with their stance.
"The robes are a symbol of hate," said Amanda Shaver, of Howell.
Another of Field's group, who would identify himself only as "Tek," said his group had not accomplished their goal.
"If I could I would shut this down right now," the 20-year-old said. "I wish everyone would just walk away right now. I am glad to see so many people showed up to protest."
Howell resident Nicholas Valentine, 22, called the protesters "silly."
"They are taking (the auction) the wrong way," said Valentine, who is white. "They are perpetuating the stereotype."
Valentine said the Klan history is part of Howell's "heritage" and while it may not be a bright spot, it is one that residents should acknowledge, not ignore.
"Everyone needs to know their roots," Valentine said. "I think the protesters are drawing along the stereotype that the Ku Klux Klan is nothing but hatred. That's not what it is about. It's about the history. It's a group or organization that participates in the community."
Meanwhile, across the street Valentine challenged some of the Diversity Council members demanding to know whether they truly understood the KKK history and its role in the Howell community, and whether they knew anyone involved with the KKK.
"Have any of your ancestors been a part of it?" he asked one woman who countered she had lived here all here life, which she noted "was longer than (Valentine) had been alive."
"I know people in the KKK," Valentine said.
Michelle Soli, 19, of Fowlerville, who was holding one of the Diversity Council signs, noted, "People say it's historical, but it shouldn't be something we have to remember every day."
Howell Mayor Geraldine Moen said "hate and its symbols do not belong in Howell."
"The citizens of Howell have worked to create a beautiful, welcoming community," she said in a prepared statement. "We have rebuilt our downtown, improved our neighborhoods, supported our schools and children, and built a sustainable city infrastructure to be proud of. We deserve to be proud.
"The auction taking place (Saturday) besmirches our community's reputation and re-ignites stereotypes about the residents of this community that are untrue and unfair," Moen continued. "The owner of this auction house has the right to hold this auction, but we also have the right to protest the selling of these symbols of hate. The good people of Howell and Livingston County will not sit idly by and let the profiteers of hate denigrate our community."
Samory Gwinn, a 25-year-old black man from Lansing, said he came to Howell with his business partner to shoot a documentary on the auction for their show "Time Slot." He also hoped to bid on a KKK item, although he did not care which piece.
While Gwinn prepared his camera, his partner, who did not give his name, glanced around at the protesters from the Diversity Council and asked, "Where are all the black people? Why are the white people mad about the auction?"
"This is history in the making," Gwinn said. "It's something that needs to be done."
Gwinn said he supported the auction and those bidding on items provided they had a positive plan for the item purchased.
"It depends on their purpose - if they want it to promote hatred then don't buy it," Gwinn said.
Glen Matthews, a black man from Dimondale, said he also hoped to successfully bid on an item. Specifically, he was interested in a Klan robe, he said.
"It's the history," Matthews said about why he wanted the robe. "I may put it out in my garden; there's no telling what I will do with it."
Vic Lopez, president of the Livingston 2001 Diversity Council, said the protest was a message.
"We want to send a message to people outside Livingston County that the perception of us being a racist community is untrue and unfair. We've been working to change that image. When this type of paraphernalia appears in an auction in our town, it totally negates all our progress."
"It appears to me we have over 200 people here and many are decrying this auction," said Lou Morand, vice president of the Diversity Council. "But it is a peaceful assembly and we don't have any problem with that."
Daily Press & Argus News Editor Mike Malott contributed to this story.
2005-01-30 19:30 | User Profile
The auction had many knives, swords, robes, books, and publications from the KKK and the Invisible Empire dating back to the 1920s. I managed to get a few items for my personal collection, but it wasn't cheap.
I managed to get an Invisible Empire of the KKK patch from the state of Kentucky and a business card from the Invisible Empire of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan from Louisiana.
For one night after many years of no formal activities, over 100 white nationalists from Howell and the surrounding towns were able to gather together and enjoy our local heritage by acquiring local historical items.
At one point in the auction two t-shirts were being auctioned off that were sealed in a box. The winning bidder was not allowed to open the box until he left the auction house. From a very reliable source, I learned that one of the t-shirts had a picture of MLK with a bulls-eye plastered over him. The two shirts went for over $70.00 unseen by the bidders.
There were five first edition copies of the Clansman by Dixon. The one that was in the best condition went for over $100.00. The others went for over $50.00
The auction went on for over three hours and many of us KKK supporters were able to talk to one another and talk about the good old days when Rev. Robert Miles and the KKK was well respected in the community. And he still is. Every item related to Robert Miles sold at a premium.
2005-01-30 20:13 | User Profile
AP - January 29, 2005 [img]http://dailynews.att.net/news/aphome/050129/images/klan_robes3V.jpg[/img] [font=Courier New]Amanda Shaver, 28, right, of Howell, Mich., joins in on a rally against an auction of Ku Klux Klan paraphernalia Saturday evening, Jan. 29, 2005, at an auction house in Howell. Local police were out in force, keeping the peace between two factions, pro and con, that were represented at the rally.[/font]
By DAVID EGGERT
HOWELL, Mich. (AP) - Ku Klux Klan robes sold for up to $1,425 and a KKK knife drew a $400 bid Saturday during an auction of KKK paraphernalia that critics have blasted as insensitive.
Auctioneer Gary Gray said a steady stream of people visited the auction house in Howell, about 55 miles west of Detroit, in the hours leading up to the sale, where participants could bid on seven KKK robes and items including buttons, books, movies and a lantern.
"Maybe I have taught more people about history, at least this week, than some schools," Gray said. "It's not a question of racism. That's intertwined. But it's not the main focus."
One of the robes was bought for $700 by the Jim Crow Museum of Racist Memorabilia at Ferris State University in Big Rapids. Museum officials hope to use it to teach tolerance.
"I felt like I was at a Klan rally at some times," museum curator David Pilgrim said.
Other robes sold for $1,425 and $1,150. Many of the people who bought items did not give their names. One person was seen wearing a KKK pin, and another wore an arm band with a Nazi swastika.
About 10 protesters gathered outside the auction house, holding signs that read, "Hate has no home here." Some tried to enter the house, chanting "No Nazis, no KKK," as about 200 people crowded into the auction.
"People say it's historical, but it shouldn't be something we have to remember every day," protester Michelle Soli said.
The NAACP branch in neighboring Oakland County and other civil rights groups have criticized the auction as insensitive. Members of a local diversity council were raising money to buy one of the robes for an anti-racism museum exhibit.
Jerry Gowlan, who attended the auction, said he planned to bid on KKK literature and pamphlets, but said he wasn't a supporter of the Klan.
"If we as a society don't learn from past mistakes, we repeat them," Gowlan said.
Community and business groups said the auction would do nothing to fix the town's racist reputation, which they trace to one man _ Robert Miles, a KKK leader who lived on a farm outside Howell until his death in 1992.
The auction was originally scheduled for Jan. 15, but was delayed after Gray learned that was the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.
2005-01-31 01:48 | User Profile
Davey Crockett,
Sounds like fun. Good for you. I always did kind of like Robert Miles. :cheers:
2005-01-31 03:18 | User Profile
No pictures of protesters with bandannas hiding their faces?
2005-01-31 09:03 | User Profile
KKK [I]knife[/I]...odd...I'd never heard of one before reading about this auction.
[img]http://www.exocoin.com/media/m-99-1.jpg[/img]
2005-01-31 18:02 | User Profile
[QUOTE=Bardamu]No pictures of protesters with bandannas hiding their faces?[/QUOTE]
Look at the picture carefully. You will see a protestor in the backgroun wearing a bandanna over his face - a direct violation of Howell's anti-mask law. You will also see a police officer next to the masked man, failing to arrest the law violator.