In 1958, in Maxton, NC, there was an incident that began to change the course of the Klu Klux Klan in eastern North Carolina.  As a young child, Sanford Locklear, a Lumbee Indian, was exposed to the Klu Klux Klan (KKK)  in Lumberton, NC.  He saw a group of men in a field dressed in white robes and hoods.  After asking his dad what they were doing, his father told him how the KKK operated by intimidation and hatred.  Sanford asked his dad why a group of people couldn’t stop them.  His dad had no response. 

In January of 1958, James “Catfish” Cole, a radio evangelist and major leader of the KKK came to Robeson County, NC, home of Sanford Locklear.  After hearing of this leader’s plans to rally in Maxton, NC, Sanford gathered a group of Lumbee and Tuscarora Indians and went to Maxton to try to prevent the Klan from coming to their hometown of Pembroke, NC.  The Indians gathered and waited for Cole to appear. Here is an account in Locklear’s own words of what occurred.

“And we got there. I asked the man, I asked him what was he doing there. He said, “We

come to talk to these people.” I said. “Well, you’re ain’t gone talk to these people

tonight.” He said, “Yes, I am.” I said, “No, you ain’t.” And so words was exchanged,

you know. And about that, about that time, I pushed on him and pushed him back, and I

throwed the gun on him. I pushed him, you know, and I throwed the gun on him. And I

told him not to move. “And don’t you move; if you do, well, I’ll kill you,” that’s what I

said. And he had his light up there. My brother-in-law shot, he shot his light out, and

when he shot the light out, I kicked his tape player, recorder. That’s what happened down there.”

After this altercation, many of the Indians fired shots into the air and the Klansmen fled.  Later, the authorities arrested Cole for inciting a riot.  He was tried and convicted and sentenced to one year in prison.  The Klan continued to gain popularity in North Carolina through the 1980’s.  Luckily, the Civil Rights movement prevailed.  How different things could have been had one man not decided to stand up for his people and against civil injustice.

(http://www.ncmuseumofhistory.org/collateral/articles/f04.ku.klux.klan.battle.maxton.field.pdf)

I grew up not far from Pembroke, NC and understand the importance of someone who will stand on principle.  I admire Sanford Locklear for not being afraid of the Klan and standing up for what he knew to be right.  I wonder what the world we be like if we all stood up for what we believed in, even if we were scared, or if people thought we were crazy.  I think too many people today live in a safety zone and don’t allow themselves to feel passionate about things.  Thank goodness for people like Mr. Locklear that know injustice needs to be fought.

In 1995, an African American couple was walking down a dirt road in Fayetteville, NC, home of the 82^nd Airborne Division and Fort Bragg.  The couple was shot at close range by a former paratrooper and member of a white supremacist group.  The article cited, by Michael Fletcher, of the Washington Post, states that James N Burmeister was found guilty in 1997 of the couples’ murder.  The motive behind the shootings was simply that the couple was black. 

(http://articles.latimes.com/1997-02-28/news/mn-33469_1_black-soldier)

The article raises questions as to the level of extreme activism within the military’s ranks.  An earlier article, written by Michael Janofsky of the NY Times, questions how aggressively the military reacts to evidence or even suspicion that a soldier is involved in hate organizations.  The NY Times article states that Burmeister had lost his security clearance and been disciplined for his expression of extremist views at least 10 months prior to the couples murders. 

(http://www.nytimes.com/keyword/fort-bragg/3)

Although this crime took place in North Carolina, it was committed by a soldier of the US Army.  This causes me great distress.  I would like to think that all soldiers are there to protect all citizens of our country, not just those who agree with their views and ways of thought.  It is quite scary to think that people trained to kill to protect our country are on the extremist end and will randomly kill citizens because they feel like it. 

The Southern Poverty Law Center documents how several white supremacists have enlisted and then blogged and posted on white supremacist sites about their success in infiltrating the military.  This article, entitled ‘Killing a Brown’, written by David Holthouse, states that the FBI has issued official reports to nationwide law enforcement agencies citing how skinheads and white supremacists have double their attempts and successes at joining the military.  The article goes on to speculate that the 1995 Oklahoma City bomber, Timothy McVeigh, was radicalized during his military days and in the first Gulf War.

 I think one of the most disturbing quotes I read from this article follows.

(One of the Blood & Honour members claiming to be an active-duty soldier taking part in combat operations in Iraq identified himself to Kennard as Jacob Berg. He did not disclose his rank or branch of service. “There are actually a lot more ‘skinheads,’ ‘nazis,’ white supremacists now [in the military] than there has been in a long time,” Berg wrote in an E-mail exchange with Kennard. “Us racists are actually getting into the military a lot now because if we don’t every one who already is [in the military] will take pity on killing sand niggers. Yes I have killed women, yes I have killed children and yes I have killed older people. But the biggest reason I’m so proud of my kills is because by killing a brown many white people will live to see a new dawn.”)

(http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2008/winter/killing-a-brown)

This type of thinking is so contrary to my beliefs that it is difficult to even fathom.  However, I have seen racism first hand and know that people are capable of horrible things.  Those horrible things begin in their thoughts and narrow minds.

I want to talk about the race riots that happened in 1898, in Wilmington, NC, just 20 minutes away from where I live.  It is a big part of our history in North Carolina.   The riots are called the Wilmington Massacre of 1898. This happened on November 10, 1898.  It was a well planned coup by the Democratic Party at the time to come to power over the Republicans.  The city of Wilmington was the most populated city in North Carolina in 1898 and had a very large African American population.  This population held elected office and professional positions.  The Democratic Party was led by early white supremacists, their leader being Furnifold Simmons,  who thought that white men who could “write, speak and ride” were the only ones that should hold prominent positions.

An editorial written by Alex Manly, editor of the Wilmington Record, the city’s African American newspaper, challenged these views and became a pivotal point in this tension filled city.  The Democrats won the elections in Wilmington by intimidation of blacks and whites.  The men now in power called for Alex Manly to leave Wilmington and presented that and other demands to a Committee of Colored Citizens (CCC).  The demands were to be met on November 10, 1898. 

When the CCC did not hurry with their response, Alfred Waddell, one of the Secret Nine – a group of business men responsible for the election outcome and intimidation, rallied almost 2000 white men.  They stormed the Record and burned it to the ground. Fights then broke out throughout the city.  Many African Americans were forced to flee and many were killed.  Due to the lack of records, the exact number of fatalities is unknown, but it is known that at least 14 died and possibly as many as 60.

(http://ncpedia.org/history/cw-1900/wilmington-race-riot)

The Wilmington Massacre is thought to be the only known violent overthrow of a government within the United States.  Rev. Charles S. Morris was a refugee that fled from Wilmington that day.  His eyewitness account is chilling.

“Nine Negroes massacred outright; a score wounded and hunted like par¬tridges on the mountain; one man, brave enough to fight against such odds would be hailed as a hero anywhere else, was given the privilege of run¬ning the gauntlet up a broad street, where he sank ankle deep in the sand, while crowds of men lined the sidewalks and riddled him with a pint of bullets as he ran bleeding past their doors; another Negro shot twenty times in the back as he scrambled empty handed over a fence; thousands of women and children fleeing in terror from their humble homes in the dark¬ness of the night, out under a gray and angry sky, from which falls a cold and bone chilling rain, out to the dark and tangled ooze of the swamp amid the crawling things of night, fearing to light a fire, startled at every foot¬step, cowering, shivering, shuddering, trembling, praying in gloom and terror: half clad and barefooted mothers, with their babies wrapped only in a shawl, whimpering with cold and hunger at their icy breasts, crouched in terror from the vengeance of those who, in the name of civilization, and with the benediction of the ministers of the Prince of Peace, inaugurated the reformation of the city of Wilmington the day after the election by driving out one set of white office holders and filling their places with another set of white office holders—the one being Republican and the other Democrat.”

(“Writings of Charles H. Williams,” Folder in the library of the Wisconsin State Historical Society, Madison.)

(http://www.blackpast.org/?q=1898-rev-charles-s-morris-describes-wilmington-massacre-1898)

In 2000, the North Carolina General Assembly established the Wilmington Race Riot Commission.  After they released their report in 2006, the North Carolina Democratic party officially renounced the actions of the party in 1898.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilmington_Insurrection_of_1898)

Blog 4: Racial purity and racial genocide

In the book, The Violence of Hate, Levin and Nolan stated that “racial genocide was carried out and encouraged not by ideological fanatics and schizophrenics but by ordinary citizens. Even the perpetrators were normal by conventional mental health standards” (Levin & Nolan, 2011, 102).

For this blog, I have found an example about a form of genocide that occurred in my home state of North Carolina where ordinary citizens sterilized poor women in order to “better society.”

John Railey wrote the article for the Winston-Salem Journal on Sept. 07, 2011.

Most people think of genocide as “when masses of people are exterminated, whether it be in Germany, Rwanda or the latest hell on Earth.” That’s what I thought until I read this article.

However, according to the United Nations’ original Nazi-era Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Article 2, section D says that genocide is “imposing measures intended to prevent births within that group.”

What does this have to do with genocide in North Carolina?

It turns out that from 1929 through 1974 North Carolina had a forced sterilization program aimed at “black women of modest means” where more than 7,600 North Carolinians were sterilized against their will.

“That’s what they did to us,” said Nial Ramirez, who was sterilized in 1965 in Washington County after giving birth to the only child the state allowed her to have. “If you were poor, black and had nothing, they wanted to get rid of you. They wanted to get rid of your kids. Just like Hitler did the Jews.”

North Carolina was not alone in its actions. In the first part of the 20^th century, there was a national movement based on eugenics to “better society” North Carolina’s sterilization program was part of a nationwide movement aimed at “black or white, deaf, blind, epileptic…feeble-minded…poor” women, many of whom did not know what was being done to them.

Railey maintains that “the program slid from paternalism to prejudice to rank racism, its target being to thin out the numbers of blacks on the welfare rolls.”

Since this program clearly imposed measures intended to prevent births within that group it meets the United Nation’s definition of genocide.

Black and Railey are advocating compensation and medical care for the thirty percent of the victims who are still alive but the state government is moving slowly, if at all, in that direction.

In conclusion, I was totally surprised, ashamed, and angry to find out about this program that took place nationwide and in my home state of North Carolina. I had never heard of it before. I cannot imagine people thinking they were improving society through a program like this. As Railey pointed out, the real victims were the children who were never born and who knows how many inventors, doctors, musicians, or teachers were among them who might have made a difference in really improving society.

For further information:

In 2001, the Winston-Salem Journal ran a series about the program called “Against Their Will” that advocated that the victims be compensated for their pain.

James Black, author and speaker, wrote a book titled The War Against the Weak

Blog 4: Racial purity and racial genocide

In the book, The Violence of Hate, Levin and Nolan stated that “racial genocide was carried out and encouraged not by ideological fanatics and schizophrenics but by ordinary citizens. Even the perpetrators were normal by conventional mental health standards” (Levin & Nolan, 2011, 102).

For this blog, I have found an example about a form of genocide that occurred in my home state of North Carolina where ordinary citizens sterilized poor women in order to “better society.”

John Railey wrote the article for the Winston-Salem Journal on Sept. 07, 2011.

Most people think of genocide as “when masses of people are exterminated, whether it be in Germany, Rwanda or the latest hell on Earth.” That’s what I thought until I read this article.

However, according to the United Nations’ original Nazi-era Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Article 2, section D says that genocide is “imposing measures intended to prevent births within that group.”

What does this have to do with genocide in North Carolina?

It turns out that from 1929 through 1974 North Carolina had a forced sterilization program aimed at “black women of modest means” where more than 7,600 North Carolinians were sterilized against their will.

“That’s what they did to us,” said Nial Ramirez, who was sterilized in 1965 in Washington County after giving birth to the only child the state allowed her to have. “If you were poor, black and had nothing, they wanted to get rid of you. They wanted to get rid of your kids. Just like Hitler did the Jews.”

North Carolina was not alone in its actions. In the first part of the 20^th century, there was a national movement based on eugenics to “better society” North Carolina’s sterilization program was part of a nationwide movement aimed at “black or white, deaf, blind, epileptic…feeble-minded…poor” women, many of whom did not know what was being done to them.

Railey maintains that “the program slid from paternalism to prejudice to rank racism, its target being to thin out the numbers of blacks on the welfare rolls.”

Since this program clearly imposed measures intended to prevent births within that group it meets the United Nation’s definition of genocide.

Black and Railey are advocating compensation and medical care for the thirty percent of the victims who are still alive but the state government is moving slowly, if at all, in that direction.

In conclusion, I was totally surprised, ashamed, and angry to find out about this program that took place nationwide and in my home state of North Carolina. I had never heard of it before. I cannot imagine people thinking they were improving society through a program like this. As Railey pointed out, the real victims were the children who were never born and who knows how many inventors, doctors, musicians, or teachers were among them who might have made a difference in really improving society.

 For further information:

In 2001, the Winston-Salem Journal ran a series about the program called “Against Their Will” that advocated that the victims be compensated for their pain.

James Black, author and speaker, wrote a book titled “The War Against the Weak”

Blog 9: Personal Connection–Music

I originally wanted the theme of my blog to be music because music has been a way for blacks to express their struggles and to resist what is going on.

In Frank Meeink’s Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead, I learned that skinhead’s originated in Britain in the 60s, and they were “not defined by racism; rather working-class pride and anti-elite sentiment bonded skinhead crews, in some cases even across race lines” (319). In the late 70s, the neo-Nazi movement split the skinheads in Britain.

At that time, Ian Stuart and his hard-mod band, Skrewdriver, became involved with National Front, a neo-Nazi organization. Skrewdriver’s songs had aggressively racist lyrics.

What I find interesting about this is that, around this time, Jamaica, where my grandfather immigrated from, gained independence from Britain. This led to troubled times in Jamaica and many people immigrated either to the US, like my grandfather, or to Britain. Some of the people who immigrated to Britain were Jamaican musicians whose music was the opposite of Skrewdriver’s racist music.

Here is some information about Ian Stuart from his tribute website. The website contains videos and visual images of Donaldson, his band, and concerts: http://skrewdriver.com/

Ian Stuart Donaldson (11 August 1957-24 September 1993)

Throughout the ages, certain men have stepped up at the proper times to guide the Aryan race from it’s destructive course and lead it down the path to salvation. Adolf Hitler, Commander George Lincoln Rockwell and Dr. William Pierce are all important examples, however no one has ever been able to open as many youthful eyes as Ian Stuart Donaldson. ..Skrewdriver became known in every White country around the globe. From England to Italy, America to Germany, Ian Stuart was at the forefront of the White Power Scene.

His attitude can be best described in one of his quotes: “I am not the type of person to creep and crawl to a bunch of weak-kneed, pacifist lefties and two-faced Zionists. One must be honest to people about one’s beliefs and especially when the survival of our very race is at stake. I have no doubt that anyone who expounds patriotic beliefs has a little black mark put against his name, and by now I must have a massive black mark near my name. C’est la guerre.”

This is what the website said about his music: “Throughout his life, Ian Stuart released some of the most exquisite pieces of musicianship the skinhead scene has ever heard. Whether it was a Skrewriver set, a solo project or a compilation, his songs never disappoint, each of them containing an uncanny ability to fill it’s listeners with courage and strength.”

Blog 10: The white nationalist movement according to Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead and American History X

It has been interesting learning about the white nationalist movement because I am finding out things that I never knew before about what white nationalists believe and how they think. I knew they were around, but I did not know there are so many of them and how active they are. I also did not realize how extreme their thinking is. This relates to my topic because I have found out that there are 28 hate groups in the state of North Carolina according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Here is a link to the SPLC Hate Map that identfies the groups and where they are located:  http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/hate-map#s=NC

One thing I know for sure—they really don’t like me just because I’m black. Another thing is that they believe things about me that are not true. And something I understand that they don’t understand is that when you get to know someone as an individual, it’s hard to hate them.

In the book, The Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead, I learned that some ethnic groups like the Irish and Italians in Meeink’s neighborhoods hate one another even if they are both what I would call “white.”

I also learned that skinheads are not all located in the South, and some of them in the North are black. The neo-Nazi skinheads call the black skin heads SHARPS which stands for Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice (53). This type of Skinheads started in Britain in the 60s who were “not defined by racism; rather working-class pride and anti-elite sentiment bonded skinhead crews, in some cases even across race lines” (319). In the late 70s, the neo-Nazi movement split the skinheads in both Britain and the US.

I learned that the adult white supremacists recruited young people by providing alcohol and drugs for them, accepting them, and indoctrinating them about the Aryan race.

I also learned that many young people like Frank Meeink get involved with white supremacy groups because of the poverty, drugs, alcoholism, and abuse at home that they have experienced. The white supremacy groups offers kids like Frank acceptance, a sense of superiority, and provide an explanation for what is wrong with the world. Part of the indoctrination process is alcohol and drugs. Like Meeink said, “I probably would have been freaked out by that if I’d been sober” (53).

In the film, American History X,

Latent racism means unconscious racism or racism you are unaware of. Many people do not think of themselves as racist, but they probably are.

Some of the things that happened in the movie are incidents that can lead to someone becoming more racist. For example, when a black drug dealer shot Derek’s father in the line of duty, Derek associated his father’s death with the fact that his killer was black.

The white supremacists use violence and fear to keep members in line. For example, when he befriends a black prisoner, white supremacists beat and rape Derek.

However, getting to know someone of another race as an individual can help you overlook the race issue. For example, Derek respected his history teacher, Dr. Sweeney, who was black, came to see him in jail to get him to help prevent Danny from becoming a neo-Nazi, and agreed to work with him. Another example, is Derek and Lamont becoming friends in prison.

In conclusion, I agree with what is said at the end of the movie: “Hate is baggage. Life’s too short to be pissed off all the time. It’s just not worth it.”

And I really like the final quote by Abraham Lincoln: “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

Blog 8: SPLC combats white supremacists issues in North Carolina

The Southern Poverty Law Center is a website dedicated to fighting hate, teaching tolerance, and seeking justice, which is their motto. Here is a link to the SPLC site: http://www.splcenter.org/?ref=logo/

Here is my favorite saying on the site: “The Southern Poverty Law Center was founded to ensure that the promises of the civil rights movement became a reality for all.” This statement means something to me because I have relatives in Birmingham, AL who participated in the marches that occurred there in the 1960, including young people who marched after the church bombing that killed four girls their age. It also means a lot to me because there are still a lot of problems that need to be solved, but many people think all the problems have been solved.

Morris Dees and Joseph Levin, Jr. started the nonprofit civil rights organization in 1971.

One of the interesting services the organization provides is a Teaching Tolerance program, which provides free materials on tolerance and respect for schools, including documentaries, books, and lesson plans.

SPLC has won many important civil rights cases against institutional racism, worked to combat white supremacist groups, and provided legal help for those who need it. Information about SPLC history and landmark cases can be found on the website. They are organized by decade.

The website provides news, publications, intelligence files, intelligence reports, hate incidents, blogs, and case dockets to keep people informed.

There are two blogs on the SPLC site: the Hatewatch Blog http://www.splcenter.org/blog/ and the Teaching Tolerance Blog http://www.tolerance.org/

The SPLC also has a Hate Map link that shows the location of hate groups around each state. Here is a link to the map of North Carolina, which shows that there are twenty-eight hate groups in North Carolina, their names, and the cities they are located in. Some of these groups I have never heard of.

http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/hate-map#s=NC

The SPLC site also provides videos about topics such as Sovereign Citizens:

http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2010/winter/stopping-the-sovereigns

By doing a search of the website for North Carolina, I found an April 2011 article about discrimination against Latino students with limited English proficiency (LEP). An example is a student who was told to “go back to your own country.” For more information on this situation, click here.

One thing I learned is that North Carolina schools get an F in educating its students about civil rights and social movements. The SPLC evaluation says: “Although North Carolina requires students to learn about the civil rights movement in multiple grades, the state provides no content guidance for core courses in its standards. It has, evidently, relied on outside providers and public-private partnerships to create teaching materials that are often outstanding. The failure to set high expectations in state standards is a missed opportunity.”

 The search for North Carolina links on the site showed 15 links to articles about North Carolina on the first page and 16 more pages of links about North Carolina, which is a lot of information about North Carolina on the SPLC website.

The SPLC site is a good source of information about both civil rights activities and white supremacist activities in any state. SPLC has been around since the 1970s, continues to work for justice. It is well organized to find information you are looking for.

Prompt 5: A central figure in North Carolina’s White Supremacy movement was Governor Charles Brantley Aycock in 1901 to 1905.

For this prompt I will talk about Aycock, who was known as the “Education Governor.” Aycock supported public schools and also supported increasing teacher’s salaries, longer school years, and the building of new schools. Also it was said that one school was constructed in the state for every day he was in office. While he was in office, 599 schools for whites were built and 91 for blacks. In the 20^th century was looked at by many people in North Carolina as an admirable, almost saintly figure.

In spite of that, there are many people who are advocating the Aycock’s statue be taken from its place of honor in the US Capitol’s Statuary Hall Collection where it has been since 1932 because of his actions as a white supremacist.

Even though Aycock built schools for blacks, his purpose in building a strong school system for whites was to “ensure the dominance of white voters” via the literacy test. Aycock’s skill at manipulating the system, led to him becoming an expert in showing other states how to solve the “Negro problem.”   Aycock said it was his goal was “as far as possible under the Fifteenth Amendment to disfranchise himAycock also stated “There shall be no progress in the South for either race until the Negro is removed permanently from the political process.” To read Aycock’s entire speech, go to this link. It may make you want to remove his statue too: (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chris-rodda/hey-north-carolina-maybe_b_143974.html).

Though Aycock situated himself as a friend of the black citizens, he was also a leading spokesman in the white supremacy campaigns of 1898 and 1900, which were “marked by widespread violence, voter intimidation, voter fraud and even a coup d’état of the government of Wilmington…The campaigns had far-reaching consequences: Blacks were removed from the voter rolls based on literacy tests, Jim Crow customs were encoded into law, and the Democratic Party controlled Tar Heel politics for two-thirds of the 20th century”  (http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Charles_Brantley_Aycock).

While I can understand that Aycock is admired for promoting public education, his own words speak against him from my perspective. As I read Aycock’s entire speech where he implied blacks were lazy and violent, this statement jumped out at me: 

“(The Negro) may eat rarely of the cooking of equality, but he will always find that when he does that ‘there is death in the pot.’ Let the Negro learn once for all that there is an unending separation of the races, that the two peoples may develop side by side to the fullest but that they cannot intermingle; let the white man determine that no man shall by act or though or speech cross this line, and the race problem will be at an end.”

Finally, after saying all that, Aycock says, “These things are not said in enmity to the Negro but in regard for him.”

What?!

Aycock goes on to say. “But there flows in my veins the blood of the dominant race; that race that has conquered the earth and seeks out the mysteries of the heights and the depths. If manifest destiny leads to the seizure of Panama, it is certain that it likewise leads to the dominance of the Caucasian. When the Negro recognizes this fact we shall have peace and good will between the races.”

Where would I be today, if men like Martin Luther King, and all the Civil Rights marchers, and President Obama, would have “recognised this fact”?

I would gladly help take that statue in Washington, DC down.