================================================ Subject: The Klan Jasper and "under-the-table racism" From: "Kevin L. Brown" To: Date: Sun 5 Aug 2001 10:48:28 -0700 ================================================ Yeah, Jasper. Where no one has any family in the Klan. Yet one of the two major branches of the Klan is based there. http://www.hearstnp.com/san_antonio/bea/news/static/bea/index.htm The rural southeast Texas town of Jasper has a new resident - the 19-year-old Imperial Wizard of the Knights of the White Kamellia. This report, published January 23, 2000 looks at James Roesch and the white supremacy group he leads. And this is a perfect example of what I was talking about before. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/special/jasper/reaction/226896 The most dangerous bigotry is bigotry of "it's not that bad here". Head in the sand racism. This is a very long article, but a great read. I've provided small sections but I'd suggest everyone go read it in its entirety. The claim was that the "vast majority" of Jasper wasn't racist because they were never in the Klan. I suggest that's a naive attitude that helps sustain the atmosphere that lead to Byrd's death. East Texas racism subtle but persistent Blacks say fear of retribution lets routine bigotry go unremarked Then he tried to buy a house. "I figured I could afford a $150,000 house," he says. "The trouble was, all those houses were in the richest white neighborhoods. Nobody would sell to me." Some sellers threatened to call the police when he approached them, but he persisted in shopping until an encounter with one homeowner nearly ended in a fight. "My wife was crying and I was upset," he says. "I decided the best thing for me was to move on." Of Byrd 's slaying, Parisice Robinson, chairman of Texas political activities for the NAACP, asked: "What does this say about the climate of Jasper? The climate, in some ways, has to contribute to that." A part of that "climate" followed Byrd to the grave. He was buried in the section of the local cemetery where only blacks are buried. Recently, the Tyler chapter of the NAACP received a phone call from a woman complaining about the treatment of blacks in Mineola. To Ernest Deckard, the chapter president, the call was telling, and not just for its content. Specifically, the caller grumbled about an employer who refused to allow a black woman to take off work, on her lunch hour, to attend the funeral of her mother. In the catalog of grievances that reach Deckard's desk, it may have been a minor entry, but he found it significant for another reason: It was placed by a white woman because, he believes, the victim was too intimidated to raise her own voice. "You still have that silence," he says. "Blacks are still scared to speak up." It is hard to find blacks anywhere in East Texas who dispute that. Says a retired schoolteacher in Center: "Things aren't too bad . . . as long as you stay in your place." (And the one that gets me the most) "Dear God, place the spirit of the Antichrist under the foot of Jesus. Forgive the white church in Texas for its sins." With that opening prayer at a Republican convention in Fort Worth shortly after the slaying of James Byrd , the Rev. Charles Burchett attracted widespread attention to himself, but it was the continuation of a message he has been preaching throughout his life. For 20 years, the white pastor has led the First Baptist Church of Kirbyville in Jasper County, and his stands on racism have occasionally alienated members of his congregation. Several years ago, a black family began attending his church regularly. After a few weeks, Burchett was visited by a man who said he had been sent by a white family to deliver a message. "Until it (integrated worship) stops, we are not coming back," the message said. "OK," Burchett said, "give them this message for me: Never set foot on our property again." Over the years, his church membership has dwindled from about 250 to 70 or fewer, but Burchett, a soft-spoken 49-year-old, doesn't waffle on the subject of church bigotry. "Many white men in churches have a subconscious, low-key racist attitude in their hearts," he says. "They don't express it like they used to, in the '30s and '40s and '50s, but it is in their hearts and God looks at the heart. The under-the-table racism is there." "under-the-table racism". What a perfect term. To unsubscribe or change your preferences for the Creed-Discuss list, visit: http://www.winduplist.com/ls/discuss/form.asp