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Villagers
urged to ignore Klan
Many Yellow Springs residents and organizations plan
to respond to this weekend’s appearance in the village by the Ku
Klux Klan by refusing to engage with the group in any way.
“Our plan is to stay home and let them have
the streets,” said Orlando Brown, speaking for both himself and other
members of the Central Chapel AME Church. “We don’t want to
dignify them with an audience.”
Some villagers said they are heeding the request
by the Yellow Springs Village Council last week to respond to the Klan by
ignoring it.
“We’re trying to not respond,”
said Joan Chappelle of the Yellow Springs Human Relations Commission, who
said that group is not planning any counter activity to the Klan’s
appearance. “That’s what the Klan tries to get, an agitated
confrontation. The HRC is not planning anything.”
At its April 5 meeting, members of the Village Council
requested that villagers ignore the Klan’s planned appearance downtown
this Saturday, April 17, from 1 to 3 p.m.
During that time, Klan members will leaflet on downtown
sidewalks, according to Scott Steiner, who identified himself in an interview
on Tuesday as the grand dragon of the Aryan Knights of the Confederacy of
the Ku Klux Klan. Steiner said he expects at least 25 Klan members to participate,
many of whom will be wearing robes and hoods, which he described as “religious
garments.” Steiner said the event will be peaceful, and will involve
only handing out literature.
The group is coming to Yellow Springs in response
to an Antioch College People of Color Take-Over Week which occurred several
weeks ago, and which included some “inflammatory language” on
campus, said Steiner. The student-run and college-supported event was intended
as an educational experience to raise awareness about institutional racism,
according to the April 6 issue of the Antioch Record.
Even if that event was intended as educational,
“it shouldn’t have gone that far. It was still a hate crime,”
said Steiner.
In an interview Monday Yellow Springs Police Chief
Carl Bush repeated Village Council’s request to villagers to stay
away from downtown during the Klan’s appearance.
“We’re saying the best way to counter
the Klan is don’t give them an audience and stay away,” said
Bush, who stated the local police are planning a “measured response
with additional resources available” to the group’s downtown
activity.
“We’re working hard to get us through
this safely, in the best way that we can,” said Bush.
Representatives of several other spiritual organizations
in town stated that they were also urging caution in response to the Klan.
At the Yellow Springs Friends Meeting last Sunday, the “topic came
up and we agreed that the best strategy was to studiously stay away and
not give them any excuse for getting attention,” said Friends Meeting
Clerk Carl Hyde.
The Klan topic also came up at last Sunday’s
Presbyterian Church service, according to Pastor Angie Schenck, who said
she advised parishioners “not to be downtown, to do their shopping
in the morning and go elsewhere in the afternoon. We don’t want to
give them an audience.”
According to Yellow Springs Village Manager Rob
Hillard, no group or organization has contacted him with any formal plans
for a counter demonstration to Saturday’s events. Hillard stated that
since the Klan’s plans were made public last week, “we’re
doing a lot of outreach, talking to a lot of folks to request calmness in
this moment.”
Villager Abby Cobb stated on Tuesday that she did
contact Hillard and Bush with plans to organize a silent vigil downtown
on Saturday, but she was dissuaded from doing so by both men, for safety
reasons. She stated that she understands their position and agreed not to
hold an organized event, and as of Tuesday was not sure whether or not she
would be downtown Saturday afternoon.
A long-time resident of Yellow Springs, Cobb said
she doesn’t remember any other Klan activity in town, nor do people
she knows remember any.
“It feels like a violation,” said Cobb
of the Klan event. While she understands Village leaders’ desire to
discourage local participation, she also feels uncomfortable doing nothing,
said Cobb.
“The idea of remaining silent and not bearing
witness to something offensive does not feel right,” she said.
Longtime activist Bill Houston does plan to be downtown
during the Klan event, standing in silent vigil, probably across the street
from Klan activity, he said.
“I think it’s important for the Klan
to know there are people in Yellow Springs who feel moved to express their
disagreement and important for visitors to town to know that,” Houston
said.
At Antioch College, students are being asked “not
to go downtown, not to get involved,” according to Antioch University
Vice Chancellor Glenn Watts, who stated, “The Village Council asked
us not to do anything and we’re trying to honor that request.”
According to Antioch College President Joan Straumanis
on Monday, the college is “arranging for a safe, quiet space for students
to gather” during the Saturday afternoon time, but Straumanis declined
to identify the specific space. According to Straumanis, a group of village
elders planned to attend last Tuesday’s Community Meeting to urge
a restrained response by students.
As of Monday, April 12, Antioch students had not
planned any organized response to the Klan’s appearance, according
to Antioch College Community Government office manager Maggie Weber-Striplin,
who said that the students hold “a variety of opinions of whether
or not to do something.”
—Diane Chiddister |
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