It was January of 1958 when the Ku Klux Klan, angered by the recent Brown v. Board of Education ruling, which called for the desegregation of schools, decided to hold a nighttime rally in a field outside of Maxton, North Carolina.
This was within Robeson County, and at that time, Lumbee Indians made up just a bit shy of one-third of the county’s population.
KKK members had already burned several crosses in the yards of Lumbee families. One was in the yard of a family that had moved into a predominantly white neighborhood. The other was in the yard of a Lumbee woman who had been rumored to be dating a white man.
They were intent on keeping the lines of racial divide well marked.
When they planned their rally, word got out through Robeson County.
On that fateful night, around 100 KKK members arrived, carrying a wide banner and speaking through a portable mic system on a generator. A single, bare lightbulb illuminated the area, but not well enough to see that they were surrounded by approximately 1000 Lumbee men.
In what came to be known as the Battle of Maxton Field, armed Lumbee descended on the hapless KKK clowns, shooting out the single lightbulb, capturing the banner, and running the KKK out of Robeson County, for good.
The KKK stuck around the state for a few more years, but they never returned to Robeson County.
I tell you that story to tell you this one: They’re back.
A Ku Klux Klan group will hold a rally celebrating Donald Trump‘s election to the White House in North Carolina.
The group will hold the parade in North Carolina Dec. 3, but has not yet specified a time or location.
The Loyal White Knights of the KKK refers to the parade as a “Victory Klavalkade Klan Parade” and says on its website that “Trump’s race united my people.”
A photo of Trump is also displayed prominently on the website’s home page.
The KKK pretty much endorsed Trump before the election, but his son, Eric, has rejected the endorsement, calling them, “horrible people.”
This is the outcome many feared with a Trump presidency. These disgusting groups that identify with so much that he’s said feel emboldened to slither out from under their rocks.
Of course, Trump can’t be directly blamed. I don’t think he set this up. To say otherwise would be ridiculous. It’s not out of the question to point out their sudden, new boldness.
Hopefully, they’ll take this act to Robeson County. Give it another shot.
Then climb back under their rocks for another 50 to 60 years.
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