Take lesson from past, counterprotestors

As a TV news reporter, I was invited in 1979 to report on a Ku Klux Klan rally near Euless. It was a result of the new leader David Duke’s desire to bring the Klan out of the shadows.

Reporters were allowed to talk to participants and interview them on camera. A cross about 12 feet high, had been erected and would be lit on fire at the conclusion of the evening. No one wore a hood or white garment.

The TV photographers were allowed to set up cameras before the meeting began. The principal speaker began talking about his disgust for the current society and voiced his complaints about rights that had been given to African-Americans. Then, to my surprise, he began talking about Jews.

Jews, he said, dominated our financial system and had too much influence in our government. He spent more time talking about Jews than any other group.

I was standing behind my Jewish cameraman and noticed that the back of his neck was beet red. Neither of us had thought anything about a Jew being part of the crew. We left as soon as the speech was finished, afraid someone worked up after the speech would notice that the cameraman looked Jewish.

A few weeks later there was a Ku Klux Klan march in downtown Dallas. Civil rights leaders decided to ignore it and refused to sponsor a countermarch. Some people stood on the sidelines holding up posters and shouting as participants walked by. There was no violence. It received the news coverage it deserved and no more. In the days following, no one talked about the Klan.

I wish counterprotestors today would adopt the same tactics.

This story was originally published August 21, 2017 at 5:08 PM with the headline "Take lesson from past, counterprotestors."