Posted on 03/10/2008 2:21:05 PM PDT by kiriath_jearim
LAURENS, S.C. - A black civil rights activist is fighting to close a store that sells KKK robes and T-shirts emblazoned with racial slurs. David Kennedy is confident he can make it happen. After all, he says he owns the building.
Since 1996, the Redneck Shop has operated in an old movie theater that, according to court records, was transferred in 1997 to Kennedy and the Baptist church he leads.
"Our ownership puts an end to that history as far as violence and hatred, racism being practiced in that place and also the recruiting of the Klan," Kennedy said. "This is the same place that we had to go up into the balcony to go to the movies before the Klan took it. So there's a lot of history there."
But legal documents also indicate that the man who runs the store, 62-year-old John Howard, is entitled to operate his business in the building until he dies. Now the dispute may go to court.
Kennedy, 54, has led protests outside the store since it opened but said he's never been able to close it because of the agreement that Howard can run the shop for life.
The reverend envisions the building as a potential future home for his New Beginnings Missionary Baptist Church, which now meets in a double-wide trailer.
Kennedy claims he can't even visit his own property because Howard won't let him in when he appears in the door. But that didn't happen during a recent visit with an Associated Press reporter and photographer.
"Reverend Kennedy, where you been hiding?" Howard shouted when the door opened.
Inside the store, hooded Klan robes hang on the same rack as the racist T-shirts. Pictures of men, women and children in Klan clothing and pamphlets tell a partial history of the organization.
Howard used to own the whole building. When his store first opened, he said, people threw rocks at his windows, spit in his doorway and picketed. A month later, a man intentionally crashed his van through the front windows.
"If anything turns people off, they shouldn't come in here. It's not a thing in here that's against the law," Howard said, adding that he was once the KKK's grand dragon for South Carolina and North Carolina.
To blacks, Kennedy said, the store is a reminder of this region's painful past, which includes the lynching of his great, great uncle by a white mob.
The town of Laurens, about 30 miles southeast of Greenville, was named after 18th century slave trader Henry Laurens.
Some street addresses are still marked with the letter "C" that once designated black homes as "colored." Racial tension was heightened in recent years when two white female teachers were sentenced for having sex with male students — all of them black.
Kennedy has a long history of fighting racial injustice. He protested when a South Carolina county refused to observe the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, and he helped lobby to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse dome.
When people in the region allege racism, he rallies attention to the cause. A walk through the neighborhood where he was born shows that he seems a stranger to no one.
"Hey Rev," one man says as he strolls by.
"Pump it up," Kennedy responds with the phrase he uses at his protests.
Mary Redd, who lives across from the house where Kennedy was born, said blacks know to contact the pastor with their problems.
"And he helps them out," added neighbor Deborah Cheeks.
Kennedy said progress has always been slow to come to Laurens.
"There are two powers in the world: the mind and the sword," he said. "In the long run, the sword is defeated by the mind. I want to destroy the concept of hatred."
I wouldn’t mind seeing some of Laurens’ own rednecks run John Howard out of town on a rail.
That’s an interesting legal issue, though. If you come into ownership of a piece of property, and there’s a covenant on that property that says the current renter (I guess he rents?) can still run his business there, is it still valid?
}:-)4
I hate you for hating me. In fact I hate you so much that I’m going to see if I can force you to stop hating me. Sounds that way to me but then maybe I don’t know the hate business like the pros.
LOL!!!! Hey homeboy! FYI: The Democratic Party was/is the party of slavery, jim crow laws, and the KKK! And you SUPPORT the Democratic Party.
Wow... While I don’t agree at all with the KKK or this man making a living off of these things, he’s right — it’s not illegal.
A very ironic story as well with the church owning the building now. That must be incredibly frustrating to the Reverend and his church.
I’m actually amazed that this store even exists. If it were a museum or something it would make sense. I guess there are a lot of things us Yankees have no clue about when it comes to how some areas of the South are still “stuck in the past”. Is racism really that alive and well in that part of the country still? What a shame.
At least, from the article, it sure sounds that way to me.
As long as nothing illegal is done, the reverand has every right to protest and seek his own legal avenues, while the man operating the KKK store has the same right (however distasteful) to operate his business.
For grins he should see if the ACLU will represent him.
It's been my personal observation while traveling--I have to travel a lot--that there's at least as much racism outside the South. In fact, my experience is that I'm far more likely to hear the n-word "up north" than I am in MS. Seriously.
MM (in TX)
Anyway, I think the building owner should beef up security. A video cam over the door might be a good start...
Nooooo. Let's get the court to shut it down! Let's boycott. Vandalize. Intimidate.
Seems like things the Klan would do, if you ask me.
There have been times in my life that I have been surrounded by racists of the black and white races. It is more rare to see racism on the parts of whites now, it does exist but on a more limited basis. Most of the people that are racists seem to be less educated and seem to present a victim mentality.
Why is a court necessary? If there is a contract, then the case is closed. Or it should be.
There is an entire sub-culture built around collecting black memorabilia, much of it extremely racist. The chief participants are affluent blacks.
My neighbor Tony, a physician, is one of these affluent black collectors. He has an extensive collection of this material. It is not all racist by any means but it does include such things as vintage Klan publications and posters, racist sheet music and records, novelties like plates and figurines, and the ever-present lawn jockey. The most shocking material is from the early 20th century, when insulting blacks in popular art was apparently something of a long-running fad.
Why does Tony have this stuff? He says the appeal is hard to explain but it is like owning it gives him power over it and power over the past.
Tony is a Republican and delights in collecting racist propaganda from the 19th century and segregation-era Democrats, btw. There is a lot of it.
seems there is a signed contract with a “life clause”
That was the deal for him to sell the original property. Seems all that is needed is to offer him a revenue buyout. How much can such a weird shop make?
could be the reverand is too cheep to do the buy out. I have seen this with churches AND BUSINESSES that want neighboring property and just want to bully a cheeper sale price.
Is racism really that alive and well in that part of the country still? What a shame.
It is alive and well...its even here on FR sometimes. I don’t have a problem with the Confederate Battle Flag as it relates to the civil war, but I would definitely have a problem with seeing Klucker robes for sale.
I have started collecting “Jim Crow” and black memorabilia myself. It is relatively easy to find in antique shops around here. I have some tin plates, advertisements, and figurines. It helps to remind me of how far we’ve come and what we have had to endure.
My oh my... Yep, alot of “Anti-North” racism still too I guess. I never said that there is no racism “up here”, in fact, there is a lot of racism here in Wisconsin where I live — and it shocked me frankly after living outside of Chicago and in Denver. However, one thing you won’t find is KKK stores! Geesh...
Yep, I’ve seen it here at FR and it’s sickening. I understand about the Confederate Flag — it really has nothing to do with slavery (that’s like saying the whole reason for the Civil War was slavery - which it really wasn’t).
The KKK stuff on the other hand — there is no way to interpret that besides a direct insult, IMHO.
Legal, yes... Moral — not quite.
Not out in the open, anyway.
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