The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith denounced plans for a Ku Klux Klan exhibition in the city’s main library. A Klan flag, Confederate uniforms, Klan literature, hoods, robes and pictures of Robert E. Lee are scheduled for display tomorrow.
Norman Olshansky, ADL’s North Carolina-Virginia regional director, charged Forsyth County library director, William A . Roberts III, ### with public support of on organization advocating white domination, anti-Semitism and which has a long history of violence.
The library official claims the Klan exhibit is in response to “Black History Month” now being nationally observed. Olshansky dismissed the explanation as a “specious and flimsy canard.” Olshansky said “Allowing the Klan to display all its paraphernalia — its hoods, robes and such anti-Semitic and racist publications as ‘ The Crusader ‘ — is tantamount to promoting and supporting the KKK’s philosophy.”
He stated that the library display is the latest manifestation of an increase in Klan activity since David Duke , head of the Knights of he Ku Klux Klan, visited Winston-Salem in the fall.
In addition to the library exhibit, the Klan also obtained a permit to hold a promotional rally in a public school, and permission to use the library during regular hours to exhibit and promote its racist organization. The only official rejection to KKK requests occurred when Mayor Wayne A Corpening refused to declared Robert E. Lee’s birthday “White Pride Day.” Olshansky praised the local clergy association for decrying “public support of this organization known for its overt bigotry.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
