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.”
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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.