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OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/23/2008 7:43:32 PM

MissSCD

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I just found out today that my late Great Uncle was in the KKK. Where does that put my late grandfather I am wondering? I am sure he was involved because he hated the civil rights movemement.
The entire family of my great uncle, my cousins, are very prejudice vicious people. Now I know why. I am so embarrased by it all.
The uncle has been dead for almost ten years along with my grandfather. My grandfather was a wonderful person as long as things went his way.
Head is still spinning.

Regards, MissSCD

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/23/2008 8:10:43 PM

slaveboyforyou

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In the 1920's, 20 million Americans were in the Ku Klux Klan. So you are not alone in that regard. My great grandfather was in the Klan, and there wasn't any black people in the county he lived in. My grandmother told me that he and other men would bully men into "doing what they were supposed to." What that meant was that they would "persuade" cheating husbands or deadbeat fathers into taking care of their responsibilities. I am not saying it right, but that's what they did. It wasn't just the South that this happened in. Indiana was taken over by the Ku Klux Klan in the 20's. The corruption in Indiana is what drew the Feds intro the mix and proved to be the downfall of the huge Klan. So don't feel guilty, I am sure your great uncle was a good man. You can't judge people on their past from a viewpoint in 2008. It's not fair to do that to them.

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/23/2008 8:12:18 PM

Arpig

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quote:

I am so embarrased by it all.

why on earth would you be embarassed...you didn't do anything. besides, the guy was your great-uncle and has been dead 10 years, so what difference can it possibly make in your life.

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/23/2008 8:31:18 PM

lronitulstahp

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So, my great aunt is a mean nasty bitch....doesn't make me ashamed in any way. SHE's the bitch, not me. You're not responsible for the actions of others.

quote:

So don't feel guilty, I am sure your great uncle was a good man. You can't judge people on their past from a viewpoint in 2008. It's not fair to do that to them.

Respectfully, i disagree with that point. i hate to always use the same extreme...Hitler, so to spice it up, let's go with Stalin...he was bad, he was cruel, and wrong...and that doesn't change with the passing of time. i am allowed to hold on to feelings of judgement against purely bad deeds. There is no grey area...hate groups:bad. The End

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/23/2008 8:46:16 PM

slaveboyforyou

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quote:

Respectfully, i disagree with that point. i hate to always use the same extreme...Hitler, so to spice it up, let's go with Stalin...he was bad, he was cruel, and wrong...and that doesn't change with the passing of time. i am allowed to hold on to feelings of judgement against purely bad deeds. There is no grey area...hate groups:bad. The End

Why do people try to compare every bad thing in history to Hitler? I never said the Klan was a positive force in history. They did a lot of really bad things, and we are better off without them. Yes, there are a few morons still running around screaming racial slurs on courthouse steps...but they have no power. However, they are not the Nazis by any stretch of the imagination. People are easily sucked into the herd mentality. We all are susceptible to that whether we admit it or not. You have no idea what it was like to be alive in 1920. It was a scary time. The Great War had just occurred, and it seemed like the end of the world to a lot of people. You can not judge people in the past from our viewpoint of today. If you lived in the misery that was 1920's Germany, you may have been one of the people that listened to Hitler with enthusiasm. If you lived in the rural areas of 1920's America, you probably would have welcomed the Klan.

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/23/2008 8:49:10 PM

lronitulstahp

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i'm sure i wouldv'e been REALLLY popular in the Klan....

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/23/2008 8:49:52 PM

GreedyTop

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quote:

ORIGINAL: slaveboyforyou

quote:

Respectfully, i disagree with that point. i hate to always use the same extreme...Hitler, so to spice it up, let's go with Stalin...he was bad, he was cruel, and wrong...and that doesn't change with the passing of time. i am allowed to hold on to feelings of judgement against purely bad deeds. There is no grey area...hate groups:bad. The End

Why do people try to compare every bad thing in history to Hitler? I never said the Klan was a positive force in history. They did a lot of really bad things, and we are better off without them. Yes, there are a few morons still running around screaming racial slurs on courthouse steps...but they have no power. However, they are not the Nazis by any stretch of the imagination. People are easily sucked into the herd mentality. We all are susceptible to that whether we admit it or not. You have no idea what it was like to be alive in 1920. It was a scary time. The Great War had just occurred, and it seemed like the end of the world to a lot of people. You can not judge people in the past from our viewpoint of today. If you lived in the misery that was 1920's Germany, you may have been one of the people that listened to Hitler with enthusiasm. If you lived in the rural areas of 1920's America, you probably would have welcomed the Klan.

Um...no. I think I can safely speak for her in saying not only no, but HELL no!

*grins at the Orlando girl*

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/23/2008 8:53:08 PM

lronitulstahp

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simple oversight....LOL

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/23/2008 9:20:03 PM

cjan

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OP, perhaps you could atone for your ancestors sins by making yourself available to all the black male decenants of the po' black folk they abused. It may make you feel better. Can I watch ?

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/23/2008 9:21:13 PM

FangsNfeet

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The KKK

It's not my cup of tea to drink but not the most evil of organizations to join. Though you could say this info puts a "smear" on you uncles life, you still have to ask yourself what where his reasons for joining?

Like other groups, many people join them for the simple ideal of socialism, connections, and business deals. What all was your uncle into political and business wise?

Believe it or not, I don't think every member of the KKK is a racist or biggot. Joining was just a thing to do for personal reasons despite what you truely belived in.

In the case of your Uncle, I'm not going to judge him. He's been laid to rest for over a decade now and can settle his actions with his maker. It's not the end of the world for you. It's not like you should start paying reperations or anything. Life goes on. Be yourself and continue to love. You and your family will be fine.

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/23/2008 9:25:16 PM

Leatherist

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I'd be more ashamed if a relative was in this organization.

The KKK are tame by comparison.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jmAv-ZLeBw&feature=related

< Message edited by Leatherist -- 4/23/2008 9:52:08 PM >

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/24/2008 12:47:00 AM

SirRober

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I am not ashamed that I have had family in WWII that was on the U.S. side and in Germany's SS...
It was war, you live , you die, you are forced into the military.

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/24/2008 12:58:12 AM

Leatherist

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quote:

ORIGINAL: SirRober

I am not ashamed that I have had family in WWII that was on the U.S. side and in Germany's SS...
It was war, you live , you die, you are forced into the military.

The shutzstaffel and the einsatzgruppen were just a TAD different.

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/24/2008 1:02:23 AM

Sunao

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My family was more then likely in the Klan back in the 20's. I know that my ancestors fought on both sides of the mason Dixie line and I know that I have jewish blood in me so if your jewish and your family was in the Klan then by all means the black and jews are even....anyone still remember them pyramids in Egypt? Who built them Jews...who whipped em probably some black person. Everything evens out XD.

edited because me and my buddy T are laughing and I can't spell.

< Message edited by Sunao -- 4/24/2008 1:04:36 AM >

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/24/2008 1:13:30 AM

Nikolette

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I know it can be startling to find out something like that . In 7th grade I was doing a family tree project and I learned by reading through some property documents that my mother's side of the family owned half a dozen slaves. The older people in my family 70+ are somewhat prejudice but the younger ones (younger than their seventies that is!) really aren't as much (maybe an uncle or great uncle here or there). I am glad I was raised to view ALL people as worthwhile and equal (despite race/gender/sexual orientation etc) and so I'm simply glad that I have the perspective that it was wrong of them, and so on and so forth.

Even if a relative is in the KKK today, that is no reason for you to feel shame. Its vile (in my opinion) on their parts, but its not a reflection of you, or your beliefs: and that is the important thing. We can't go back and fix things, we can only keep moving forward. Maybe knowing that is part of what propels me to be so interested in people's civil rights today. (gay people's rights, women's rights etc) Perhaps if you continue to feel some guilt over this you could do some activism to help social issues that are important to you and thereby feel a bit better that YOU are interested in advocating for people, rather than oppressing them.

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/24/2008 2:51:42 AM

deliciousmorsel

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Seems to me that having a breakdown over a past you weren't even there for is a huge waste of energy. People were in the Klan, the masons, the this and that... In some areas the klan was what you had to join instead of say, the Elks. With out the perspective of that time and place how can you even begin to make such a judgement?
In the USA today aetheists and pagans remain deeply closeted for fear- rightly- that they will be shunned and their businesses boycotted. In medium to small towns they would be harrassed and live in fear. By the Klan? No, the Christians, silly! So I wouldn't worry about the fact that a distant relative was in the equivalent of a modern day Christian church. No not most Christian folks, but some behave terribly! Remember burning at the stake?
The Klan is just more of the same crap- White men have to keep everyone else, including women, down to make a certain type of society work.
White men are so sexy when they just don't worry about that stuff

I grew up on a plantation with almost a hundred descendents of slaves who'd been there since the 1820's or so. They're all gone now- College financial aid got proposed by a relative in the Senate so the kids could get sent off to college, and they've done better than I have.
Still- I got everybody here beat by a mile or a hundred in the Social Injustice Guilt Race. Get over it. That's what our cooks daughter told me to do, right before she went to Berkeley for Law School. So I did. What else can I do?

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/24/2008 3:53:21 AM

MissSCD

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I appreciate the kind remarks.   During segregation, I was in the 5th grade. I saw my first African American at that time.
I was horrified at the way she was treated.
slaveboyforyou was correct and made a good post on how the KKK operates.   A lot of churches were involved.
The reason it came up, was my great uncle's family disowned my mother and I at Christmas.   Now I know their psycological make up, and don't care about that.
I would not do something they wanted me to do.
You all have a great day. Off to work.

Regards, MissSCD

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/24/2008 4:21:01 AM

meatcleaver

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It all makes for an interesting family history. One needs a few skeletons in the closet to give one credibility. I've got a trumpet playing bigamist in my family who appeared to have a penchant for African and oriental ladies on the side. Not the same I know but I've a feeling his exotic tastes weren't down to political correctness.

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/24/2008 4:25:26 AM

Level

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Leatherist

I'd be more ashamed if a relative was in this organization.

The KKK are tame by comparison.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jmAv-ZLeBw&feature=related

Yeah, but there are a number of klansmen that would jump at the chance to bring the SS back to life here, if they could get away with it.

Both groups are smears on the human race.

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RE: OMG: My great uncle was in the KKK! - 4/24/2008 5:11:26 AM

meatcleaver

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General point.

You can't change history and you aren't responsible for it if you wasn't born or were too young, one lives in the present and can change the future and that is how people should be judged.

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