In response to a series of local break-ins in central Pennsylvaina, a local organization has formed a neighborhood watch group. On the surface, that sounds like a great idea: Neighborhood watch groups can be an effective crime deterrent. They encourage community members to keep an eye out for one another and to contact law enforcement if there’s any trouble.
But what if the neighborhood watch group is being planned by the Ku Klux Klan? The KKK is widely known as a white supremacy organization, and it has a long history of practicing hate crimes under the guise of vigilante justice. For this reason, people of color might feel that neighborhoods are better off without a neighborhood watch if the KKK is in charge. Racial profiling might be a greater threat to their health and well-being than the break-ins that have been going on.
That’s why it’s preposterous that Central Pennsylvania station FOX43 posed the following question on an image of the KKK’s local neighborhood watch flyer to their facebook page:
“Members of the KKK distributed this flyer to neighbors living along Ridge Road, in Fairview Twp. Do you think police should be the only people to look out for your neighborhood? What are your thoughts?”
Well, my thoughts are as follows: A white supremacy group isn’t your average group of people. Therefore, FOX43’s facebook post is obtuse, problematic, and betraying an ugly undercurrent of racism. A more appropriate question would have been something along these lines: “Do you think it’s appropriate for a white supremacy organization to patrol your neighborhood at night? Could their activities cause harm to our communities?”
Instead, by taking racism out of the picture, FOX43’s social media team is essentially legitimizing the KKK’s activities—and that’s not acceptable. Not now, and not ever.
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Rebecca Hains is a media studies professor at Salem State University. Her book, The Princess Problem: Guiding Our Girls Through the Princess-Obsessed Years, is now available for pre-order from Amazon.
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Dr. Rebecca Hains 
A frightening world that we live in, isn’t it? Just when the prospect of narrow minded idiots dying off. There comes a resurgence that seems to say “Not so fast”, I hold fast to my hopes of alien abductions for the ignorant…
That is so awful. I didn’t want to “like” it.
So well said!!!
It’s always the comments that terrify me even more than the actual story. To wit, “…not many know how the kkk has changed for the good.” Legitimize indeed.
Reblogged this on bloodyestablishment.
Just who are these Klansmen?
We were the waitress that poured your morning coffee and the janitor you said goodnight to. We are the bus drivers that takes your child to school and the teachers who educates them. We are the truck drivers you pass on the highway and the factory workers that filled the trailers. We are the firefighters and police officers that assures your safety and the doctors and nurses that tends to your health. We are the soldiers and sailors that defend your Rights, your homes and your American culture. We are your employers, your employees and your co-workers. We are your friends, your neighbors, maybe even your own spouse or other family member. Though you speak and deal with us every day, you are unaware that we are Klansmen. After all, there is a reason we are often called the Invisible Empire.
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Ah, yea! You’re right, it’s awful. However, I do not think fox was doing anything wrong with not “leading” thier watchers to the right answer. I like to think of myself as fairly intelligent person, who can do her own thinking. I can respond without hints or leads. Like it or not, what fox did was called “reporting the news.” I don’t need the reporters personal feelings or opinions in a news story. I need an un bias opinion. I’m very sick of media forcing thier own opinion.
This does not mean I’m racist. I perfer to drawl my own conclusions, thank you!