ChuckD
The Gay Lord of Freestyle
HOWELL, Mich. - A Ku Klux Klan knife sold for $400 and a sweat shirt drew a $15 bid Saturday during an auction of KKK robes and other paraphernalia that critics have blasted as insensitive.
Auctioneer Gary Gray said a steady stream of people visited the auction house in Howell, about 55 miles west of Detroit, in the hours leading up to the auction. He planned to sell seven KKK robes and items including buttons, books, movies and a lantern.
"Maybe I have taught more people about history, at least this week, than some schools," Gray said. "It's not a question of racism. That's intertwined. But it's not the main focus."
About 35 protesters gathered outside the auction house, holding signs that read, "Hate has no home here." Some tried to enter the house, chanting "No Nazis, no KKK."
"People say it's historical, but it shouldn't be something we have to remember every day," protester Michelle Soli said.
The NAACP branch in neighboring Oakland County and other civil rights groups have criticized the auction as insensitive. Members of a local diversity council were raising money to buy one of the robes for an anti-racism museum exhibit.
Jerry Gowlan, who attended the auction, said he planned to bid on KKK literature and pamphlets, but said he wasn't a supporter of the Klan.
"If we as a society don't learn from past mistakes, we repeat them," Gowlan said.
Community and business groups said the auction would do nothing to fix the town's racist reputation, which they trace to one man — Robert Miles, a KKK leader who lived on a farm outside Howell until his death in 1992.
The auction was originally scheduled for Jan. 15, but was delayed after Gray learned that was the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.
Auctioneer Gary Gray said a steady stream of people visited the auction house in Howell, about 55 miles west of Detroit, in the hours leading up to the auction. He planned to sell seven KKK robes and items including buttons, books, movies and a lantern.
"Maybe I have taught more people about history, at least this week, than some schools," Gray said. "It's not a question of racism. That's intertwined. But it's not the main focus."
About 35 protesters gathered outside the auction house, holding signs that read, "Hate has no home here." Some tried to enter the house, chanting "No Nazis, no KKK."
"People say it's historical, but it shouldn't be something we have to remember every day," protester Michelle Soli said.
The NAACP branch in neighboring Oakland County and other civil rights groups have criticized the auction as insensitive. Members of a local diversity council were raising money to buy one of the robes for an anti-racism museum exhibit.
Jerry Gowlan, who attended the auction, said he planned to bid on KKK literature and pamphlets, but said he wasn't a supporter of the Klan.
"If we as a society don't learn from past mistakes, we repeat them," Gowlan said.
Community and business groups said the auction would do nothing to fix the town's racist reputation, which they trace to one man — Robert Miles, a KKK leader who lived on a farm outside Howell until his death in 1992.
The auction was originally scheduled for Jan. 15, but was delayed after Gray learned that was the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday.
