Many Auburn residents woke up Sunday morning, March 15, to the Traditionalist American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan fliers in their yards.
Capt. Lorenza Dorsey of the Auburn Police Division said the police received reports of the fliers in numerous yards in the Auburn area.
“No threats were made, but because of the annoyance and the alarm, the Auburn Police Division will be investigating the littering of the yards,” Dorsey said.
In the flier, the Klan called themselves “a pro-White, Christian organization.”
The flier also said the group is not a hate group or affiliated with Neo-nazis.
“We are just White men and women who unapologetically stand up for White people,” the flier said.
Mark Potok, senior fellow at the Southern Poverty Law Center, said he does not agree with that statement.
“That’s absurd,” Potok said. “Of course the Klan is a hate group. The basis of its ideology is hatred of black people along with a whole lot of other categories.”
The Klan has actually been growing weaker in recent years, according to Potok.
“While it’s never pleasant to see the propaganda of the Klan, this does not mean there is some sort of major resurgence,” Potok said.
Phil Ordonez, senior in sociology, said he lives near the Glenn Avenue and Dean Road intersection where the fliers were delivered.
Ordonez said he didn’t know what he was seeing at first.
“It was in a bag of rocks, and my roommate collects gemstones,” Ordonez said. “I thought maybe he dropped them.”
The rocks were probably attached so the flier wouldn’t fly away, according to Ordonez.
“Our neighborhood is a predominately family neighborhood, so I don’t know why they chose to do it here,” Ordonez said.
Jasmine Pettaway, presidnet of the Black Student Union, said she is extremely disappointed about the KKK fliers being passed out this past weekend.
“I know that you can’t eradicate racism, but I am disgusted that the KKK feels that it is just as easy to openly advertise and recruit hatred by passing out flyers as it is to get people to come to a new store opening or join a campus organization at O-Days,” Pettaway said.
The Klan was not able to be reached for comment before publication.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
