(Memphis) The Ku Klux Klan is trying to make a comeback in the Mid-South but many are saying “not so fast”, especially one social activist who helped to take-down Apartheid in South Africa.
Dr. Allan Boesak worked alongside people like Nelson Mendela and Desmond Tutu, “It was some of the most dangerous years of my life and some of the most exhilarating moments that I will never forget.”
He stands in contrast to another man, who just wants to go by “Edward.”
“I rarely do interviews with someone wearing a mask like that,” said Reporter Sabrina Hall.
“It’s just to protect me,” said Edward.
Edward says he’s the leader of Tennessee’s Loyal White Knights and is recruiting more and more members each day in Memphis by leaving flyers on front doors, “You would be amazed if I showed you the numbers of people who have already signed up with us.”
Edward says nowadays, the KKK is not a violent group, only wanting to preserve white rights and stop illegal immigration, “The main mission of my group is to stand up for the white rights we’re losing each day.”
Dr. Boesak says you shouldn’t buy it.
“It’s a murderous movement,” he said. “When the people of the United States see the KKK rising up again, even tentatively, their hackles should be up. All lights should be flashing.”
The social activist believes people in Memphis, should not ignore Edward, or his movement, but rise-up against it, especially here in a city where racial segregation and hate cloud our past.
“The death of Martin Luther King here has made a Memphis a place where we have to look and say ‘where his life ended, our work and our life begins’.”
Dr. Boesak is just in town for a week as a guest speaker at the Memphis Theological Seminary.
But he plans to speak about this Sunday at First Baptist Church at 10:30 a.m.
He says he plans to address this KKK issue and how the people of Memphis can stand-up against the movement.