KKK chapter fights for Bloomington rally

In 1866, the Ku Klux Klan formed to fight Reconstruction after the U.S. Civil War. Though the controversial group has been known for its racist and sometimes violent past, recently the United Northern and Southern Knights chapter of the KKK says it has shifted its focus to nonviolence, immigration and universal health care.\nBoth Bloomington Police Chief Mike Hostetler and Beverly Calender-Anderson, director of the Safe and Civil City Program, received e-mails in December 2006 from Phil Lawson, imperial wizard of the United Northern and Southern Knights, asking for information about holding a rally in Bloomington this spring. As part of their planning for the proposed rally, the KKK chapter has been distributing leaflets to the lawns of Bloomington residents.\nWhen IU freshman Chelsea Dzaugis thinks of the KKK, she said she thinks of a “white supremacy movement.” She said it’s hard to change the way people think of the KKK.\n“You can’t divorce yourself from the past,” Dzaugis said. “I obviously don’t want them to come because I think they’re wrong, but you can’t stop them. You could counter-protest, but you can’t stop them.”\nCalendar-Anderson said no date has been set for the rally. Lawson is working to find out if the organization can march and if they need a permit, she said.\nThe police and the Safe and Civil City Program said they are working together to keep the rally safe. “We want to be sure that any potential for violence be kept to a minimum,” Calendar-Anderson said. \nOn the day of the rally, the city plans to create alternate activities for Bloomington residents. Calendar-Anderson said it is trying to “set up venues for alternate activities, a family day.” \n“Whether it is basketball or skating, it will be something that promotes values we hold dear like family and diversity,” Calendar-Anderson said. \nIn addition to e-mails to city officials, the KKK circulated pamphlets Sunday, April 1, that advertised the rally. For the first time in Bloomington since February, pamphlets arrived in the yards of some Bloomington residents. According to Calendar-Anderson, this is the third pamphlet from the United Northern and Southern Knights chapter of the KKK and the first to include anything specific to Bloomington.\nAccording to the group’s Web site, the United Northern and Southern Knights is a fraternal organization that includes nine states and is based in Michigan.\nMany Bloomington residents have not responded favorably to the pamphlets and plan for a rally. \nGeorge Purnell, senior pastor at First United Methodist Church in Bloomington, doesn’t agree with the KKK and its values but can’t deny its basic right to protest and gather. \n“I can’t imagine any place that would welcome the KKK,” Purnell said. “While I recognize and affirm their right to assemble ... I can still say it’s objectionable.”\nPurnell said he hopes “that they’d come and leave and nobody would notice.”