1
Paye 8, Poitland Observer, November 18, 1987
David Duke:
Promoter of "White Rights"
Extremists In High Places:
Where Do They Find These People?
by Judy Bolton
... ....... , .- lih e A n li Defamation
League's Civil Rights Division
________________________________ _____________—
This a rtic le is reprinted front the November 1987 issue o f the ADL
B u lle tin , n atio n al p u b lica tio n of the A nti-D e fa m a tio n League of
B 'n ai B 'rith
__ ________ -
----------------
Has David Duke really hung out h.s KKK sheet to dry? The 36-vear-old
former Imperial Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Kian (KKKK) and
founder president o, the National Association for the Advancement o
White People (NAAWP) claims that he has recently announced his inte
tion to seek the Democratic Presidential nomination in 1988
A long time racist and anti Semitic agitator, Duke was instrumental n
the Kian resurgence of the 1970s and continues to propagandize whrte
supremacist positions through the NAAWP. an organization that is, in
effect, a Kian without the robes.
last January, during the Forsyth County, GA, mtegrat.on demonstra-
.lions, Duke was arrested (along with Frank ShWeV ' ; nmem. ^
•Miller’s North Carolina based White Patriot Party, and Don Black, Duke s
successor as KKKK Imperial Wizard) for reckless conduct and illegally
blocking a state highway after a screaming confrontation with the Georgi
Bureau of Investigation.
I„
attempt to capitalize on the aftermath of a December 1986 racial
incident in Howard Beach, Duke visited New York City in February as a
•white rights” activist Newsday described him as All dressed up bu
with I nowhere to go.” The article reported that Duke s visit at,rac' e^
„ „ o n a n d that he was unable to set up a meeting he sought w.th Mayor
Fdward I. Koch or develop any other publicity for his cause.
Duke first came to public attention in the mid-1970s after launch,n , a
publicity blitz that not only boosted membership in h.s Knights of the Ku
klux Kian but somewhat demystified Kian ritual. His public campaign
began at the grass roots level as he urged Klansmen to ' get outto the co w
pasture and i.rto hotel meeting rooms.” Following h,s own advice Duke
got himself on network television, appearing on programs with Tom Snyd
am. Ba,ba,a Waite,s as be articulated his subtle brand of racism. Duke
skillfully exploited legitimate issues such as illegal immigration, affirmabve
action and forced busing. This new breed of Imperial Wizard also upgraded
Kian vocabulary by renaming himself "national director and referring to
cross burninas as "illuminations.
.
David Duke's preoccupation with racist ideology dates back to his
voutb At 17. he became active in right wing extremist groups. Wh.e
ittending Louisi; J State University, he pursued his avid interest in wh, e
s u p re m a c y ant, emitisnr and Nazi history and founded the White Youth
Alliance, a gkrup affiliated with the neo Nazi National Socialist White Peo
ple's Party o f Arlington, VA. To protest a speech by activist attorney Wl1'
liam Kunstler at Tulane University, Duke marched wearing a' N ^ r o w
shirt and a swastika armband and carryrng a placard that said Gas the
Chicago 7." Duke described the stunt as "guerilla theatre and termed
In the late 1970s, his Knights sought to establish Kian cells in military
camps and bases. After a violent racial disturbance at Camp Pendelton,
CA in 1976 it was found that a group of white Marines were members of
Duke’s Knights of the KKK and were actively recruiting new members.
In June 1979, a large Kian unit was uncovered at Fort Hood; TX.
Following the racial violence at Camp Pendelton, the 18 Marines invo
ved were transferred. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a suit on
behalf of the Marines, claiming that the transfer violated their right o asso
ciation. The incident prompted the Anti Defamation League to ca l for a
Congressional investigation of extremist groups operating in the United
States military. ADL also expressed the same concern to the Defense
Department, which, in response, organized a number of programs for mili
tary personnel to counter racist activity and promulgated restrictions re
garding off-base participation in Kian and other racially-motivated rallies
Duke's group pursued additional organizing efforts, including the
active recruitment of high school students in a number of cities to form a
” Klan Youth Corps." The KKKK operated the racist "Patriotic Press in
Meta|'n'ei 980, Duke's days as a Kian leader ended abruptly. Bill Wilkinson,
who had left Duke's organization five years earlier to form the Invisible Em
pire in Louisiana, told the press that he had forced Duke's resignation from
the Knights of the KKK by secretly videotaping a meetrng during which
Duke offered to sell Wilkinson his membership lists for $35,000. Duke
denied the incident but left the Kian soon after to establish the NAAWP,
which he described as "primarily a white rights lobby organization a racist
movement, mainly middle class people. We do not have ritual. We do not
w
by David Kusnet
it!
Former Education Secretary Terrel Bell made headlines recently when ai
he revealed he had often heard "mid-level right wing staffors in the Rea »b
IT
qan Administration make racial slurs.
Bell's revelations, contained in a soon-to be-published book on h.s four ei
years as a cabinet secretary, came as no surprise to students of the
•q
Right's influence over the Administration.
Virtually every administration has its share of incompetents or worse bi
However, his Administration has appointed a remarkable number of .dec j t
logical extremists - some of whose records are so embarrassing that hey •p
have been forced to resign or have been denied confirmation by tl.e Senate.
io
For instance:
A'
• In 1985, the Administration appointed Marianne Mele Hal to thi
•ff
$70,000-a-year position as head of the Copyright Royalty Tribun il. She
»b
resigned after it was revealed she had helped write a book which sail
>q
Blacks "insist on preserving their jungle freedoms, their women, their avoi
w
dance of personal responsibility and their abhorrence of the work e th ic .
lit
• Anthony Bouscaren, a 1986 appointee to the National Council on the
Humanities, had worked for Pioneer Fund, an organization which has
nt
sought to prove that Blacks are genetically inferior to Whites. Bouscaren s
rv
nomination was rejected by the Senate Labor and Human Resources Corn
have oaths."
•
The "NAAW P News' regularly carries advertisements for neo-Nazi
literature and anti-Semitic films. Since forming the NAAWP, Duke has
continued to promote bigotry. A recent issue of "NAAW P News” pro
claimed "Victory in Forsyth County” and condemned the " vicious anti-
white propaganda that has emerged from the Howard Beach incident.
In a January 1987 letter circulated with the "NAAW P News . Duke
claimed that the NAAWP had grown 32 percent in membership and an
"incredible” 72 percent in subscriptions the previous year but cited no
actual figures.
. ,
. .
In the same letter Duke asserted that he had recently attended a specia
six-week university program in Salzburg, Austria, and claimed that he tra
veled through Europe meeting "hundreds of white activists, many of whom
are NAAWP members and supporters." Duke boasted that he received
extensive publicity which included "dozens of radio and magazine inter
views" as well as speaking engagements. In the report of his trip he
claimed to have personally met and interviewed Kurt Waldheim. In reality,
Duke was simply a part of a legitimate educational group received by Wald-
‘ Shortly after graduating in 1974, Duke exchanged his swastika for a
Kian robe and founded Louisiana’s Knights of the Ku Klux Kian. As; se
appointed Wizard, he cultivated a clean-cut, articulate image
^ved
h„r, well m promoting the Kian and its rituals. For the first time in Kian his
tory, women were accepted as equal members. Catholics, traditionally bar
red were encouraged to apply for membership.
' Duke professed nonviolence and encouraged members to become
politically active. In 1975, he received one-third of the votes cast for a sea
,n tire Louisiana State Senate. His moderate-sounding approach to racism
attracted audiences; his relative sophistication allowed him to couch hrs
bigotry in pseudo scientific and sociological terms. Duke articulated his
S
m a slick manner that led journalists to describe it as "rhinestone
Duke has been receiving steady coverage in "S potlight", a weekly
publication of Liberty Lobby, the Washington-based anti-Semitic propa
ganda apparatus, in connection with the Forsyth County events and his bid
for the Presidency. The May 25, 1987, issue of "S potlight" profiled him as
a serious contender for the Presidency in the paper's "Race for the White
House" series. Duke's racist activities, including his Kian involvement,
were acknowledged in the profile which quoted Duke supporters as saying
he "has the potential of becoming the modern-day George Wallace.”
On June 9 1987, on the steps of the Georgia State Capitol, Duke
announced that'he would seek the 1988 Democratic Presidential nomina
tion. Among those present were Daniel Carver, Grand Dragon of The In
visible Empire, KKK; Sam Dickson, Duke's attorney; Ed Fields of the White
Supremacist National States Rights Party of Marietta, GA, and Don Black,
racism’ and "buttom down terror.”
In 19/5, he organized the largest Kian rally the nation had witnessed
since the 1960s - in Walker, LA, with an estimated attendance of 2,700.
He also built up local organizations in other states including California, Flo
rida and Texas. Although he publicly shunned violence he was convicted
m 1979 of inciting to riot in connection with a Kian rally in suburban New
Duke's successor in the KKKK.
The man "S potlight" describes as "America's most renowned white
rights' advocate" tried to run as Democrat for the Presidency in 1980 but
his campaign never materialized due to lack of any significant support.
Although David Duke has faded in and out of the media's limelight,
his notoriety among white supremacists is unwavering and his candidacy
for the Presidency may again vault him into the public arena.
mittee.
)h
• Recently, the committee rejected another nominee to the National >0
Council on the Humanities, Charles Moser, who had been active in efforts
ni
to ban public school textbooks in West Virginia.
• Another controversial nominee was Warren Richardson named in
1981 as assistant secretary of Health and Human Services. Richardson ß
had been general counsel for the Far Right group Liberty Lobby, which has rt)
called the Nazi Holocaust a Jewish hoax. Richardson asked that his nomi
A
nation be withdrawn.
• Carolyn Sundseth, who served as the Administration's lia is o n to tuj
most religious groups, declared members of the President's staff should ÌC
"get saved or get o ut" — a remark suggesting that only those who share
her religious beliefs should serve in government.
e)
• The head of the Education Department's Denver office, Thomas
5V
Tancredo, mailed a speech at government expense declaring that the
United States was once a "Christian nation" but has been taken ovei by I’i
Jesse Jackson
by Nyewusi Askari
When I called the campaign headquarters of Rev. Jesse Jackson seek
ing the latest campaign update, a familiar voice greeted me. It was none
other than former Portlander Pam Smith. Many people in the city will
remember Pam for her work with the Oregon Rainbow Coalition and The
Urban League of Portland. In the early '80s, Pam migrated to Portland from
Chicago, her home town. Earlier this year, she was chosen by the Jackson
camp to work in the area of communications. The appointment took her to
Washington, D.C., and, now, Chicago.
New Appointments
Last Friday, Rev. Jesse Jackson held a press conference to announce
the appointments of Mr. Jerry Austin, who will assume the duties of Cam
paign Manager; and California's Speaker of the House, Willie Brown, who
R
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will assume the duties of National Campaign Chairman.
The appointments of Mr. Austin and Mr. Brown bring an exciting credi-
1 bility to the Jackson campaign.
At the press conference, when asked if he thought a Black could win the
nomination for President, Mr. Brown replied that not only did he think; a
Black could win, he felt that a Black was going to win. He expressed his
belief that Rev. Jackson was going to win, because he is the best candidate.
Mr. Brown is quotes as saying, "The fact that Rev. Jackson happens to be
Black is a source of pride for me and my mother.
Mr. Brown explained that although he didn't support Rev. Jackson s
bid for Presidency in 1984, he is totally on-board and committed to making
sure that Rev. Jackson makes it to Atlanta and Washington, D C.
Mr. Austin expressed a similar commitment and reminded the press t at
he, like Mr. Brown, would not have joined the Jackson campaign if he didn t
believe that Rev. Jackson could win.
Persian Gulf Trip
Rev. Jackson has planned to visit the Middle East, although his request
to visit American troops in the Persian Gulf was denied by the Pentagon.
The purpose of the trip will be fact-finding, meeting with leaders in the
region, and talking to Americans who are doing business in the area.
While in the Middle East, Rev. Jackson will visit Bahrein, where he will
stay for a few days before journeying to Saudi Arabia. From there, he will
go to Addis Ababa and Ethiopia. Rev. Jackson is also scheduled to meet
with the Organization of African Unity.
The trip will begin November 24 and end November 30.
Update
According to CNN (Cable News Network) earlier this week, Rev. Jack-
son received a death threat that is attributed to the KKK. The FBI is reported
to have notified the Jackson camp of the threat. To date, Rev Jackson has
received more than 300 such death threats.
lO
"Godlessness."
• A special assistant in the Education Department, Eileen Gardner,
resigned during a controversy over her view that federal aid to tire handi dl
capped is "misguided" because, if people are disabled, "it was not a t uel O’
act of fate . . . it's from God." Gardner had written in a draft position
paper for the Heritage Foundation that physical handicaps reflect people's
"level of internal spiritual development."
• Herbert Ellingwood, who served as chairman of the Merit Systems
Protection Board from 1991 through 1985, worked with a "talent bank to
place conservative fundamentalists in federal jobs - a questionable activity
for an official entrusted with protecting the integrity of the federal civil set
vice system. Ellingwood's name was floated for head of the Justice
Department's Office of Legal Policy, which screens nominees fo. federal
judgeships, but, following a public outcry, Attorney General Meese decided
not to appoint him.
Examining the records of these and similar appointees, observers are
tempted to ask: "Where on earth do they get these people?" The answer
is from the Far Right, which not only places its own people in influential
positions but harasses many of the most distinguished members o the
Administration, including Howard Baker, George Schultz, and ferre
m
iW
himself during his years in the cabinet.
Political patronage is nothing new in American politics, but ideological
patronage for extremeists is unusual. And. when responsible positions are
entrusted to people whose major credentials are bizarre or intolerant beliefs,
people have the right to ask why extiemists have_friends in h.qt. p - es.
/I:
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D ^ id T U ^ n lt’ i s T v i ^ President ol People Fo. The American Way, a 270.000 member „on
partisan constitutional liberties o rg a n iz a tio n ___________________
Campaign News
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