kkk – The Philadelphia Observer https://philadelphiaobserver.com Just another WordPress site Sat, 06 May 2023 07:41:21 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 ‘Such Backwards and Harmful Rhetoric’: Actor Isaiah Washington Faces Backlash For Fondly Remembering KKK Members as Some of His ‘Best’ Teachers and Neighbors Growing Up https://philadelphiaobserver.com/such-backwards-and-harmful-rhetoric-actor-isaiah-washington-faces-backlash-for-fondly-remembering-kkk-members-as-some-of-his-best-teachers-and-neighbors-growing-up/ Sat, 06 May 2023 07:41:19 +0000 https://philadelphiaobserver.com/?p=4886 Isaiah Washington’s reflections on his Texas upbringing and the Ku Klux Klan have spurred division among his followers.

The former “Grey’s Anatomy” actor shared a message fondly remembering his perspective of Klansmen and women on Facebook and Instagram. Although he claimed the latter platform removed his initial posts, he re-shared it, where it still remains.

Isaiah Washington. (Photo: @therealisaiahwashington/Instagram)

Washington shared a black-and-white image of an elderly Klansman sitting with a woman and a baby as a cross stood behind them.

Each of the members was dressed in the white supremacist organization’s distinctive white robe and hood, which was pulled up and revealed their faces.

The Houstonian’s childhood memory began, “I had some of the best elementary school teachers and even some neighbors that I knew were Klan Members back in Texas while growing up. I knew where They stood with me and They also knew where I stood with Them. The boundaries were very, very clear.”

The longtime actor, who found himself disgraced among his peers when he used a gay slur on two separate occasions in 2006 and 2007, went on to share that he played with children who did not view him as an equal.

“I just couldn’t drink from Their outside water hose or come inside Their house to eat and Their houses were usually much smaller than what I grew up in,” he continued.

Washington would note that his own mother never turned away his white friends when they wanted a drink of water or to have lunch with her son.

His reasoning, as noted by social media users, may have been to show that despite facing racism in their daily lives, the Washington family did not reciprocate it.

In closing, the “Blue Caprice” star wrote, “I can’t help but wonder today, if Their kids are vigorously supporting me as an actor today, simply because I showed Them love and respect as a true Texan and a true American, even when Their parents and grandparents forbid Them to reciprocate love and respect for me publicly to me back then, but I’m infamous now. I wonder…”

Source: ‘Such Backwards and Harmful Rhetoric’: Actor Isaiah Washington Faces Backlash For Fondly Remembering KKK Members as Some of His ‘Best’ Teachers and Neighbors Growing Up

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Alabama State to rename building honoring former governor — a one-time KKK leader https://philadelphiaobserver.com/alabama-state-to-rename-building-honoring-former-governor-a-one-time-kkk-leader/ Fri, 16 Oct 2020 12:31:39 +0000 http://philadelphiaobserver.com/?p=1648

(CNN)Alabama State University (ASU) is the latest entity to remove the name of a controversial figure from its building.

The university removed the name of former Alabama governor Bibb Graves from a residence hall on Wednesday. Graves was propelled into political power in the 1920s through the support of the Ku Klux Klan, the university said. And the hall has been located on the ASU campus since 1928.
 
The removal of Gibb’s name followed a unanimous vote by the ASU Board of Trustees to change the name of the residence hall that also houses a historic bell tower, the university said.
 
 
 
 
“I established a committee to research the names that are on our buildings to determine those who were closely associated with racist organizations, such as the Ku Klux Klan,” said ASU President Quinton T. Ross Jr. “Bibb Graves was a Klan leader at one point, so the decision was made to remove his name from the building.”
 
The university said when the name was physically removed, it took two men “less than two minutes to make a change that many have waited to see for years.”
 
Ross added that the process of selecting the appropriate name to be placed on the bell tower building will now begin.
 
“We will now begin the process of selecting the appropriate name to be placed on the Bell Tower building,” Ross said.

Source: Alabama State to rename building honoring former governor — a one-time KKK leader

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