NOTES ON THE KING KOTTON KARNIVAL:
Jeremy Schanche looks at the basis of the Klan's mythological self-image.
Since the KKK claim to base their cult on 'white' culture, which comes from Europe, and since they further claim lineage with the Anglo-Saxons, let's examine some of their beliefs.
Clans: The Ku Klux Klan is not, in reality, a clan. A clan is a tribal unit - the KKK is a political club - as well as being North America's first organized terrorist organization. The Scots Clansmen were warriors against British Imperialism. Amerikan Klansmen are not warriors who engage in battle, but rather murderers, who work in packs against vulnerable and isolated people. They do not engage in equal combat on battlefields. They do not seek fair fights, because they are foul, not fair.
Perhaps they still think we can't see them behind their white sheets but we can see through all their sheet. Many of us can see through the white sheet. Regardless of which side of the white sheet you're on, the fact is white sheet is pretty transparent stuff these days.
Since one day we are confronted with the fruits of our actions, I think it's important to take stock occasionally and ask ourselves if we are really on the right path, or are we starting to wander off a bit? A lot of people get into things that they feel strongly about, and 'patriotism' is a powerful feeling - but is hating and harming our neighbours something you can do and still claim to be a Christian?
If you're a member of the K of sympathetic to their aims I think you should examine your beliefs and ask yourself 'which side am I on?' Because you can't be for Jesus and the Klan - when Jesus said "Love Thy Neighbour" he didn't wink and cross his fingers and say "I'm not talking about those black people" or any such thing and we all know it. So you'd better decide now - are you for the Klan or for Christ, because you can not be for both?
Aryans:
Not everyone realizes that the term 'Aryan' comes from Sanskrit - from India, from Hindu scriptures that were written many centuries and millennia ago. To be of the 'Aryan race' is to be a brown-skinned Indian.
Caucasians:
The Caucasian region lies to the north of Asia Minor, as the name suggests. The so-called 'Caucasian race' is not European, but Asian, not white, but brown.
Aenglisch Hystorie:
Sometimes 'white' Americans like to call themselves 'Anglo-Saxons.' Let us clarify these terms. The Roman invaders departed from Britannia in the early 5th Century A.D., due to some troublesome Visigoths who were besieging Rome itself. The withdrawal of the occupying force created a power-vacuum among the now destabilized British, which was soon filled by various new invaders. These included the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, etc. who flooded in from around the area of what is now Germany. These tribes came to dominate the central region of Britannia, the land of the Brythonek Kelts or British Celts, and one particular Teutonic tribe, the Angles, imprinted their tribal name onto the land of the Ancient Britons, and so it became known as England, the Land of the Angles. To call yourself Anglo-Saxon is therefore to identify with the invading Germanic culture that was at war with Ancient Britannia, on and off, until 1496, when the last of the Cornish irregular armies was defeated by King Henry VIII's soldiers. The Anglo-Saxons had no connection with the Druidism of the Ancient Britons, which was largely destroyed by the Romans in A.D. 61, when they attacked the Holy Isle of Mona, or modern Anglesey.
Knighthood:
By definition, Knighthood can only be conferred by a monarch or other high-ranking member of a government and was traditionally bestowed for military valour in the service of a liege. If the Klan, who call themselves 'Knights,' were serious about Knighthood and Chivalry, they'd be challenging Black Panthers to armoured jousting with lances on horseback - obviously. You can't just assume Knighthood in a bourgeois parliamentary democracy - it is found in Feudalist and Monarchist societies, such as those of Olde Europe.
(Interesting fact about Knighthood: David Bowie was offered a Knighthood by the Queen of England but he turned it down. I take this to mean that he knew who he was - a charismatic bard and shaman, without needing anybody else's endorsement.)
Chivalry:
This is the code of honour by which a true Knight must live at all times. It is based upon the Christian ideals of mystical love and spiritual purity. A Knight vows to protect those who require protection, whomsoever they may be. In imitation of Christ, he devotes his life to serving others. Occasionally this would require engaging in honourable combat on the field of battle. (This is in no way similar to a drunken lynch-mob torturing an unarmed man to death, which seems to be the Klan's idea of chivalry.)
Wizards, etc.:
The governor of the Klan likes to be called the 'Grand Imperial Wizard,' a colourful title indeed, probably quite impressive to some of the dungaree-sporting cousins in the hollows, but if we break it down, the term is not really applicable. The 'Imperial' part of the title has some basis. Not a real empire in the historic sense, but a figurative empire perhaps - a secretive empire of infiltration and exclusion - a hollow hand within the glove of government, grasping at power for itself. To what degree the contemporary Klan has infested and corrupted the various wings of the governmental gooney-bird is questionable and cannot be answered by me. However, it seems to be taken for granted in the Department of Corrections that when your man goes off duty, he might well be changing into a different kind of 'uniform' and swearing allegiance to a different power-structure.
Imperialists they might be, but wizards they definitely are not. A wizard, if he is anything, is a worker of magic. That's quite a bold claim to make.
Ancient Britannia was the European centre of Druidism and despite Roman genocide and sacrilege, it was never totally destroyed, just driven underground. These ancient Caucasian wizards and Druids were men of the spirit - if they had tiny minds, stunted by ignorance and hatred, they would not have commanded the respect of the 'known world' and gone down in history as our spiritual forefathers.
The Klan might like to imagine themselves as empire-builders, we'll let that claim stand, but as far as Knighthood, Chivalry, Wizardry and particularly, Christianity goes - the Klan's claims are not only false but delusional and deeply ignorant of the truth for which Jesus Christ stood, for which he lived and for which he died on a cross.
