St.

Tuesday, August 21, 2001

St. Paul Mayor Norm Coleman made a public plea Monday to anyone considering anti-Klan protests during a KKK rally at the Capitol Saturday. By protesting, Coleman said, other groups would only draw extra attention to the Klan.

He’s right. The KKK’s stunt is clearly designed just to put the organization in the public eye, and the controversy over the counter demonstration has already helped to do that. The group is looking for a confrontation; why else would it schedule a public rally? If large numbers turn out to rally against the Klan, the gathering will end up being huge, loud and heavily covered by the media. The Klan will have succeeded in its goal of drawing attention to itself.

It’s natural to want to respond to groups that promote hatred with a forceful and angry response. But when somebody is picking a fight, the noble thing to do is to walk away, not fall into the trap.