From staff reports

It may seem strange that a story about the Ku Klux Klan would find its way to the front page of a newspaper on the day set aside to commemorate the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Monday, January 21, 2002

It may seem strange that a story about the Ku Klux Klan would find its way to the front page of a newspaper on the day set aside to commemorate the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr. But it has been said before that those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it. In the case of prejudice and racism, forgetting the mistakes and misdeeds of the past makes it more likely that we will make the same ones again.

Once upon a time, the Ku Klux Klan was a major player in Freeborn County. Anti-black activity may not have been their main purpose, and the organizers

may have come from outside the county, but the KKK’s message of ethnic intolerance and white supremacy found fertile soil here.

It is good to remember our history on days like today, both to see how far we have come as a community and also to see how we have fallen short of

the ideals expressed in the U.S. Constitution.

The days of the Klan’s ascendancy in southern Minnesota are long past, but has it’s legacy been completely rooted out? Today and every day it is

upon all of us to make sure that our treatment of those who are different from us is not rooted in ignorance and suspicion or based on stereotypes. Even

more importantly, it is the responsiblity of all of the adults in our community to ensure that the next generation – the children still growing up in our midst – are not saddled with old prejudices.

The possibility of building a truly &uot;color blind&uot; society, with liberty and justice for all, depends on how – and what – we teach our children.