Black man found racist KKK recruitment flyer on his car but vows to not be intimidated
A Black man in Philadelphia refuses to be moved by a racist KKK recruitment flyer that he said was found on his car’s windshield.
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Malik Upshur is speaking out against the hateful material that’s been found circulating in his South Philadelphia neighborhood from a branch of the Ku Klux Klan called The Knights Party, The Philadelphia Tribune reports.
“It’s just something I never thought I’d experience. My grandmother has been living here 94 years,” Upshur said.
The materials were recruiting members with the rallying cry: “Western Christian civilization is under attack,” and “White people are a world wide minority and there are programs of genocide against white children.”
The outlet reached out to the Knights Party national director Thomas Robb who said the organization has “a lot of members in Pennsylvania and some in Philadelphia.”
Robb also said the materials are usually left on cars and members are directed not to hand out promotional materials “because we recognize that could be twisted into some act of intimidation and so on,” he said.
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On its website, the organization’s slogan reads: “THE PREMIER VOICE OF AMERICA’S WHITE RESISTANCE.”
City Councilman Kenyatta Johnson, who represents Upshur, told the newspaper the distribution of the hateful material was a blatant act of intimidation.
“He is the only African American on the block and it just so happens this card winds up on his windshield. I call that more than a coincidence,” Johnson said.
“For me,” the councilman said, “it was totally upsetting and disgusting to discover that there are hate groups in this particular beautiful neighborhood. … This will not be tolerated.”
Johnson as well as NAACP Philadelphia Chapter President Rodney Muhammad and city Commission on Human Relations Executive Director Rue Landau denounced the distribution of the hate materials.
Upshur said he was “not intimidated” and said he’s “here to stay.”
