I picked up a copy of Life recently and read where the Ku Klux Klan was on the march again in Saint Augustine, Florida, and throughout the south. To most Canadians, the Klan is something we read about in books. Or perhaps our memories go back to an ancient motion picture called "The Birth of a Nation" which focused a great deal of attention on the Klan. But the Klan is not that remote. I remember watching a meeting of the Klan back in the thirties in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was held in front of the Exhibition Grandstand and was complete with hooded members and the burning of three crosses. Over the years I have asked myself, what kind of man does it take to don a silly white sheet with a pointed hood. What kind of a mentality does it take to burn a home, or club Negro to death, or deface a synagogue? It is hard to believe, isn't it, that man is still mostly animal away down deep and that certain of us like the idea of joining a society that allows us to release our hostilities on someone of a different faith or colour and still remain anonymous by way of a dirty bedsheet. The segregation in the south is a problem that is many many years from being solved but here in Canada we have our own conflicts and our own interracial problems. It is well to remember that organizations like the Klan do nothing but make a bad situation worse and we must all be vigilant that these organizations are not permitted growing room in our own community. Problems continue to confront us all in our dealings with our fellow men. They can be solved if we face them and teach our children to face them openly and honestly in the light of good Christian teaching. A fiery cross, a lynching or a bomb in the mailbox is the answer to nothing.
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