In the early ’90s, my hometown of Dubuque, Iowa was considered one of the last remaining strongholds of white racist power in the north. Crosses were burned; an African American family’s garage was burned down. Kids that I went to high school with, who were at the center of the controversy—kids that consider themselves racially superior— appeared on a national daytime talk show to explain their views.
The KKK even brought their Grand Wizard to a hate rally in Dubuque. To counteract the racist rally, the city held a diversity rally at a popular park.
Instead of going to the park, I joined the protest against the KKK at ground zero. Every time the Grand Wizard tried to speak over his PA system, we shouted him down. After an hour of trying to address a couple dozen KKK supporters and getting shouted down each time, the Grand Wizard ran to his bus with his tail between his legs and went back to the south. Later, because some of the KKK supporters had violated their parole terms by joining the rally, they were arrested and jailed.
While racism is still common, I thought that was that last I’d see of such a blatant display as I now live in the sleepy, easygoing, small rural town of Grand Marais. That was until the other day when I was driving on the Gunflint Trail and saw an Obama campaign sign spray painted with the letters “KKK.”
It isn’t the only sign defaced in the county, as I’ve seen another on County Road 7. There is no excuse for this type of behavior and no one should try to be an apologist for it. I don’t think I need to write an argument about why racism is wrong and disgusting, because any rational person understands. The problem is that people who spray paint racist hate aren’t rational.
I urge anyone that knows something about who did this to report it to the police. Let’s together work to put an end to racism.
Bryan Hansel
Grand Marais
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