The Laurens Riot of 1870 has been covered in an array of articles; for an overview, see Bruce E. Baker, This Mob Will Surely Take My Life: Lynchings in the Carolinas, 1871–1947 (Bloomsbury Academic, 2008). That only sixty-five people were imprisoned as a result of the Ku Klux Klan acts comes from Shawn Alexander, Reconstruction Violence and the Ku Klux Klan Hearings (Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2015). For information about the release of The Birth of a Nation and its relevance to the formation of the second Klan, see Michael S. Rosenwald, “The Ku Klux Klan Was Dead. The First Hollywood Blockbuster Revived It,” Washington Post, August 12, 2017, and Rian Dundon, “Why Does the Ku Klux Klan Burn Crosses? They Got the Idea from a Movie,” Timeline, March 15, 2017. The detail about Clark and Tyler having been arrested at a house of “ill repute” is from the New York World exposé. The abduction and decapitation of Filmore Watt Daniel and Thomas Fletcher Richard, which became known as the Mer Rouge case, attracted national attention; for an overview, see the New York Times, December 27, 1922.
Though the Klan today is fractured and marginalized, the idea that it may, in fact, be more dangerous than previous incarnations was informed by John Drabble’s “From White Supremacy to White Power: The FBI, COINTELPRO–WHITE HATE, and the Nazification of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s,” American Studies 48, no. 3 (Fall 2007): 49–74. Information here and in later chapters on leaderless resistance is culled from Jason Burke, “The Myth of the ‘Lone Wolf’ Terrorist,” The Guardian, March 30, 2017; Mike German, “Behind the Long Terrorist, a Pack Mentality,” Washington Post, June 5, 2005; Laura Smith, “Armed Resistance, Lone Wolves, and Media Messaging: Meet the Godfather of the ‘Alt-Right,’ ” Timeline, November 6, 2017; Mike Isaacson, “The Real Origins of ‘Lone Wolf’ White Supremacists like Dylann Roof,” ThinkProgress, June 24, 2015; and David Cunningham, “Five Myths About the Ku Klux Klan,” Washington Post, March 11, 2016.
Three: The Perfect Recruit
Much has been written about the Ku Klux Klan’s moneymaking apparatus, particularly during the Simmons era of the 1920s. For an overview of the Klan’s financial dealings and dues schedule, see Roland G. Fryer Jr. and Steve D. Levitt, “Hatred and Profits: Under of the Hood of the Ku Klux Klan,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 127, no. 4 (2012): 1883–1925. Specific information about Bessie Tyler’s palatial Buckhead residence comes from the National Register of Historic Places Nomination Forms prepared by Steven Moffson (2005) and is summarized on the Buckhead Heritage Society website (buckheadheritage.com). The detail about the UKA’s Bob Jones and his Cadillac is from the “Klansville U.S.A.” documentary on PBS, which is summarized on pbs.org.
Michael Burden has recounted his first meeting with John Howard and his initiation into the Klan in a variety of articles and interviews; though the basic outline of his story remains the same, the details vary. In Eric Harrison’s account for the Los Angeles Times, “A Tale of Faith, Hope, and Hate,” July 30, 1997, Burden says he first met Howard in 1989—and later revises that to 1986. Harrison also reports that Burden was sleeping in an abandoned vehicle. In Monte Paulson’s article for the Columbia State, “Redneck Shop in Precarious Place,” May 24, 1997, Burden was spending most nights “in a friend’s car.” (Burden’s quote about having “ate, slept, drank and studied” the Klan also comes from this article.) That Burden’s biological parents were once members of the Klan is corroborated by an August 2009 deposition of John Howard in the matter of New Beginning Baptist Church vs. Michael Eugene Burden, John Howard, Hazel Howard, and Nicholas Edward Chappell, provided to me by attorney Rauch Wise, to whom I am grateful. (Howard’s decision to deed the Redneck Shop to Burden, as a matter of legal protection, is also confirmed by the deposition.)
Bill Riccio’s admission to combing shopping malls and swimming pools in search of prospective recruits, as well as numerous accounts of Riccio’s alleged sex abuse, are from the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report, Fall 2007 issue.
The quote from the Anti-Defamation League about Robert Shelton having “no other interests” beyond the KKK comes from David Cunningham, Klansville, U.S.A.: The Rise and Fall of the Civil Rights–Era Ku Klux Klan (Oxford University Press, 2012), 39. John Howard’s reverence for William Joseph Simmons and the 1920s-era Ku Klux Klan has been documented in a range of articles, including the Clinton Chronicle, March 20, 1996, and Frank Beacham, “A Visit to the Redneck Shop,” Orlando Weekly, January 23, 1997; the specific quotes about Simmons and his “vision in the sky” are from a YouTube video uploaded on October 2, 2011, by Max Wendroff (youtube.com/watch?v=fJQeSsnaPs8&t=136s). The counterfeit photograph of black Confederate soldiers is clearly visible in a YouTube video uploaded on August 24, 2010, by skier137 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1hshzHWG0c). The provenance of the photo, however, is described in detail in Jerome S. Handler and Michael L. Tuite, Jr. “Retouching History: The Modern Falsification of a Civil War Photograph,” 2007, online at http://people.virginia.edu/~jh3v/retouchinghistory/essay.html#11. For information on the origin of the MIOAK, see the Anti-Defamation League’s website, https://www.adl.org/education/references/hate-symbols/blood-drop-cross. For information about cross-burning and its depiction in The Birth of a Nation, see my notes for Chapter Two.
An enormous amount has been written about the Greensboro Massacre of 1979. For a definitive account, see Jason Kops, “The Greensboro Massacre: A Challenge to Accepted Historical Interpretations,” Explorations 7 (2012): 76–86, https://uncw.edu/csurf/Explorations/documents/JasonKops.pdf. James Farrands’s quotes about being a “new breed” of Klansman are from William Sherman, “The Boys in the Hoods,” Mirabella, September 1992. His eventual banishment of neo-Nazis from the Invisible Empire is described in the Asheville Times-Citizen, June 20, 1993. The statistic about John Howard’s Klan faction having but forty members is from the Orangeburg Times and Democrat, January 1, 1981. The resurgence of the Klan in South Carolina, Charles Murphy’s quotes about the “new and better leadership” of Horace King, and the SLED chief’s belief that people were “too smart” to join the Klan are from the Greenville News, August 29, 1985. For information about the marches in Clinton and Laurens (and the relevant lawsuits filed by the Klan), see the Greenville News, October 24, 1985.
The information about Shelton’s arrival at the Indian Springs meeting is culled from reporting in Patsy Sims’s The Klan, 2nd ed. (University Press of Kentucky, 1996) and from Cunningham’s Klansville, U.S.A. The specific information about Michael Burden’s weapons cache and acquired books on explosives comes from South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) Notes pertaining to case number P97-260, obtained via Freedom of Information Act request.
The account of William “Wild Bill” Hoff’s childhood in south Brooklyn, his discharge from the Navy, and his subsequent descent into the world of organized hate largely comes from reporting in the Elmira Star-Gazette, August 28, 1969, and from interviews his brother Sheldon granted with the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report, Fall 2007 issue. See also New York Times, October 12, 1968, and August 14, 1969, and the Elmira Star-Gazette, April 20, 2007. Details of Hoff’s employment at and dismissal from the Third World Employment Agency can be found in an Associated Press report in the Phoenix Arizona Republic, May 24, 1992. Hoff’s “tall tales” of his time as a mercenary and his former run for Senate are summarized in several of the above articles, as well as in Robert Dalton, “A Force in NSM Carried Secret to His Grave,” goupstate.com, April 15, 2007. A number of posts on the Vanguard News Network forum, a white supremacist website, further propagate rumors of Hoff’s life within the movement. See especially vnnforum.com/showthread.php?t=41685 and vnnforum.com/showthread.php?t=24876.
Jack Levin’s quotes about Burden being a “perfect recruit” are from Paulson, “Redneck Shop in Precarious Place.” Kathlee Blee’s quotes are from Mike Sajna, “Pitt Researcher Dispels Many Myths About KKK’s Members,” University Times 29, no. 5 (April
1997) (www.utimes.pitt.edu/archives/?p=5301).
For information about the collapse of the Riegel mill in Ware Shoals, see the UPI archives, August 13, 1982 (https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/08/13/The-Riegel-Textile-Corp-has-announced-that-850-millworkers/5590398059200) and the New York Times, December 22, 1984. The statistic about the closing of thirty South Carolina manufacturing plants in 1983 alone is from the Greenville News, March 8, 1994. The information about the restaurant proprietor in Iva is from the Greenville News, December 13, 1995. The quote about the collapse of the Milliken mill potentially being a “death bell” comes from an Associated Press report in the Greenwood Index-Journal, July 27, 1994. For information about the decline of business in the Laurens courthouse square, see the Greenville News, September 5, 1985.
The auction of Klan memorabilia in Freemont, Michigan, that fetched nearly $30,000 was covered in the Greenville News, November 1, 1992.
Michael Burden’s remainder interest in John Howard’s life estate ownership of the Echo theater was recorded in Deed Book 315, page 55, at the Laurens County Clerk of Court’s office. Barry Black’s ninety-nine-year lease on the Echo can be viewed online at search.laurensdeeds.com.
Four: Burn It Down
Reverend Kennedy’s preemptive attempts to shut down the Redneck Shop are described in Monte Paulson, “Redneck Shop in Precarious Place,” Columbia State, May 24, 1997. For statistics on the representation of the African American community in Laurens (and for Marian Miller’s quote about Project Awakening), see the Greenville News, April 15, 1990. For information on the Ware Shoals church experiencing intimidation by members of the Klan, see the Greenwood Index-Journal, August 14, 1994. For the closure of Lydia Mill and Laurens Glass, see the Laurens County Advertiser, March 27 and April 10, 1996, and the Clinton Chronicle, March 27, 1996.
Ed McDaniel’s appearance before the County Council was reported in the Laurens County Advertiser, March 13, 1996, and the Clinton Chronicle, March 13, 1996. For information on his unity ribbon campaign, see the Laurens County Advertiser, March 15, 1996. The information from Site Selection magazine comes from the Greenville News, December 10, 1998. For additional information about the Redneck Shop’s grand opening, see the Greenville News, March 5 and March 8, 1996, and the Washington Post, May 30, 1996. John Howard’s quote about his desire for respect from the African American community, as well as Sheriff Robin Morse’s quote about having “no beef” with Howard, are both from the Laurens County Advertiser, March 6, 1996. The Channel 7 News piece is available in full on YouTube, uploaded to the site on October 29, 2010, by jabbertube (youtube.com/watch?v=cJYiouB83is). The “Your Two Cents” column appeared in the Laurens County Advertiser, March 15, 1996. The anecdote about the “codger” who threatened a black customer is from Mike Pulley, “Shopping with the Klan,” Sacramento News and Review, September 12, 1996. John Howard’s claim that he knew “just how a black person felt” is from an Associated Press report in the Greenwood Index-Journal, March 14, 1996.
The meeting at Rev. Kennedy’s church, during which Councilwoman Miller warned demonstrators to be cautious and careful, was covered by the Greenville News, March 11, 1996. For Rev. Kennedy’s first protest rally against the Redneck Shop, as well as Rev. Jesse Jackson’s arrival in Laurens, see the Laurens County Advertiser, March 20 and March 22, 1996; the Clinton Chronicle, March 20, 1996; and the Associated Press report in the Greenwood Index-Journal, March 17, 1996. The near-arrest of a local Klansman was covered in the Greenville News, March 17, 1996. For David Prichard Hunter’s vandalism, see the Laurens County Advertiser, March 27, 1996, the Associated Press report in the Gaffney Ledger, March 25, 1996, the Greenville News, March 26, 1996, and the Clinton Chronicle, March 27, 1996.
Five: Non Silba Sed Anthar
Howard’s damages claim and the quotes from David Prichard Hunter’s defense attorney are from the Greenville News, April 5 and May 8, 1996. For information on the Janet Reno–led investigation, see the Greenville News, March 21, 1996. The detail about John Howard’s bank asking him to close his account is from an Associated Press report in the Orangeburg Times and Democrat, March 19, 1996.
The Laurens County Council’s approval of Ed McDaniel’s proposed anti-Klan resolution was covered in the Laurens County Advertiser, March 27, 1996, and the Clinton Chronicle, March 27, 1996. The quote from Jim Coleman comes from McDaniel’s obituary, March 18, 2015, at golaurens.com. For information about Councilman McDaniel’s Unity Forum, see the Laurens County Advertiser, April 5, 1996, and the Clinton Chronicle, April 10 and April 12, 1996.
For Reverend Kennedy’s appearance before South Carolina’s legislative Black Caucus, as well as the Caucus’s response to the Redneck Shop and general tensions with Governor Beasley, see: the Greenville News, March 15, April 25, and September 2, 1995, and January 6, 1996, and Associated Press reports in the Greenwood Index-Journal, June 14 and December 20, 1995. For worsening race relations in South Carolina, see the Greenville News, April 14 and May 3, 1996; the Associated Press report in the Orangeburg Times and Democrat, May 3, 1996; the Associated Press report in the Greenwood Index-Journal, March 20, 1996; and the Baltimore Sun, June 30, 1996. Rev. Kennedy’s warning about an imminent race war comes from an Associated Press report in the Greenwood Index-Journal, April 25, 1996.
For a more general account of Martin Luther King Jr.’s commitment to nonviolent resistance and his legacy, see Mark Engler and Paul Engler, “MLK Was a Disruptor,” Salon, January 18, 2016, and Matt Berman, “The Forgotten Martin Luther King: A Radical Anti-War Leftist,” The Atlantic, March 28, 2013. For a full transcript of King’s remarks before the Rabbinical Assembly on March 25, 1968, see rabbinicalassembly.org. Rev. Jesse Jackson’s reference to King as a “civil rights teddy bear” is from Drew Dellinger, “The Ecological King: A Vision for Our Times,” Institute of Noetic Sciences, January 16, 2017.
The career history of attorney Suzanne Coe was culled from a variety of articles, in particular the Greenville News, August 15, 1993; the Columbia State, July 21, 1996; and an Associated Press report in the Pensacola News Journal, June 3, 1995. For more information about Coe’s representation of local gentlemen’s club Diamonds, see the Greenville News, December 1, 1994, June 15, July 19, and October 6, 1995. Coe’s quote about not wanting to take John Howard’s case is from the New York Times, November 17, 1996. The detail about the words “Jesus Loves Everybody” being painted on the door of the Redneck Shop comes from the Greenville News, April 12, 1996.
For an overview of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, see the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report, Summer 2000 and Spring 2002 issues. See also Jon Elliston, “Between Heritage and Hate,” Ashville Mountain Xpress, August 18, 2004, and Katy Waldman, “Guardians of White Innocence,” Slate, September 25, 2017. For information about Linda Sewell, see the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Report, Spring 2003. The Larry King Live interview is available on YouTube, uploaded May 22, 2011, by user Daniel Martin (youtube.com/watch?v=PZmBvHMev4g).
For information about the Klan “hotline,” see the Washington Post, May 30, 1996.
Barry Black’s promise to leave Laurens for “a million dollars” comes from an Associated Press report in the Greenwood Index-Journal, March 17, 1996. Black’s boast about having acquired a print of the Puckett lynching appeared in Harry Allen, “Shop of Horrors,” Vibe, June-July 1996. Evidence of the Redneck Shop’s sale of the Puckett photo appears in Bruce E. Baker’s “Under the Rope: Lynching and Memory in Laurens County, South Carolina,” in Where These Memories Grow: History, Memory, and Southern Identity, ed. W. Fitzhugh Brundage (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000), 319–346. See also the Greenwood Index-Journal, May 13, 1996. The quotes from Teddy Craine, Roger Stowe, and Stephanie Wilke are from the Greenville News, July 20, 1996; the Washington Post, May 30, 1996; and the Washington Post, March 18, 1996, respectively.
Reverend Kennedy’s second ral
ly against the Redneck Shop was reported in the Greenville News, April 17 and April 28, 1996, and the Clinton Chronicle, April 24, 1996.
Michael Burden has described the near assassination of Reverend Kennedy in a variety of articles, including Monte Paulson, “Redneck Shop in Precarious Place,” Columbia State, May 24, 1997, and Eric Harrison, “A Tale of Faith, Hope, and Hate,” Los Angeles Times, July 30, 1997. The precise date of the altercation, however, is difficult to determine. Paulson reports that it occurred sometime in February 1996, weeks before the shop opened. Based on interviews with Burden and Rev. Kennedy, I believe the altercation most likely took place in April.
Six: “Choose”
For John Howard’s defamation lawsuit against Councilman Ed McDaniel, see Laurens County court record 96-CP30-228. Details of the suit can also be found in the Clinton Chronicle, May 15 and June 12, 1996, and the Laurens County Advertiser, May 8, 1996. Howard’s quote about Rev. Kennedy getting “in trouble” is from the Clinton Chronicle, May 1, 1996.
Burden Page 21