ALIVE & KKK-ING IN US?


BY TRACY KILSBY

Hate club: insignia of Alabama’s KKK

Hate club: insignia of Alabama’s KKK

Exhibition opens in Glasgow next week provides shocking evidence that the Ku Klux Klan remains a potent force

An exhibition which opens in Glasgow next week provides shocking evidence that, far from being consigned to the history books, the Ku Klux Klan remains a potent force.

A unique display of images by James Edward Bates, an award-winning photographer, provides uncomfortable evidence of how the KKK survives and thrives in the deep south of the USA.

REVEAL

The 40 black and white images reveal that Klan members continue to pass on their beliefs of racial separation and white supremacy to a new generation of members.

Bates, who grew up in south Mississippi, spent seven years chronicling the activities of Klan members as they passed the torch of intolerance to a new generation.

Although the southern states of the US have come a long way toward reconciling diverse communities, underlying racial tensions still exist and it is these that Bates has spent much of his life highlighting.

Generation KKK: Passing the Torch, which opens at the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art in Glasgow on November 18, and runs until April 9, accounts for four years of photo-taking: Bates shot the images between 1998 and 2002.

“It is not my place to judge either side of this or any issue,” said Bates who tried to remain objective throughout the project.

“Certainly, I have an opinion, but it is my responsibility as a photojournalist to document life as it happens before me. The work should speak for itself. These images stir emotions, from which comes awareness.”

HISTORY

Glasgow was picked to be the first city in the world to host the exhibition after its debut at the 15th International Festival of Photojournalism in Perpignan, France, because Scotland played its part in Klan history. It is thought that six emigrant Scots, veterans of the Confederate army, set up the organisation in 1866 after the American Civil War.

Photojournalist Charles Moore, who shot key moments of the 1960s civil rights movement, says of Bates’ work: “To see his photograph of a parent showing their child how to hold a torch in a ceremony sends chills up my spine! I believe change can only occur through public awareness and dialogue.”


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