February 2009

Issue 1, Volume 7

Daryl Davis is a 50-year-old black pianist who has acquired more than twenty robes of former KKK members during his life. Davis was able to find a way to become friends with members of a group that hated him based solely on his skin color.

While he was attending a march with fellow cub scouts in the 60's, people started to throw debris and rocks at Davis, the only black person in the march. He could not understand why this happened. Even after his parents explained racism to him, the idea just seemed too ridiculous. From that point on, every time Daryl came home to Massachusetts he has experienced the same hatred.

While becoming more interested in music, which he would go on to get his bachelors' in at Howard University, Davis also started to research racism; it became his hobby.

In 1983, Davis was playing with a country western band at a truck stop and was complimented afterwards. A man told him it was the “first time he ever heard a black man play like Jerry Lee Lewis.” Davis was shocked to find out that the man was in the KKK, especially since the man had approached him.

Soon after, Davis decided to write a book with supremacists in the Klan being the focal point. He contacted his old friend for help with getting interviews.

Davis wanted to meet with Roger Kelly, the Grand Dragon of the Maryland KKK. His friend was too afraid to actually bring him there, but he gave him Kelly's address. He told him it would be safer to go to the Klan bar in Thurmont, Maryland because there he would have less of a chance of being killed.

Davis tried going there with his secretary Mary, but there was no one there. The next day, he had Mary call Roger Kelly and set up an appointment, not mentioning that Davis was black. They met at a motel where Davis used to perform. Roger Kelly walked in with his Night Hawk (bodyguard), shocked to find out that his interviewer was a black man.

The interview went smoothly until Roger Kelly made “a threatening noise” and Davis reacted by leaping up from his seat. They stared each other down until Mary pointed out that the soda cans Davis had bought shifted in their cases since the ice melted. They started to laugh at their ignorance and fear.

Davis had said, “Ignorance breeds fear. If you don't keep it in check, it breeds hatred. If you don't keep the hatred in check, it breeds destruction.” Their ignorance and fear had almost led to them fighting each other, but luckily they were stopped before it came to that.

Davis continued his interviews with mixed results. Some people refused him, some attacked him, and others granted him the interview.

During that process, Daryl stayed friends with Kelly. When he was in his neighborhood they would run errands together and dinner together. Once Kelly became the Imperial Wizard of Maryland, he would visit Daryl without his Night Hawk.

Davis started going to rallies and taking notes; he was welcomed there because the Klan follows its leaders blindly. Kelly would announce Davis' presence saying that they disagreed on certain issues, but since Davis was willing to listen they had a level of respect between them.

Some of the best advice that Davis gave in his book was to give your opponent a platform and question politely and intelligently. If you know the topic and are able to express your views maturely, then it will be a smoother process.

While Davis was trying to get his book published, he had a lot of trouble convincing publishing companies. CNN filmed him at the rally and interviewed Kelly, who explained how the views he had were cemented into his head. After that, Davis was able to publish his book Klandestine Relationships. Roger Kelly eventually ended up quitting the KKK, ending the Maryland sect.

Davis believes that racism is like cancer, spreading and brainwashing from generation to generation. He realized this first-hand when he was asked to be on television and two young girls, Erin (12) and Erica (14), had announced their plans to be in the Klan following after both their parents.

Three years later, they were both in the Klan and their father was in jail. Davis was going to be on the Jenny Jones Show and offered them a spot on it and a ride to visit their father in jail, since they hadn't seen him in three years. They reluctantly agreed to the offer.

In 2004, the entire family ended up quitting the Klan because of the niceness Davis expressed toward them. They are now friends, even to the point of the youngest kids calling him Uncle Daryl.

Daryl proved that by just listening to someone's beliefs and understanding them, you could learn a lot and even defy boundaries that had never been crossed before. He was incredibly inspirational and somebody who I think everyone should learn from.

Nicole Ortiz is an English Literature and Rhetoric major.