AHEPA Condemns Publisher's Call for KKK to "Night Ride Again"

WASHINGTON, DC - Press release dated Feb. 20, 2019 - Supreme President George E. Loucas has issued the following statement: 

"We are alarmed by an editorial published in the Democrat-Reporter, an Alabama small-town newspaper, that opened, 'Time for the Ku Klux Klan to night ride again.'

"The KKK terrorized immigrants and minorities, including Americans of Hellenic heritage, during its resurgence in the early 20th century.  The KKK's intimidating and sometimes violent discrimination toward Greek immigrants led to the founding of our Order in 1922 in Atlanta--the home of the KKK's headquarters at the time.

"Therefore, any call for the KKK to 'night ride again'--no matter where it is published or the volume of the media outlet's circulation or distribution--must be condemned.

"We appreciate U.S. Senator Doug Jones and U.S. Congresswoman Terri Sewell for speaking out against the editorial.

"We call for the author of the editorial, Mr. Goodloe Sutton, who is the publisher and editor of the Democrat-Reporter, to resign."

Earlier this week, Mr. Sutton confirmed to the Montgomery Advertiser that he did author the editorial, which was published unsigned.

Background

The Order of AHEPA was founded in 1922 in Atlanta, Georgia, on the principles that undergirded its fight for civil rights and against discrimination, bigotry, and hatred felt at the hands of the Ku Klux Klan.

In 1990, AHEPA filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief in the Georgia Supreme Court. It backed the legal position of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of B'nai B'rith in support of a state law banning masks in public which was challenged by the KKK. The court ruled 6 to 1 to uphold the constitutionality of the anti-mask statute.

 

For more info on this subject, go to: https://www.pappaspost.com/forgotten-history-the-klan-vs-americans-of-greek-heritage-in-an-era-of-hate-and-the-birth-of-the-ahepa/

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AHEPA is the largest and oldest grassroots association of American citizens of Greek heritage and Philhellenes with more than 400 chapters across the United States, Canada, and Europe.