AFRICAN AMERICAN DRESSED IN KKK HOOD ON STREET CORNER SPARKS CONTROVERSY IN PHILADELPHIA (2945 hits)
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – In 2013, no one expects to see a man dressed in a Ku Klux Clan robe mid-morning in Center City, Philadelphia.
“I think that’s nonsense,” said one woman on the street.
“He needs to be committed to the jail system,” said another onlooker.
The man, who stood on the corner of 13th and Filbert on Tuesday, is not out to lynch or kill black people. In fact, he is black.
Thirty-five-year-old Sixx King says he’s using the offensive symbol to highlight a serious problem: black on black crime.
“We’re bringing awareness to the black hypocrisy, complacency and apathy in the African-American community,” said King.
According to the FBI, in 2011 more than 7,000 black people were killed. King’s sign reads that the KKK killed 3,446 blacks in 86 years, while black on black murders surpass that number every six months.
“All my anger for my ancestors who went through that terror of a Ku Klux Klan hood and what that symbolizes to me, evoked anger,” said Philadelphia Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. “I was angry!”
Councilman Jones took a picture of what he witnessed and posted it on Facebook. Hundreds have shared the image, and the comments were mixed.
“You have to sit back and digest his message,” said Jones. “Sit back and understand the mother who was carrying the picture of her child. It’s not a statistic. It’s a human being with a name who will be missed.”
“He was an exceptional football athlete,” said Javes Phelps-Washington. “He was in his second year in college. He was a good kid.”
Phelps-Washington rallied with King. Her son, Christopher, was among the 324 murdered in Philadelphia in 2011. Police say 85% of those killed that year were black.
Phelps-Washington is part of a documentary King recently produced about black on black crime.
King told me he didn’t intend to offend anyone. When asked if he thinks standing on the corner in a KKK outfit will really make a difference, King said, “I don’t think it will stop someone from killing. But hopefully, it would make that person think.”
“I don’t agree with that symbolization,” said Jones. “But you can’t ignore the message, so I support what he did.”
The Black Klansman: Why Black Activist Sixx King Dons His KKK Robes March 17, 2014 14:06 BST
African-American activist and film director Sixx King has taken to the streets of Philadelphia dressed in a KKK robe to highlight an often under-reported topic: interracial violence within the black community.
Using a symbol of hate to provoke people and educate them about violence among black people, King walked the streets holding a sign which read: "The KKK killed 3,446 blacks in 86 years. Black on black murders surpass that number every six months."
“"The KKK killed 3,446 blacks in 86 years. Black on black murders surpass that number every six months."”
According to King, many black on black violence victims were children. And this is what led him to take a stance.
"As a father I would never want to experience the tragedy that has been a reality for so many African-American parents," King told IBTimes UK.
"I wanted to re-shock the pulse of the black community to take action and remember where we came from and where we are now, and the sacrifices of those who came before us.
"Most folks got it and others didn't but if I only reached one person then it's a well done job," he continued.
According to the FBI, the number of black people who were murdered in 2011 totalled 7,000.
"If a small country in Africa loses 7,000 [people] a year, it would be considered genocide," King said.
"The world would assume that these killings are associated with gangs and drugs but 95% are just random killings which make the problem more baffling and harder to combat."
King has released a documentary, Mothers of No Tomorrow, which sheds light on the journey black mothers make when their children are victims of interracial violence.
The documentary, personally funded by King, reveals that African-American men accounted for more than 50% of the homicide victims in 2010.
According to the US Department of Justice, in just one year, black on black homicides surpassed the combined number of deaths of US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001.
"It was a film that had to be made," said King.
He has written an open letter to black America, urging the African-American community to end "apathy and complacency".
"When a white man shoots an unarmed black man we yell injustice, but when a black shoots an unarmed black man we remain silent," he said.
King also urged the NRA ( National Rifle Association of America) to "take corrective action to secure the safety of our children. To make sure that the nightmare of the Sandy Hook tragedy or the innocence of a fifteen year old honor student in Chicago never play out again."
