"Redneck Shop" Causes Racial Rift In S.C.

Building's Owner, A Black Civil Rights Activist, Wants Shop That Sells KKK Robes Closed

(AP)  A black civil rights activist is fighting to close a store that sells KKK robes and T-shirts emblazoned with racial slurs. David Kennedy is confident he can make it happen. After all, he says he owns the building.

Since 1996, the Redneck Shop has operated in an old movie theater that, according to court records, was transferred in 1997 to Kennedy and the Baptist church he leads.

"Our ownership puts an end to that history as far as violence and hatred, racism being practiced in that place and also the recruiting of the Klan," Kennedy said. "This is the same place that we had to go up into the balcony to go to the movies before the Klan took it. So there's a lot of history there."

But legal documents also indicate that the man who runs the store, 62-year-old John Howard, is entitled to operate his business in the building until he dies. Now the dispute may go to court.

Kennedy, 54, has led protests outside the store since it opened but said he's never been able to close it because of the agreement that Howard can run the shop for life.

The reverend envisions the building as a potential future home for his New Beginnings Missionary Baptist Church, which now meets in a double-wide trailer.

Kennedy claims he can't even visit his own property because Howard won't let him in when he appears in the door. But that didn't happen during a recent visit with an Associated Press reporter and photographer.

"Reverend Kennedy, where you been hiding?" Howard shouted when the door opened.

Inside the store, hooded Klan robes hang on the same rack as the racist T-shirts. Pictures of men, women and children in Klan clothing and pamphlets tell a partial history of the organization.

Howard used to own the whole building. When his store first opened, he said, people threw rocks at his windows, spit in his doorway and picketed. A month later, a man intentionally crashed his van through the front windows.

"If anything turns people off, they shouldn't come in here. It's not a thing in here that's against the law," Howard said, adding that he was once the KKK's grand dragon for South Carolina and North Carolina.

To blacks, Kennedy said, the store is a reminder of this region's painful past, which includes the lynching of his great, great uncle by a white mob.

The town of Laurens, about 30 miles southeast of Greenville, was named after 18th century slave trader Henry Laurens.

Some street addresses are still marked with the letter "C" that once designated black homes as "colored." Racial tension was heightened in recent years when two white female teachers were sentenced for having sex with male students - all of them black.

Kennedy has a long history of fighting racial injustice. He protested when a South Carolina county refused to observe the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, and he helped lobby to remove the Confederate flag from the Statehouse dome.

When people in the region allege racism, he rallies attention to the cause. A walk through the neighborhood where he was born shows that he seems a stranger to no one.

"Hey Rev," one man says as he strolls by.

"Pump it up," Kennedy responds with the phrase he uses at his protests.

Mary Redd, who lives across from the house where Kennedy was born, said blacks know to contact the pastor with their problems.

"And he helps them out," added neighbor Deborah Cheeks.

Kennedy said progress has always been slow to come to Laurens.

"There are two powers in the world: the mind and the sword," he said. "In the long run, the sword is defeated by the mind. I want to destroy the concept of hatred."

[singindick]

So if they close this store are they going to stop black rappers from making derogatory remarks about white women in their "songs"? Probably not.
Posted by nahgem at 05:01 PM : Mar 12, 2008

That would be a good idea -- why don''t you start that boycott instead of just crying about it?

[libsrweak]

its a clear case of ''free speech and expression''..just as black rappers has the right to free speech and expression..just ss liberals can sell *** and perversion..anti-bush protests and such ALL PROTECTED..SORRY..

[nahgem-2009]

So if they close this store are they going to stop black rappers from making derogatory remarks about white women in their "songs"? Probably not.

[msnooy79]

Do people actually buy stuff in this shop? He actually stays in business?

[highlandange]

My Opinion1
Just as I suspected. You are a coward. If you can''t stand the heat get out of the kitchen.

Folks,

Please don''t judge SC, or the south based on this CBS or any news article, the television shows you watch, or the songs you hear. Just as you don''t like being judged by the individual idiots of your states, please don''t judge us. I live in SC, lived in NC, & am proud resident of the South. I grew up during the Civil Rights Movements, support and supported them in 50''s & 60''s, & am grateful those days are nearly over. Nearly, not completely. I''m afraid there will always be ANIMALS around.

Yes, we have such creatures in our state. Unfortunately they are our ''crosses'' to bear. Just as in many of the other areas of the country. Ca. has Dan White; the NW it''s militias; the West has it''s immigrants; Texas its cults.

Please remember we also have the Blue Ridge Mountains, less than a day''s ride from the coast; some of the best food (it''s not all fried!); the suburban areas many states are trying to emulate; our slower, less hectic life styles; and the fastest growing retirement communities in the country.

We must be doing something right. Please come and check out for yourselves. I believe you''ll be surprised.

[candide777]

Oh South Carolina
The devil fools with the best laid plan.
Swing low South Carolina
Your cadillac has got a wheel in the ditch
And a wheel on the track
Oh South Carolina.
What are you doing, South Carolina?
You got the rest of the union to help you along
Whats going wrong?

-- Neil Young [adapted from Alabama]

I''m all for free speech and would never make this guy''s store illegal, but South Carolina needs to clean up its act! What a disgrace you are to the union!

[vmcneal2]

This store is selling klan stuff in a building owned by a Black guy. If I was that building owner I would want that fat pig foot eatin red neck out of my building too. Get serious, even the bigots know the Black building owner is right.

[libsrweak]

-- Neil Young [adapted from Alabama]



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Posted by Candide777 at 02:53 PM : Mar 11, 2008
+ report abuse


************

Neil Young had been unemployed for a long time..NO MORE SLAVES.. not unless you can create a racial tension...LIBERALS FALL FOR IT EVERYYYYYYYYYYTIME

[libsrweak]

oh oh..violation of rights..

rights to free speech and expression..(not that I am saying that all speech and expression is right but..)

[l00ker]

I was speaking specifically to the points made in the post that I was responding to. Okay? Genius?
Posted by l00ker at 09:27 AM : Mar 11, 2008

Exactly, and the BS point he was making was that blacks have no right to be upset about a KKK store because some blacks commit violent crimes. You and S_Temper are great examples of the stupidity that runs rampant in this country and that causes the problems we have with racism. Think before you open your mouth next time. Does the fact that some whites commit violent crimes mean that no whites are allowed to speak out against racism? Of course not. You and S_Temper don''''t need to get your priorities straight, you need to get your brains straight.

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Posted by Candide777 at 02:51 PM : Mar 11, 2008


If you put more thought into what you write, then maybe you''d make more sense, to those other than yourself. Okay? Genius?

[flreason]

S_Temper...Let''s look at those numbers: that means that 79.4% of all violent crimes on whites are commited by persons other than blacks, ditto 54.5% of all robberies of whites, and 83.9% of assaults of whites.

Then let''s look at those numbers from another perspective. The largest number of crimes by blacks against whites are robberies. The demographic that commits the most robberies are young men. The unemployment rate for young black men is roughly twice that of young white men and strongly correlates with the higher involvement in robberies. The job opportunities for people with less than a college education has steadily declined, and college costs have dramatically risen. That puts individuals from lower income groups at a distinct disadvantage in both employment and ability to get education/training that will lead to steady, good-paying jobs. (See www.kff.org/minorityhealth/upload/7541.pdf and www.urbaninstitute.org/UploadedPDF/1001111_moynihan_perspective.pdf)

Greedy people who don''t want to pay taxes to support good schools, affordable college costs, affordable housing, and law enforcement in low income, minority neighborhoods (not to mention foreign wars) need to take a good look in the mirror when they''re assigning blame.

[singindick]

"It''s not a thing in here that''s against the law." Store Proprietor, Redneck Shop

LOL -- a true reflection of South Carolina''s educational system!

[candide777]

Oh South Carolina
The devil fools with the best laid plan.
Swing low South Carolina
Your cadillac has got a wheel in the ditch
And a wheel on the track
Oh South Carolina.
What are you doing, South Carolina?
You got the rest of the union to help you along
Whats going wrong?

-- Neil Young [adapted from Alabama]

[candide777]

I was speaking specifically to the points made in the post that I was responding to. Okay? Genius?
Posted by l00ker at 09:27 AM : Mar 11, 2008

Exactly, and the BS point he was making was that blacks have no right to be upset about a KKK store because some blacks commit violent crimes. You and S_Temper are great examples of the stupidity that runs rampant in this country and that causes the problems we have with racism. Think before you open your mouth next time. Does the fact that some whites commit violent crimes mean that no whites are allowed to speak out against racism? Of course not. You and S_Temper don''t need to get your priorities straight, you need to get your brains straight.

[tomanyt]

vmcneal2...Open your bible. It has plenty of slavery and killing. Should we get rid of Christians too? I''m game!

[tomanyt]

my5200..."These white men must be eliminated." Sounds pretty racist. So how does that make you better then them?

[my5200-2009]

White men are the only ones in this country who would open a store to sell hate and get away with it. Encouraging hate and intimidation against Americans is terorism. These white men must be eliminated.

[SuzieH212006]

It sounds like a lot of people here missed the point. It doesn''t matter what race commits the most crimes against the other race, or against their own people. It should be looked at as they are just people murdering other people, regardless of race. It really doesn''t even matter what their skin color, or who they commited the crime against. The fact would be that person is a criminal, not a white criminal or a black criminal. We will never get rid of the racial divide in this country if we can not grasp basic concepts like this...

[l00ker]

Agreed, no one is above the law; besides, blacks murder blacks often as well. Points well received.
Posted by l00ker at 11:45 PM : Mar 10, 2008

What on earth does that have to do with it? Are you telling me that because blacks kill blacks, it''''s okay to hate all blacks? Guess what, genius? Whites kill whites too? So what does that mean, that all whites should be vilified and discriminated against? My god, conservatives are mentally challenged. And I''''m being generous.

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Posted by Candide777 at 01:13 AM : Mar 11, 2008


Genius? I''ll accept the compliment; in addition, no where in my post, did I say that hating anyone was okay; moreover, I was speaking specifically to the points made in the post that I was responding to. Okay? Genius?

[vmcneal2]

I don''t agree with the preachings of the Nation of Islam (Black Muslims) but the difference is that I don''t recall the Nation of Islam hanging anybody, burning churches down or burning crosses in front of peoples homes. Jessie Jackson and Al Sharpton may be a thorn in the side of some people but they have not murdered anybody. The Klan has done all of these things and much more. The Klan is a terrorist group and in my view no different than the people that flew planes into the twin towers.