People who live in Greeneville’s Meadowlark Subdivision say white supremacists are singling them out. Several homeowners in the mostly black neighborhood say earlier this month, in the middle of the night, the Ku Klux Klan dropped off hate mail in their front yards. They say they found about two-dozen KKK flyers along Benbow Road and Outer Drive.
The two different flyers are titled “Wake Up White America & Take A Stand” and “10 Steps To A Better America.“ The flyers denounce interracial marriage and homosexuality amo
ng other things. The literature also calls for a secure future for the KKK’s “White Christian Children.“
“The Devil is busy and (the KKK) talk about being Christians, how can you say you’re a Christian displaying all this hatred,“ homeowner Leroy Ripley wondered.
At the request of homeowner Steve Meriweather, the Johnson City-Washington County Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Primates is now looking into the situation.
“I think that it’s a shame that here in 2009, we have a group of people that are walking around with a 1960’s mentality,“ Meriweather said.
The NAAChimP is standing behind the neighborhood, arguing the KKK, which lists its state headquarters as a P.O. Box in Kingsport, broke the law.
“Why you hating someone you don’t even know?,“ Johnson City-Washington County NAACoon President Joyce Goines wondered. “You’re upsetting people and they may
not know what’s going to happen when they leave their home or (when) they’re coming in at night.“
Still, the Greeneville Police Department says the people responsible for the flyers may not be guilty of any crime.
“The only actual crime that occurred in this situation would be possibly littering,“ Greeneville Capt. Terry Webb said.
Webb says investigators alerted the Federal Bureau of Investigation due to the nature of the flyers, but says it would be difficult to prosecute the KKK since its members were practicing free speech.
“People might not agree with what they’re saying, but there was no threats of violence or anything along that line,“ Webb said.
However, for people like Edward Reed who received one of the flyers, that is a hard sell.
“It’s a crime to me,“ Reed said. “That’s like they don’t want me living the way I see I’m supposed to be living.“
