KKKick 'Em to the Curb?

Trey Smith

The Georgia Department of Transportation has denied the application of a Ku Klux Klan group to join the state’s Adopt A Highway program. The denial of the International Keystone Knights of the KKK to adopt part of Route 515 in the Appalachian Mountains raises some serious first amendment questions. While popular, the denial could could face a successful challenge under existing case law.

In a statement Tuesday, the agency seemed to go out of its way to say that it rejected the application out of opposition to the group’s beliefs. The letter of denial from Department of Transportation Commissioner Keith Golden said that “promoting an organization with a history of inciting civil disturbance and social unrest would present a grave concern.” It further said that allowing the group to take care of a stretch of highway and could “have the potential to negatively impact the quality of life” of people in the county and state. It added that “encountering signage and members of the KKK along a roadway would create a definite distraction to motorists.”
~ from Georgia Bars KKK from Adopting-A-Highway by Jonathan Turley ~

It should surprise no one that I absolutely loathe what the KKK stands for. We would live in a much better world if this group and its various incarnations did not exist. I find their stated philosophy to be vulgar and repugnant.

With all that stated, this is a TERRIBLE decision. It punishes this group for their [distasteful] beliefs. I personally may detest the KKK and all it stands for, but they should be afforded the same rights as any other sociopolitical group. If the State of Georgia allows other such organizations to adopt-a-highway, then they damn well should approve the KKK's application.

This is what freedom and democracy is all about. It means granting equal rights to viewpoints that you and I may vehemently disagree with. If we only grant equality to those who agree with us, that ain't freedom.