http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/national/story/2549194/


Redneck Shop Creates Dispute in South Carolina
KKK_Store

By KATRINA A. GOGGINS
Associated Press Writer

Posted: Mar. 10, 2008

LAURENS, S.C. — 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."

3/11/2008 4:49:35 PM

that makes me lol for some reason...i think its cause he owns the building

3/11/2008 4:50:59 PM

South Carolina.


Of Course.

3/11/2008 4:51:49 PM

I don't know how he could get it closed legally, the dude doesn't seem to be breaking the law.

3/11/2008 4:52:37 PM

I was wondering where I could cop the latest 'Prussian Blue' album, thanks!

3/11/2008 4:53:09 PM

niggas gotta eat too

3/11/2008 4:53:47 PM

if you want to hyperventilate, read wral's comments page

http://www.wral.com/golo/page/1896337/?id=2549194

3/11/2008 4:53:49 PM

O-L-D . . . I remember that shit from 5 years ago.

3/11/2008 4:56:32 PM

I remember your mom from 5 years ago.




buuRRRNNNNN!...

3/11/2008 4:57:29 PM

nvermind

[Edited on March 11, 2008 at 5:04 PM. Reason : .]

3/11/2008 5:00:50 PM

Quote :

"gvmntcheese, What hatred would that be? His hatred of injustice and racism? He must be a bigot to march against those things right...just like those bigots who marched in the 60's...how could they march against being mistreated, and being treated as less than human beings...such racists. The real hero here is the shop owner who spews, promotes, and sells hate. At least he doesn't try to shut down businesses and show others his bigotry by marching. The reverend should just open a christian education and equality for all shop next door and shut up :-/"

lol

3/11/2008 5:03:02 PM

damnit

[Edited on March 11, 2008 at 5:05 PM. Reason : !]

3/11/2008 5:05:16 PM

Quote :

"O-L-D . . . I remember that shit from 5 years ago."

Quote :

"Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed."

My thread is fucking new you bastard!

3/11/2008 5:06:31 PM

its not my fault that WRAL is slow.

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-773984.html '96
http://tinyurl.com/2zlvc3'96

3/11/2008 5:08:42 PM

i guess so

thanks to JCASHFAN for confirming the oldity of this thread's topic.
Feel Free to switch topics to TITS OR GTFO

3/11/2008 5:10:50 PM

nah, its a good subject, run with it.

I'm just mocking WRAL. I thought thats what all the "in" kids did on TWW

3/11/2008 5:11:28 PM

oh woops
i got sidetracked yelling at 'leg

3/11/2008 5:22:54 PM

Quote :

"oldity"

3/11/2008 5:24:01 PM

ok i say that there should be a KKK and a KKK store....

i mean black people have groups that are specifically designed for the advancement of the black race (NAACP, etc.) but if white people make a group for the advancement of the white race, its racism. i say its hypocritical and they should go fuck themselves. the man has committed no crime

3/11/2008 6:06:33 PM

meh,

to my knowledge, the NAACP hasn't burned any Xs on my yard or tried to kill me. The Klan, yeah, see, they kind of have a history.

But as long as this guy "peacefully" hates all he wants, that is his business.

3/11/2008 6:08:17 PM

http://boygottaeat.ytmnd.com/

3/11/2008 6:08:58 PM

true, the kkk was at one time a very terrifying force in the south but things have changed and they do things legally now.

freedom is a 2 way street, if black advancement groups are legal, white groups should be too.

on a seperate note: the KKK actually endorsed Obama's campaign with $500,000 and South Carolina elected him in their primary

3/11/2008 6:10:33 PM

white advancement groups are legal.

3/11/2008 7:29:44 PM

Quote :

"ok i say that there should be a KKK and a KKK store.... i mean black people have groups that are specifically designed for the advancement of the black race (NAACP, etc.) but if white people make a group for the advancement of the white race, its racism. i say its hypocritical and they should go fuck themselves. the man has committed no crime"

white ppl started it tho - they are kinda entitled to be that way

3/11/2008 7:46:26 PM

Isn't the black man winning in this situation? Afterall, the white man is paying him money. Seems like he wouldn't care to take the white mans money.

3/11/2008 7:48:37 PM

only in sc.

hah. not really, but this situation...

[Edited on March 11, 2008 at 7:50 PM. Reason : ]

3/11/2008 7:49:54 PM

it's amazing how staying the fuck out of other peoples business doesn't even show up on the options list with you faggots

3/11/2008 8:08:01 PM

Quote :

"Isn't the black man winning in this situation? Afterall, the white man is paying him money. Seems like he wouldn't care to take the white mans money."

blood doesn't wash off, i guess

3/11/2008 9:02:09 PM