El Paso NAACP Condemns Halloween KKK Imagery
Originally published by AllHipHop Read the original
El Paso’s NAACP demanded that local leaders condemn KKK imagery after images of people dressed as Klansmen circulated online.
The El Paso Times reported that clips showed about six people in white robes in a backyard and walking down a neighborhood street. FitFam El Paso identified the area as the East Side. The gathering appeared to be a Halloween event.
“The KKK hood is not a costume,” the branch said in a Sunday, October 25, statement reported by KTSM. Branch President Carl B. Dwyer Jr. added: “Silence in the face of hatred is complicity.”
Rep. Veronica Escobar also condemned the images Sunday. Her statement described reports of people in Klan clothing allegedly shouting racial slurs as “deeply disturbing and unacceptable.”
Pastor Michael Grady told KTSM that hatred was learned and said he wanted to ask the participants about their motives. He said the display reflected a national climate of division and discrimination.
The branch called on elected officials, faith leaders and civic advocates across El Paso County to speak out against the display.
The robes carry a long history of violence in Texas. The Texas State Historical Association traces Klan activity in the state to 1868. By that spring, members were murdering and terrorizing formerly enslaved people and White Republicans.
In Trinity County, masked groups killed Black residents and used fear to control how others registered to vote. The later Klan revival drew tens of thousands of Texans in the early 1920s, with hooded marches and burning crosses used to display its power.
That history also reached El Paso’s public institutions. KFOX14/CBS4 reported in February that the local historical society documented Klan control of the school board between 1921 and 1923. The group’s local campaign also targeted Catholics. An anti-Klan ticket led by Richard Dudley won the 1923 mayoral race, the report said.
The public response to Klan imagery has reached major brands, too. AllHipHop reported on Converse’s apology in September after viewers said advertisements recalled Klan hoods and lynching.
The company removed the image and acknowledged it was upsetting.
The El Paso NAACP planned a news conference for Monday, October 26, to address the incident.
