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KKK claims bias keeps its name from project
Bricks at Heritage Center in Clark won’t carry name of group
By Shawn Ankrom
Cox News Service
SPRINGFIELD | The Ku Klux Klan is claiming discrimination because bricks bearing its name won't line the way to the Heritage Center of Clark County.
Local masonry manufacturer and supplier Bryce Hill, Inc., won't engrave the bricks with the KKK name, bricks intended to be displayed alongside more than 1,200 others purchased by residents to raise money for the center. People can buy a brick engraved with their name or the name of a loved one for $100.
The Klan requested the first brick in August when a man walked in and filled out a form requesting the inscription "Mystic Knights of the Ku Klux Klan," said Roger Sherrock, Heritage Center operations director. He paid cash, Sherrock said, and walked out without leaving an address or phone number.
"When I realized what we had, I thought, ‘Let's make sure we're doing the right thing here,’ " Sherrock said. "No brick goes down until that (confirmation) form comes back."
Sherrock discussed the request with attorneys, then rejected the brick order. So, the KKK ordered 100 bricks directly through Bryce Hill, which has been doing the work for the museum. But Bryce Hill didn't fill the order either.
Bryce Hill manager Kent Sherry wouldn't comment on the order. The company's owner could not be reached Friday for comment.
Doug R. Walker, imperial wizard of the Dayton-based Mystic Knights of the KKK, filed a complaint this month to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. It claimed, in part, that the Klan placed an order with Bryce Hill, which did make one brick.
"We were then told that they could not make anymore (sic) bricks for our order because we were the Ku Klux Klan!" the letter states. "They returned our check with a letter stating that they have decided not to except (sic) our business! We feel that this is nothing but discrimination against a legal White Christian fraternity!"
G. Michael Payton, executive director of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, said the commission would not take up the Klan's cause because the Ohio Civil Rights Act does not prohibit discrimination by private entities because of political or societal beliefs.
"A fair interpretation of (Bryce Hill's) refusal indicated that service was not provided to the KKK because of its political/societal beliefs," Payton wrote to Walker. "We presume the KKK still advocates hatred against minorities and Jews, among other things."
Payton, who is black, was taken aback by Walker's letter.
"If there is anything good about this story, it's Bryce Hill," he said. "Sometimes we have to have principles. Bryce Hill is the hero here. That's an honorable thing for them to do. That reflects well on the Springfield community."
This isn't the first time the Heritage Center has dealt with KKK controversy. A historical display prepared for the museum's opening in March 2001 contained a reference to the Klan and racial tension in Springfield. That display, including a mannequin in a Klan robe, was changed after museum supporters complained it was too graphic.
"Obviously, we don't want to be associated with groups like (the Ku Klux Klan)," said Bill Swaim, Clark County Historical Society board president and publisher of the Springfield News-Sun. “To think of them being memorialized with a brick . . . no, we're not interested."
Sherrock just wants to return the $100 to the man who made the original request. But the man can't be reached at phone numbers he left for return calls.
http://www.activedayton.com/ddn/local/0330klan.html
Bricks at Heritage Center in Clark won’t carry name of group
By Shawn Ankrom
Cox News Service
SPRINGFIELD | The Ku Klux Klan is claiming discrimination because bricks bearing its name won't line the way to the Heritage Center of Clark County.
Local masonry manufacturer and supplier Bryce Hill, Inc., won't engrave the bricks with the KKK name, bricks intended to be displayed alongside more than 1,200 others purchased by residents to raise money for the center. People can buy a brick engraved with their name or the name of a loved one for $100.
The Klan requested the first brick in August when a man walked in and filled out a form requesting the inscription "Mystic Knights of the Ku Klux Klan," said Roger Sherrock, Heritage Center operations director. He paid cash, Sherrock said, and walked out without leaving an address or phone number.
"When I realized what we had, I thought, ‘Let's make sure we're doing the right thing here,’ " Sherrock said. "No brick goes down until that (confirmation) form comes back."
Sherrock discussed the request with attorneys, then rejected the brick order. So, the KKK ordered 100 bricks directly through Bryce Hill, which has been doing the work for the museum. But Bryce Hill didn't fill the order either.
Bryce Hill manager Kent Sherry wouldn't comment on the order. The company's owner could not be reached Friday for comment.
Doug R. Walker, imperial wizard of the Dayton-based Mystic Knights of the KKK, filed a complaint this month to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission. It claimed, in part, that the Klan placed an order with Bryce Hill, which did make one brick.
"We were then told that they could not make anymore (sic) bricks for our order because we were the Ku Klux Klan!" the letter states. "They returned our check with a letter stating that they have decided not to except (sic) our business! We feel that this is nothing but discrimination against a legal White Christian fraternity!"
G. Michael Payton, executive director of the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, said the commission would not take up the Klan's cause because the Ohio Civil Rights Act does not prohibit discrimination by private entities because of political or societal beliefs.
"A fair interpretation of (Bryce Hill's) refusal indicated that service was not provided to the KKK because of its political/societal beliefs," Payton wrote to Walker. "We presume the KKK still advocates hatred against minorities and Jews, among other things."
Payton, who is black, was taken aback by Walker's letter.
"If there is anything good about this story, it's Bryce Hill," he said. "Sometimes we have to have principles. Bryce Hill is the hero here. That's an honorable thing for them to do. That reflects well on the Springfield community."
This isn't the first time the Heritage Center has dealt with KKK controversy. A historical display prepared for the museum's opening in March 2001 contained a reference to the Klan and racial tension in Springfield. That display, including a mannequin in a Klan robe, was changed after museum supporters complained it was too graphic.
"Obviously, we don't want to be associated with groups like (the Ku Klux Klan)," said Bill Swaim, Clark County Historical Society board president and publisher of the Springfield News-Sun. “To think of them being memorialized with a brick . . . no, we're not interested."
Sherrock just wants to return the $100 to the man who made the original request. But the man can't be reached at phone numbers he left for return calls.
http://www.activedayton.com/ddn/local/0330klan.html
