You can't build a movement on a philosophy that ultimately consumes its members.
This is the lesson that has been lost on The Imperial Klans of America, who have set up shop in the tiny Western Kentucky city of Dawson Springs. The group, which claims at least 23 chapters in 17 states, has taken over a 28-acre compound. The group is led by Ronald Edwards, 47, who earns money with painting and contracting jobs. He lives on the group's property with a girlfriend and two young children.
Experts estimate that the KKK has no more than 8,000 members nationally, a mere fraction of the 5 million hate mongers who populated its ranks in the 1920's. The small number of KKK members these days may be attributed to lawsuits filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The center has a long history of successfully combating racist attacks by Klansmen by ceasing KKK assets in civil lawsuits.
In Edwards' case, the lawsuit stems from a July 2007 attack on 16-year-old Jordan Gruver at the Meade County Fairgrounds near Brandenburg Kentucky. The 5-foot-3 Hispanic male was beaten and kicked to the ground leaving him with broken ribs and a broken arm. IKA members Jarred Hensley and Andrew Watkins were sentenced to 3 years in prison for the crime.
Edwards, the organization's leader at the time, was named in the suit along with the two convicted men and another two men who were present at the time of the assault.
Edwards says the two attackers were kicked out of the Klan because the group does not allow any illegal activity. He also says he has taken measures to render himself lawsuit-proof.
He explained that the IKA compound is technically owned by a trust in the name of one of his sons. He says he has no car in his name and doesn't keep records about the IKA anymore.
"I got like $38 in the bank," he said.
So this, then, is the lifestyle of one of the most powerful hate mongers in the United States. He lives in a self-imposed exile in conditions that no one would describe as luxurious or even appealing. He is surrounded by followers who decline to identify themselves, either out of fear or general animosity.
Edwards beliefs have also isolated him from three of his four older children. Only one of those children shares his beliefs.
Those beliefs include regarding Jews as Satan's children and African-Americans as inferior. The Imperial Wizard also claims immigrants are ruining the country. He hates desegregated schools, mixed marriages and affirmative action.
Edwards' followers have also become isolated from the larger community because of their beliefs. Klansman Jim Sheeley says some churches have shunned him (the Klan practice of taking firearms into the House of the Lord might have something to do with that). Sheeley also says that he rarely eats at area restaurants because he's afraid that minority cooks might attempt to poison him.
Sheeley fails to see that he already has been poisoned – maybe irreversibly by the philosophy of hate that he has embraced. It is a poison that permeates the heart, the mind and the soul. It enfolds those who are infected to such a degree that they are willing to give up everything else to continue hating others.
In short, Edwards and his followers are addicted to the message they preach and the violence they create. There is a cure for what ails the members of the IKA. It is a cure which involves education, understanding, compassion and love for one's fellow man.
That might be too much of a bitter pill for the IKA members to swallow.