Reverend William Aitcheson of Arlington, Virginia is temporarily stepping down from his position after divulging his past as a Ku Klux Klan member. In a piece he wrote in the Arlington Catholic Herald, he explains it was part of a dark past before becoming a clergyman and the recent events in Charlottesville spurred him to come forward:
The images from Charlottesville brought back memories of a bleak period in my life that I would have preferred to forget. The reality is, we cannot forget, we should not forget. Our actions have consequences and while I firmly believe God forgave me — as he forgives anyone who repents and asks for forgiveness — forgetting what I did would be a mistake. Those mistakes have emboldened me in my journey to follow the God who yearns to give us his grace and redemption.
The images from Charlottesville are embarrassing. They embarrass us as a country, but for those who have repented from a damaging and destructive past, the images should bring us to our knees in prayer. Racists have polluted minds, twisted by an ideology that reinforces the false belief that they are superior to others.
Rev. Aitcheson expresses deep regret for his past and says that’s why he’s decided to step away from his profession. A note from the Catholic Diocese of Arlington at the end of Aitcheson’s editorial says:
Father William Aitcheson’s article was written with the intention of telling his story of transformation. He voluntarily asked to temporarily step away from public ministry, for the well being of the Church and parish community, and the request was approved.
It’s admirable that Rev. Aitcheson came clean about his past, but that doesn’t make his past any less alarming. The Washington Post reports that he had a very active part in racial violence.
According to the 1977 Post story, state police in Maryland said Aitcheson was a leader of the Robert E. Lee Lodge of the Maryland Knights of the KKK, which had planned to recruit people to blow up facilities at Fort Meade near Laurel.
He also terrorized Black families with burning crosses.
Aitcheson pleaded guilty to several cross burnings, including one in the front yard of an African American family in the College Park Woods neighborhood and others at B’nai B’rith Hillel at the University of Maryland and the Beth Torah Congregation in Hyattsville. He was convicted and sentenced to 90 days, and ordered to pay a judgment of about $20,000.
Stepping down definitely sounds like the right thing to do and is a good act of leadership. It’s sad to see that a former KKK leader like Rev. Aitchenson made a better condemnation of white supremacist violence than the current president of the United States.