| Freedom of speech issues notwithstanding, we cringe at news that members of the Ku Klux Klan recently distributed literature on a Boyertown street corner. |
| The three robed Klansmen who handed out pamphlets for about 20 minutes on a Saturday afternoon at Reading and Philadelphia avenues were not breaking the law, and no reports were made to Boyertown police about their presence. They have the right to offer literature to those in passing vehicles as long as they are not forceful or disruptive. Although there have been no Klan appearances in Boyertown in recent years, officials suspect the visit was in reaction to an Aug. 1 anti-hate-group seminar at a local church. The seminar was held because of reports of racist threats and other hate-group activities surfacing in Berks County. We find all these incidences disconcerting at a time when our nation is recalling the thousands of lives lost in terrorist attacks last Sept. 11. With memories so close of terrorists infiltrating from beyond our borders, we can not afford to bring our nation down by allowing hatred to exist within our communities. The KKK activity in Boyertown is cause for everyone in our region to sit up and take notice. Bigotry exists despite the fact that, as a society, one would like to think we have evolved beyond these things. The presence of the Klan in Boyertown has revived activities of the Boyertown Area Unity Coalition, which seeks to raise money through Project Lemonade. The premise is to counter each minute of activity by groups like the Klan with a dollar of donations to be used to promote harmony. The Boyertown Area Unity Coalition was formed in 1994 "to create and nurture a caring community climate in which respect for all persons, young and old, is cultivated and in which bigotry is rejected." Jen Schlegel, co-chairwoman of the Boyertown Area Unity Coalition, said Project Lemonade is always in existence but gets more attention when hate groups are active in Boyertown. "Project Lemonade will always be in effect," Schlegel said. "We just don't like to have to use it." To date, Project Lemonade has raised nearly $12,000, Schlegel said. The coalition reported the recent incident in Boyertown, along with the distribution the same weekend of hate literature in a development on the front lawns of homes, to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission. The goal is to raise awareness when such activity exists so that people can counter it with anti-hate activity rather than be caught unawares and appear to be complacent about it. We regret that people in our society still find it necessary to put others down and promote fear of differences rather than build each other up and promote our differences as a source of strength. We are saddened that as we pause to remember those who lost their lives last Sept. 11 -- and the message that loss sent in terms of our own vulnerabilities as a nation -- we face the threat of hate activity in the heart of our area. Klan members may have the right to speak their minds, but we believe their presence in our community is a wrong that we must counter with an equal measure of strength and our own strong opinions that acts of bigotry will not be tolerated. |
| ŠThe Mercury 2002 |