[Music]
[Applause]
so a black guy walks into a bar sounds
like the beginning of a bad joke
I see people shifting around a little
bit but it gets better and the first
thing he sees is everybody else in there
is white so he sits down at the piano on
the stage with the band to play and on
the band break a white gentleman comes
up to him and says you know this is the
first time I ever heard a black man play
piano like Jerry Lee Lewis well the
black pianist tries to explain the black
origin of boogie woogie rockabilly and
rock-and-roll to this gentleman but he
didn’t buy it but he wanted to buy this
black guy a drink so they went back to
the table he had a beer the black guy
had a cranberry juice and they began
talking and then the white gentleman
says you know this is the first time I
ever sat down and had a drink with the
black man well the first thing that
occurs the black guy is this guy is
having a night of firsts and when he
asked the white gentleman why how can
that be the white gentleman revealed
that he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan
well this guy was having a night of
firsts
my first experience with racism occurred
when I was 10 years old in 1968 my
family had just moved to a place called
Belmont Massachusetts and I was one of
two black kids in my entire school 10
years old and fourth grade I joined the
Cub Scouts and we had a parade a march
from Lexington to Concord Massachusetts
to commemorate the ride of Paul Revere
somewhere down the parade route as I was
marching with my fellow Scouts I began
getting hit
by bottles soda pop cans rocks and
debris from the street by a small group
of white spectators off to my right on
the sidewalk I had no idea that I was
the only person getting hit until my den
mother and other Scout leaders came
rushing over and huddled over me with
their bodies and escorted me out of the
danger and they never explained why this
was happening to me and I had no clue
when I got home my mom and dad were
fixing me up with band-aids in
mercurochrome and they explained to me
why I was a target of these projectiles
at the age of 10 I formed a question in
my mind and that question was how can
you hate me when you don’t even know me
so years later Here I am a college
graduate with my degree in music and I’m
sitting at a bar at a table with a
member of the KKK I’ve been seeking the
answer to that question for years unable
to find it now here’s my opportunity for
who better to ask than someone who would
join an organization who historically
their premise has been hating those who
do not look like them and who do not
believe as they believe who better to
answer that question how can you hate me
when you don’t even know me I persuaded
this Klan member to give me the contact
information for the leader of the Ku
Klux Klan he reluctantly provided it to
me on the condition that I not reveal
where I got it from the clan leaders
name was Roger Kelly I had my secretary
contact Roger Kelly because I decided I
want to write a book I want to sit down
and and an interview clan leaders and
Klan members all around the country and
asked them that question so I was going
to start right there in Maryland where I
currently live so I had her contact
watcher Kelly and not tell him
that I was black but asked him if he
would consent to sitting down with her
boss and giving him an interview give
him so he agreed I arranged a hotel room
for us to meet in and when he arrived
was his armed bodyguard they were
shocked to see that I was black and I
could see apprehension on them and I
stood up and wedding like this the show
I had nothing in my hands and invited
them in they came in mr. Kelly took a
seat and and the bodyguard stood at
attention to his right he has side arm
right here in his holster and we started
this interview process everything was
going along fine he let me know that
indeed I was inferior due to the color
of my skin that made me inferior but I
wasn’t there to fight with him I was
there to learn from him where these
perceptions came from because in order
to address something you have to learn
how they got there in the first place so
I’m listening a little while later into
this interview a strange noise occurred
kind of up and we all jumped and my eyes
locked with Roger Kelly’s eyes I knew he
had made that noise because I didn’t
make it and my eyes were silently asking
him what did you just do well his eyes
had fixated on mine and he was silently
asking me the same question the
bodyguard had his hand on his gun
looking back and forth between the clan
leader and myself silently asking what
he either one of you all just do well my
secretary realized what had happened she
had filled the ice bucket with ice and
put cans of soda in there to be
hospitable and now for everybody
beverages well the ice bucket was
sitting on top of the dresser the ice
had begun melting and the Kansas Soda
cascaded down the ice and that’s what
made the noise and we all began laughing
at how ignorant we all were but this was
a teaching moment I won’t say anything
was learned at that moment but a lesson
was taught and that lesson was this
all because some foreign an underscore
or highlight the word foreign entity of
which we were ignorant that being the
bucket of ice in Kansas soda entered
into our little comfort zone via the
noise that it made we became fearful and
accusatory of each other thus ignorance
breeds fear if we don’t keep that fear
in check that fear in turn will breed
hatred because we hate those things that
frighten us if we do not keep that
hatred in check that hatred will breed
destruction we want to destroy those
things that frighten us and that we hate
but guess what they may have been
harmless and we were just ignorant
so we saw the whole chain almost unravel
to completion had The Bodyguard drawn
his gun and destroyed either myself or
my secretary so like I said we all began
laughing and carried on with the
interview and there were no more
problems over time mr. Kelley would come
down to my house and continue these
interviews he would even have dinner and
lunch at my table or we would go out and
have dinner and lunch now this was
somebody who considered himself superior
and me inferior we continue this
relationship he did not invite me to his
house but after a couple of years he
began inviting me to his home I would
see his Clandon and I take some pictures
and some more notes for my book then he
began inviting me to Klan rallies I’d go
to these Klan rallies and watch these
Klansmen and clans women in their robes
and hoods parade around this big 20 to
30 foot cross set it on fire and it was
whoosh and they parade around and give
all these lectures take some more
pictures and notes
well CNN want to do a story on this they
knew who I was through music and they
knew who Roger Kelly was through the
Klan so I’m gonna show you this clip
that was shown every hour for 24 hours
on CNN and on 8
jaelyn all over the world and I want you
to pay particular attention to what mr.
Kelly says he says that even though he
and I would do different things together
it did not change his views on the clan
because his views on the clan had been
cemented in his mind for years and then
he goes on to say how he believes in
separation of the races but also listen
to what he says about respect and then
listen to the commentary at the end but
the two CNN anchor people give show the
video please welcome to this final hour
of CNN Sunday morning I’m Bob Kane and
today for Miles O’Brien good morning to
you on Joey Chad friendships can
transcend all kinds of boundaries look
at us and two men in Washington area are
showing that even an african-american
man and a member of the Ku Klux Klan can
find common ground in an carl rochelle
for Gerald Davis plays a hot piano it’s
part of the show and it makes them stand
out
[Music]
he also stands out here Davis is one of
the few african-americans you will ever
find attending a KKK rally more than
attending he is welcome man I do you
white nigger it’s been a tough day for
the Klan their Maryland rally found many
local residents rejecting the message of
quite separatism afterwards over Darrell
Davis hangs around backstage with his
friend Klan wizard Roger Kelly it’s not
unusual for blacks and whites to be
friends but it is unusual to find a
black man and a Klan leader chatting
pleasantly over an orange soda after a
Klan rally the relationship started over
a book Davis was writing his secretary
set up an interview with Roger Kelly but
didn’t tell him Davis was black they
talked and talked some more
Davis flirting about the Klan Kelly
learning about Davis we get to know one
another only do different things you
know it’s it hasn’t changed my views
about the Klan you know because my views
on the clans been pretty much cemented
in my mind for years Kelly and his Klan
friends go to hear Davis and his band
[Music]
and Davis goes to their rallies I said
on the front row and I listen to each
lot of times and speak some things I
agreed with other things they did not
agree with Davis thinks that his
presence promotes badly needed
understanding hate stems I believe from
fear a fear of the unknown and I think
this is all across the board regardless
of whether it’s the plans and everything
else but he has no illusions about the
Klan if he did his friend would be quick
to disabuse them and I believe in
separation of the races
I believe that’s in the best interest of
all races does he really has friendship
transcended the color barrier listen to
Kelly a Klan rally the strange
relationship of a KKK wizard and his
black bunny in Washington I’m carl
rochelle CNN sunday morning good
adjectives range certainly now okay you
heard the clan leaders say that he
respected me what’s up with that
he’s a Klan leader I’m a black guy he
said we may not agree on everything
beliefs he respects me to sit down and
listen to me and I respect him to sit
down listen to him very important folks
if you have an adversary you don’t have
to respect what they’re saying but
respect their right to say it and have
that conversation we spend too much time
talking about each other at each other
past each other and not enough time
talking with each other that is respect
okay and as thank you as a result as a
result of that respect over time mr.
Kelly began rethinking his ideology and
that cement that held his ideas together
in his mind for so long began to crack
and crumble and then fall apart and then
just a few years back mr. Kelly decided
to give up the Ku Klux Klan he renounced
it and gave me his robe
and hood this is the robe of the Klan
leader right here this is the same robe
you saw him wearing in the video and of
course this is the hood and mask keep in
mind when two enemies are talking
they’re not fighting they’re talking
they might be yelling and screaming
police are talking it’s when the talking
ceases that the ground becomes fertile
for violence so keep the conversation
going
people learn racism through dialogue
somebody tells them about it so if you
can learn it through dialogue you can
also unlearn it through dialogue so a
black guy walks into a bar substantive
piano and then a conversation starts
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
thank you all very much thank you that’s
thank you thank you
thank you
[Applause]
so a black guy walks into a bar sounds
like the beginning of a bad joke
I see people shifting around a little
bit but it gets better and the first
thing he sees is everybody else in there
is white so he sits down at the piano on
the stage with the band to play and on
the band break a white gentleman comes
up to him and says you know this is the
first time I ever heard a black man play
piano like Jerry Lee Lewis well the
black pianist tries to explain the black
origin of boogie woogie rockabilly and
rock-and-roll to this gentleman but he
didn’t buy it but he wanted to buy this
black guy a drink so they went back to
the table he had a beer the black guy
had a cranberry juice and they began
talking and then the white gentleman
says you know this is the first time I
ever sat down and had a drink with the
black man well the first thing that
occurs the black guy is this guy is
having a night of firsts and when he
asked the white gentleman why how can
that be the white gentleman revealed
that he was a member of the Ku Klux Klan
well this guy was having a night of
firsts
my first experience with racism occurred
when I was 10 years old in 1968 my
family had just moved to a place called
Belmont Massachusetts and I was one of
two black kids in my entire school 10
years old and fourth grade I joined the
Cub Scouts and we had a parade a march
from Lexington to Concord Massachusetts
to commemorate the ride of Paul Revere
somewhere down the parade route as I was
marching with my fellow Scouts I began
getting hit
by bottles soda pop cans rocks and
debris from the street by a small group
of white spectators off to my right on
the sidewalk I had no idea that I was
the only person getting hit until my den
mother and other Scout leaders came
rushing over and huddled over me with
their bodies and escorted me out of the
danger and they never explained why this
was happening to me and I had no clue
when I got home my mom and dad were
fixing me up with band-aids in
mercurochrome and they explained to me
why I was a target of these projectiles
at the age of 10 I formed a question in
my mind and that question was how can
you hate me when you don’t even know me
so years later Here I am a college
graduate with my degree in music and I’m
sitting at a bar at a table with a
member of the KKK I’ve been seeking the
answer to that question for years unable
to find it now here’s my opportunity for
who better to ask than someone who would
join an organization who historically
their premise has been hating those who
do not look like them and who do not
believe as they believe who better to
answer that question how can you hate me
when you don’t even know me I persuaded
this Klan member to give me the contact
information for the leader of the Ku
Klux Klan he reluctantly provided it to
me on the condition that I not reveal
where I got it from the clan leaders
name was Roger Kelly I had my secretary
contact Roger Kelly because I decided I
want to write a book I want to sit down
and and an interview clan leaders and
Klan members all around the country and
asked them that question so I was going
to start right there in Maryland where I
currently live so I had her contact
watcher Kelly and not tell him
that I was black but asked him if he
would consent to sitting down with her
boss and giving him an interview give
him so he agreed I arranged a hotel room
for us to meet in and when he arrived
was his armed bodyguard they were
shocked to see that I was black and I
could see apprehension on them and I
stood up and wedding like this the show
I had nothing in my hands and invited
them in they came in mr. Kelly took a
seat and and the bodyguard stood at
attention to his right he has side arm
right here in his holster and we started
this interview process everything was
going along fine he let me know that
indeed I was inferior due to the color
of my skin that made me inferior but I
wasn’t there to fight with him I was
there to learn from him where these
perceptions came from because in order
to address something you have to learn
how they got there in the first place so
I’m listening a little while later into
this interview a strange noise occurred
kind of up and we all jumped and my eyes
locked with Roger Kelly’s eyes I knew he
had made that noise because I didn’t
make it and my eyes were silently asking
him what did you just do well his eyes
had fixated on mine and he was silently
asking me the same question the
bodyguard had his hand on his gun
looking back and forth between the clan
leader and myself silently asking what
he either one of you all just do well my
secretary realized what had happened she
had filled the ice bucket with ice and
put cans of soda in there to be
hospitable and now for everybody
beverages well the ice bucket was
sitting on top of the dresser the ice
had begun melting and the Kansas Soda
cascaded down the ice and that’s what
made the noise and we all began laughing
at how ignorant we all were but this was
a teaching moment I won’t say anything
was learned at that moment but a lesson
was taught and that lesson was this
all because some foreign an underscore
or highlight the word foreign entity of
which we were ignorant that being the
bucket of ice in Kansas soda entered
into our little comfort zone via the
noise that it made we became fearful and
accusatory of each other thus ignorance
breeds fear if we don’t keep that fear
in check that fear in turn will breed
hatred because we hate those things that
frighten us if we do not keep that
hatred in check that hatred will breed
destruction we want to destroy those
things that frighten us and that we hate
but guess what they may have been
harmless and we were just ignorant
so we saw the whole chain almost unravel
to completion had The Bodyguard drawn
his gun and destroyed either myself or
my secretary so like I said we all began
laughing and carried on with the
interview and there were no more
problems over time mr. Kelley would come
down to my house and continue these
interviews he would even have dinner and
lunch at my table or we would go out and
have dinner and lunch now this was
somebody who considered himself superior
and me inferior we continue this
relationship he did not invite me to his
house but after a couple of years he
began inviting me to his home I would
see his Clandon and I take some pictures
and some more notes for my book then he
began inviting me to Klan rallies I’d go
to these Klan rallies and watch these
Klansmen and clans women in their robes
and hoods parade around this big 20 to
30 foot cross set it on fire and it was
whoosh and they parade around and give
all these lectures take some more
pictures and notes
well CNN want to do a story on this they
knew who I was through music and they
knew who Roger Kelly was through the
Klan so I’m gonna show you this clip
that was shown every hour for 24 hours
on CNN and on 8
jaelyn all over the world and I want you
to pay particular attention to what mr.
Kelly says he says that even though he
and I would do different things together
it did not change his views on the clan
because his views on the clan had been
cemented in his mind for years and then
he goes on to say how he believes in
separation of the races but also listen
to what he says about respect and then
listen to the commentary at the end but
the two CNN anchor people give show the
video please welcome to this final hour
of CNN Sunday morning I’m Bob Kane and
today for Miles O’Brien good morning to
you on Joey Chad friendships can
transcend all kinds of boundaries look
at us and two men in Washington area are
showing that even an african-american
man and a member of the Ku Klux Klan can
find common ground in an carl rochelle
for Gerald Davis plays a hot piano it’s
part of the show and it makes them stand
out
[Music]
he also stands out here Davis is one of
the few african-americans you will ever
find attending a KKK rally more than
attending he is welcome man I do you
white nigger it’s been a tough day for
the Klan their Maryland rally found many
local residents rejecting the message of
quite separatism afterwards over Darrell
Davis hangs around backstage with his
friend Klan wizard Roger Kelly it’s not
unusual for blacks and whites to be
friends but it is unusual to find a
black man and a Klan leader chatting
pleasantly over an orange soda after a
Klan rally the relationship started over
a book Davis was writing his secretary
set up an interview with Roger Kelly but
didn’t tell him Davis was black they
talked and talked some more
Davis flirting about the Klan Kelly
learning about Davis we get to know one
another only do different things you
know it’s it hasn’t changed my views
about the Klan you know because my views
on the clans been pretty much cemented
in my mind for years Kelly and his Klan
friends go to hear Davis and his band
[Music]
and Davis goes to their rallies I said
on the front row and I listen to each
lot of times and speak some things I
agreed with other things they did not
agree with Davis thinks that his
presence promotes badly needed
understanding hate stems I believe from
fear a fear of the unknown and I think
this is all across the board regardless
of whether it’s the plans and everything
else but he has no illusions about the
Klan if he did his friend would be quick
to disabuse them and I believe in
separation of the races
I believe that’s in the best interest of
all races does he really has friendship
transcended the color barrier listen to
Kelly a Klan rally the strange
relationship of a KKK wizard and his
black bunny in Washington I’m carl
rochelle CNN sunday morning good
adjectives range certainly now okay you
heard the clan leaders say that he
respected me what’s up with that
he’s a Klan leader I’m a black guy he
said we may not agree on everything
beliefs he respects me to sit down and
listen to me and I respect him to sit
down listen to him very important folks
if you have an adversary you don’t have
to respect what they’re saying but
respect their right to say it and have
that conversation we spend too much time
talking about each other at each other
past each other and not enough time
talking with each other that is respect
okay and as thank you as a result as a
result of that respect over time mr.
Kelly began rethinking his ideology and
that cement that held his ideas together
in his mind for so long began to crack
and crumble and then fall apart and then
just a few years back mr. Kelly decided
to give up the Ku Klux Klan he renounced
it and gave me his robe
and hood this is the robe of the Klan
leader right here this is the same robe
you saw him wearing in the video and of
course this is the hood and mask keep in
mind when two enemies are talking
they’re not fighting they’re talking
they might be yelling and screaming
police are talking it’s when the talking
ceases that the ground becomes fertile
for violence so keep the conversation
going
people learn racism through dialogue
somebody tells them about it so if you
can learn it through dialogue you can
also unlearn it through dialogue so a
black guy walks into a bar substantive
piano and then a conversation starts
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Music]
[Applause]
[Music]
[Applause]
thank you all very much thank you that’s
thank you thank you
thank you
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