http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/834619,red031008.articleBlack leader must rent to KKK shop in Laurens, S.C.
March 10, 2008
FROM ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAURENS, S.C. — A black civil rights activist is fighting to close a store that sells KKK robes and T-shirts emblazoned with racial slurs. David Kennedy is confident he can make it happen. After all, he says he owns the building.
Since 1996, the Redneck Shop has operated in an old movie theater that, according to court records, was transferred in 1997 to Kennedy and the Baptist church he leads.
‘‘Our ownership puts an end to that history as far as violence and hatred, racism being practiced in that place and also the recruiting of the Klan,’’ Kennedy said. ‘‘This is the same place that we had to go up into the balcony to go to the movies before the Klan took it. So there’s a lot of history there.’’
But legal documents also indicate that the man who runs the store, 62-year-old John Howard, is entitled to operate his business in the building until he dies. Now the dispute may go to court.
Kennedy, 54, has led protests outside the store since it opened but said he’s never been able to close it because of the agreement that Howard can run the shop for life.
The reverend envisions the building as a potential future home for his New Beginnings Missionary Baptist Church, which now meets in a double-wide trailer. snip
The town of Laurens, about 30 miles southeast of Greenville, was named after 18th century slave trader Henry Laurens.
Some street addresses are still marked with the letter ‘‘C’’ that once designated black homes as ‘‘colored.’’ Racial tension was heightened in recent years when two white female teachers were sentenced for having sex with male students — all of them black.
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