Updated: 6/13/2007 9:41:41 AM
Knoxville is preparing for a second round of rallies by white supremacists. Now people both in and out of the area are offering advice on how to deal with those groups, their tactics and their message. One hate group expert says its important for people in Knoxville to understand that white supremecists aren't just focused on Knoxville. The Southern Poverty Law Center says hate groups have held similar rallies in cities in Ohio, Oregon and Kansas. "Kenn Gregg has been known to us for many years. He's been in an out of many white supremicist groups including the Klan," Mark Potok with the SPLC said. Potok studies hate groups and their leaders just like the one coming to Knoxville this week. "These groups have realized that they can essentially frighten white people into feeling that they are being oppressed by the media quote unquote is on the other side along with the police and the prosecutors along with the establishment so to speak." The SPLC says these groups look for cases like the murders of Channon Christian and Chris Newsom to push their agenda then they use the internet to build their numbers. "The internet has become quite important to these groups in terms of getting propaganda out and getting it out fast and to a lot of people. This case in particular has had a remarkable internet life," Potok said. The internet is wide open, but the SPLC says communities don't have to be. "Our advice has always been that, yes, it is very good to hold a kind of counter event but do not hold that event right where the klan or the neo nazi group is rallying," Potok said. While there's no organzied counter protest planned more than 100 churches have joined together to spread a different knid of message. "What we are trying to do here is black and white different cultural and economic backgrounds coming together to make a statement saying Knoxville isn't what it should be but we're trying to make it what it ought to be," Pastor Johnnie Skinner of Mt Zion Baptist Church said. "They can say whatever they have to say but we need to say this is what we want to be," Skinner added. Pastor Skinner agrees with the SPLC that counter protests should meet away from hate groups. He also would like to see community leaders speak out more strongly against these groups.
