Author saw KKK up close
Nicole Oswald
Issue date: 3/2/07 Section: News
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Daryl Davis, black author and musician, gave a compelling, inspirational and entertaining lecture to an overflow crowd Monday, Feb. 26, in the Barbieri Courtroom of the Gonzaga Law School.
His lecture, titled "Klan-Destine Relationships," recounted the relationships he created with now-former KKK members when he infiltrated the Klan to research his book, "Klan-Destine Relationships," which was published in 1998.
Davis, 49, with a Bachelor of Science in music, has traveled to 49 countries on five continents.
As a child, he was an "American Embassy brat" whose parents were in the foreign service.
However, he did not experience racism until he came back to the United States.
He was one of two black children at his elementary school in Belmont, Mass. While in Cub Scouts, rocks and bottle caps were pelted at him during a march.
When told the reason for such abuse, Davis became fascinated as to why people had such hatred toward others because of their skin color.
Davis was determined to learn about supremacy and any incident where a specific race expressed superiority over another race.
"It became my hobby and later my obsession," said Davis.
Meanwhile, Davis joined a country band that played at The Silver Dollar Lounge, a country-dance bar and motel, on the weekends. After one of his shows, he met a member of the KKK who was impressed by the way Davis was able to tickle the ivories.
He told Davis that he had never sat down and shared a drink with a black man. Davis was taken aback by this, and his curiosity began to intensify.
Subsequently, Davis became friends with the Klansman and kept in touch whenever his band came back to play at The Silver Dollar Lounge.
When Davis decided to write a book on racism with the Klan as his focal point, he decided to call his friend, who later quit the Klan, to gain some insight into the KKK.
The former Klansman gave Davis the phone number and address of the Grand Dragon, the leader of the Klan, Roger Kelly.