KKK: The Fight for White Supremacy

This programme contains very strong language and some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting

The Ku Klux Klan is America's most notorious white supremacist group.

-MAN:

-White power.

-ALL:

-White power!

And they say they're recruiting new members

in preparation for a race war.

-CHILD:

-White power.

It'll be a great war across America

and I will not call it a civil war cos it'll be anything but that,

cos you'll see a bunch of Americans getting killed and blown up.

So when a white supremacist massacred nine black people

saying he wanted to start the race war,

America felt on the verge of a terrifying reality.

We are under a terrorist attack.

Come protect us!

This is what happened when I followed the Ku Klux Klan

as they protested near the scene of the massacre...

-BLEEP

-the KKK!

..to be confronted by the New Black Panthers.

-Black power!

-I'm a journalist from the BBC.

-I wouldn't give a

-BLEEP

-where you from, cracker,

you blue-eyed devil.

And I found myself on the front line of the Klan's race war.

-Black power! BLACK POWER!

-White power! White power!

CONFLICTING CHANTING

You know people say the Klan is wrong,

they're a bunch of hate mongers,

we're a bunch of mean, evil racists, but we're normal people.

After months of negotiations,

a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan agreed to meet me.

We all come from different walks of life.

One of us is a school teacher.

You know, one of us works at a hospital.

We do have people that are in politics

and we will not tell you who they are, but that's the thing,

you know, our strength lies in secrecy.

Here at a secret location in rural Alabama,

Klansman and their families are gathering from across the Deep South.

-White power.

-White power!

White power!

CHILD IMPERSONATES MAN

'They're here to discuss what they say are attacks on the white race.'

Do you feel under attack in modern America?

We are under attack.

America was founded as a Christian nation

and they're attacking our Christian values.

So you believe you're in a racial war right now?

-Yes.

-Of course.

Whites are unfortunately losing this war right now,

but if whites will wake up and see what's going on,

then the smallest brigade of the military

could take the negroid population out on the weekends.

Most, the majority of our people are in the military.

You know, we all have our concealed weapons permits, you know.

It'll be a great war across America

and I will not call it a civil war cos it'll be anything but that,

it'll be an uncivil war

cos you'll see a bunch of Americans getting killed and blown up.

We'll give you the true definition of a riot.

-A big screen TV...

-It'll be total war.

-We'll fight a war for you.

And it'll be a matter of time, we're going to take America back.

James Moore is from Richmond, Virginia.

He's the Klan chaplain or Imperial Klud.

Is there a hierarchy or, you know, are there ranks? How does that work?

Yeah, there's ranks, I mean we have, you know...

Like an Exalted Cyclops would be the president.

You know, the Klaliff is the vice president.

The Klud, which is what I am, is the chaplain or the preacher

and, you know, a clerk or teacher

and so forth, we have recruiters, I mean, you know, everything.

I mean, like I said, we're a fraternal organisation,

that's about all the public,

as far as public information I can give you right there.

-How old are you, James?

-I'm 24 years old.

Are you quite young to be an Imperial Klud?

Well, erm... You know, I am very young but, erm,

you know, a lot of people have told me over the years that

they like what I have to say and they've told me I'm very sharp.

They think I'm very intelligent and, you know,

I need to do something, I need to be somewhere.

When I was growing up, I got in trouble with the law, you know.

When I got in the Klan, I haven't been in trouble ever since.

It's definitely been positive for me.

And this is the little fella that's going to take my place

in about another 20 years.

White power.

-White power.

-White power.

-That was your little boy dressed up?

-Yeah.

Why do you dress your little boy up in Klan clothes?

I just, I just want my kid to know

that it's OK to be proud of who he is and, er,

if being proud of his heritage makes him a racist,

well...I'll teach him to be racist, you know.

But by dressing him up like that, aren't you encouraging people to...

-I mean...

-..give him the kind of abuse

which is going to eventually lead to him having these feelings about race?

Yeah, I guess that I'm... I'm... I'm perpetuating that soup

that he needs to go through to, to become who he needs to be in life.

Are you a white supremacist?

Yeah, absolutely.

By the term "white supremacist",

do you mean do I think that the whites are supreme?

Er... I believe so, yeah. I believe we're God's chosen people.

Despite the Klan's infamous reputation,

there seems to be no shortage of new recruits.

I saw half a dozen people being led away

for secret initiation ceremonies.

Can I just ask what the book is?

The Kloran?

Well, there's a lot of things in here I can't tell you.

-HE LAUGHS

-But this is the book that we go by.

It's part of the original Klan doctrine for new members

that are coming in, er, to be naturalised

or initiated into the Klan.

-So it sounds like the Klan's growing?

-Yes, it is, quite a bit.

You, you're a recruiter as well?

Er, yes. I love it.

Why?

Er... It's just, well, you get to talk to interesting people.

You know, I love coming here to the rallies, you know,

being with my brothers and sisters.

-Let me see, how can I put this?

-Well, it'd be like a church.

It's like a church group.

The Klan say they're a fiercely Christian society

and tonight, they're holding

one of their most important religious rituals...

..a triple cross lighting...

..as Imperial Klud, theology student James,

leads the ceremony.

They can try to shut down the Klan all they want.

They've been trying to do it since 1865 when the Klan first popped up,

but 150 years later, we're still here.

Cos I work for Jesus Christ.

We are his battle axes and weapons of war.

With us, he will destroy the nations.

But I'm going to get off here and get on with this cross lighting.

For those of you who ain't never seen one,

it's going to be the prettiest sight you've ever seen

and you'll never forget it as long as you're alive.

Go get a torch and go to the end of the line.

What's the significance of the cross lighting?

Well, we in the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan light the cross

to signify that Christ is the light of the world

and out of the darkness came his light.

Hold that, hold that torch.

Hold that torch.

Klan, halt.

To the Klan, this is a religious ritual,

but to many, a cross lighting is a symbol of racist terror.

-We ready?

-ALL:

-Ready!

-For the Klan.

-ALL:

-For the Klan!

Back up, back up.

In the fiery cross, our glory.

Shout white power!

-ALL:

-White power!

-WOMAN:

-Can we get a group photo?

-That's it.

-Yeah, thank you.

All right, yeah, thank you. I hope everybody had a good time.

I think everything turned out just great, you know.

We recruited 20 new members sworn into the Klan today.

The Klan's never going to die. 150 years later we're still here.

We're not going anywhere. They cannot stop us.

According to the Klan, there's a revival taking place.

Cross lightings like these are becoming more common.

One, two, three.

But it's a long time since the Klan were at their most powerful

and claimed to run America.

The Ku Klux Klan was formed 150 years ago

after the American Civil War

as a vigilante group aiming to restore white supremacy to the South.

At its peak, it claimed to have four million members,

including four US presidents...

..and gained a reputation for lynching black people.

In the '60s, Klansmen fought against the Civil Rights Movement

with a campaign of bombing and murder.

WOMAN SOBBING

Today, some estimate Klan membership has dropped

to as low as a few thousand.

And dozens of competing chapters are in conflict with each other.

This is the Loyal White Knights Klavern building.

James' Klan, the Loyal White Knights,

claim to be the largest of these chapters.

They're based here in Yanceyville, North Carolina.

This is the wall of wizards.

It's kind of like the Klan bloodline to us.

The Imperial Kommander, Amanda Lee, agreed to meet me.

Amanda joined the Klan 18 years ago on her 16th birthday.

I wanted to join because I'd seen everything that they were about,

what they talked about at the rallies.

It was about family and about race

and they felt the same way I felt, you know.

And I thought, hey, you know, this is where I belong

and that's what I did.

If people say, "Well, if you could choose not to be a racist

"and go back and change time, would you do it?"

No, never. I would never in a million dollars go back

and want to change that time and say, hey,

I would delete being in the Klan because I wouldn't, truthfully.

-Do you consider yourself a racist?

-No.

-No.

-I don't.

People might look at me that way

and think, oh, she's in the Klan,

they're burning crosses.

No, we're lighting crosses for the light of the world

and, you know, for Jesus and the Klan.

SHE CHUCKLES

Amanda recently bought this property and acres of surrounding land.

I consider it really a home for the Klan

and it's going to be hopefully passed down through our boys

and then when we have grandkids and they get older,

then they'll continue with the, you know, traditions

that we're carrying here.

So you think you're setting up a Klan home for many generations?

This is basically going to be

a 110% permanent home for the Klan for ever.

Amanda claims to have Klansmen in every state

and she dreams of unifying them here in North Carolina.

My goal is all of our Northern, um, LWK - Loyal White Knights -

like, from New York and New Hampshire and all that...

They hate it there anyway and, er, they want to come down here

so we're going to try to relocate them

in this little area of Yanceyville.

So hopefully, um, we'll be moving more white population here

and be moving more blacks to the city, you know, like Danville area.

So that's what I'm going to do.

Why?

Well, I tell you what, the police would be thankful.

Um, the crime rate would drop down tremendously

and, er, there'd be a little less drugs on the streets

if we did it, so...

Because you think that black people are responsible

for crime and selling drugs?

I... I know they are.

Amanda is married and has two kids.

Let's go in where it's cool.

She's the main breadwinner

and works from home as a customer service rep...

Thank you for calling. My name is Amanda. How may I assist you today?

OK.

..all while running the Loyal White Knights.

Here is a Klan robe I cut out myself and I then sewed it together.

I have 50, er, robe demands for August plus another 30 coming.

I guess you would say this is the scariest part about the Klan.

It doesn't scare me. I used to take our kids,

um, to the rallies and they actually loved it.

They would play peek-a-boo with their hoods

and my kids would just giggle.

Tonight, Amanda is planning a Knight Ride.

150 years ago, Klansmen in robes would patrol the streets on horseback

often intimidating black families.

These days, President Obama is the target of their hate.

Getting ready to do a massive, er, literature drop.

And we have a nice goodbye, um, letter to Obama.

Basically, you know, he's trying to wipe out the white race.

Amanda, how do you know James?

We've known each other for so long.

We've been around each other. He's like our other son.

Yeah, I've known Miss Amanda here since I was 17 years old

and, you know, she's been like, um, you know,

they've been like second family to me, you know, they've, er,

helped me out more times than I can count

on my hands and feet, you know.

Like what kind of ways would they help you out?

They've helped me out financially.

They've helped me put food on the table.

There was a time where, erm, my unemployment ran out

where I lost my job and I lost just about everything I had

and, you know, they were there to help me.

So how many fliers have you got?

Erm, we have 3,000.

I'm actually thinking of, er,

mailing Obama an official Klan certificate

cos Obama's been the best recruiter we've ever had,

so we figure we'd make that half-breed nigger

an honorary member of the Klan.

'Their flyer has a racist poem

'about the Klan's favourite hate figure, President Obama.'

Tell me about this leaflet.

Can you read it to me?

"Goodbye, Obama.

"Things at the White House looking mighty curious.

"Niggers running everything, white people furious.

"Niggers in the sitting room making all the talk.

-"Niggers in the ballroom..."

-HE LAUGHS

Excuse me, I'm sorry. This is hilarious.

"..doing the moon walk. "Niggers on the front porch..."

-HE LAUGHS

-Excuse me. "Niggers on the lawn.

"That nigger Obama is finally going to be gone."

In Britain, inciting racial hatred carries a possible sentence

of seven years in prison.

Here in the US, the First Amendment guarantees free speech,

even for blatant racism.

James, I couldn't help but notice

-that there's a picture of Hitler up there.

-There sure is.

Adolf Hitler, he was, er, one of the smartest men,

um, there ever was, you know, er...

You know, the so-called concentration camps like Auschwitz

and, you know, er, so forth, um... They say they were death camps.

You know, but, um, I mean, in these death camps,

they gave the so-called, er, people that were being killed,

um, cigarettes, there was coffee, there was a movie theatre,

a library, even a swimming pool in Auschwitz.

And if you're going to sit there and kill all these people,

how come all these things would be in there?

It's more like a... Like a summer camp, you know.

What... What Auschwitz was is they were actually

manufacturing goods for the war.

Sorry, you're telling me Auschwitz was like a summer camp?

Well, they had a swimming pool and a movie theatre and everything else.

You know, you don't see in any kind of prisons today

a swimming pool being in the middle of the, um, pod or a prison hall.

So what do you think the Jews were doing at Auschwitz?

Swimming and, um, working. Because they didn't wanna do any work

and what Hitler was trying to do was he was trying to teach them

to, er, work, trying to rehabilitate them if you will.

-Where did you hear this? Where...? Who told you?

-It's all history.

-It's all history.

-But...

But whose history are you reading where you think it's a summer camp?

More than a million prisoners died at Auschwitz,

the vast majority of them were Jewish.

For this Knight Ride, Amanda is targeting a nearby town

including its black neighbourhood.

-AMANDA:

-Looks like Santa.

What kind of music do you guys listen to?

White power music.

THRASH CHORD

# You're gonna fucking die big time. #

HEAVY METAL MUSIC, INCOHERENT LYRICS

You get every other house. You go.

Well, shit.

It was a black guy standing in his driveway

and I just threw one right at his feet.

SHE LAUGHS

Is there a... A risk in doing this?

Oh, it's actually protected under the First Amendment right

as a political ballot.

It's no different than somebody dropping, er, pizza fliers

or lawn care fliers. There's nothing they can do about it.

-But, but this is a racist leaflet that...

-It's...

-..most people would find offensive.

-It's freedom of speech.

And some people like it, some don't.

I don't like it when people put out fliers

supporting the Communist Party or the Black Panthers,

but there's nothing I can do about it, because it's freedom of speech.

Can you turn that light off a little bit?

Let's get out of this area before...

But what were you afraid of?

-Not afraid of nothing.

-So then why are we leaving the area?

All the cops were notified apparently.

We don't want, you know,

the police knowing this is the car that did the Knight Ride.

We don't want people going to prison.

We need our brothers and our sisters, you know,

our soldiers of Christ out there on the street.

I'd actually take that part out.

White power.

-You can keep that part, just give you a little thumbs up.

-OK...

From the outside looking in,

it's difficult to understand the appeal of an organisation

that seems to revel in racism.

But the Klan have always claimed

to protect the values of white Christian Americans.

And here in the South,

some feel their way of life has been under attack since the Civil War

when free states from the North battled slave states in the South.

Back then, James' ancestors fought on the Confederate side

in the slave state of Virginia.

I like to say that I hope and pray that America or any European nation

around the world never has to have another war where it takes a uniform

to identify the enemy because the colour of our skin is the same.

Presumably you would...

you do agree that slavery in itself was right to be abolished?

Of course, you know, I don't... I don't...

You know, humans shouldn't be property of anybody,

I don't believe in any forms of slavery whatsoever,

considering that whites were slaves, you know.

Here in America, we're all slaves today.

The Confederate States of the South lost the Civil War,

slavery was abolished and four million slaves were freed.

But 150 years later, many parts of American society

are still divided along racial lines.

So, was your school mostly white or mostly black?

I'd say about 85% black.

-What was it like?

-It was rough.

My first day of high school, I walked in the cafeteria,

I got my tray out of the lunch line, of food, I look over here,

this table's black, this is the whole black side

and this table over here on the other wall

is where all the white kids sit.

And I found out very quickly that,

er, that might be the table I'd be best sitting at.

They called me, you know, names, you know, like Cracker,

you know, Honky, "Hey, white boy," they didn't call me...

They didn't say, "Hey, James," they always said, "Hey, white boy."

And did you report that to the authorities at the school?

I sure did, I reported it to the principal and many of the faculty

and staff and even the teachers

and they basically didn't want to do anything about this

because see here in America, whenever a white person, you know,

like a cop or a teacher or anything, you know, disciplines a black person

it's automatically labelled as racist.

Most people think that, you know, hate is taught to somebody,

you know, this young man, James Moore, he's in the Klan

probably because his parents indoctrinated him to be in the Klan.

But nobody ever forced any kind of views

on, you know, race or the Klan or anything on me.

Going to high school and my surroundings, you know,

basically made me racially aware.

I found out real quick that I'm a white boy, if you will.

I started looking through the internet, you know, close to a year

I sat there studying, trying to find information, you know.

And I stumbled across the Loyal White Knights' website,

the KKK Knights' website and I just,

I liked everything the Klan stood for.

James isn't the only young, white American

who sees the appeal of the Klan.

New applicants to the Loyal White Knights are dealt with by Amanda.

This is just what we've got in a month alone from different states -

West Virginia, Virginia, Ohio...

That's the kind of application form, is it?

-Yeah.

-So, do they have to pass a questionnaire,

do they have to prove what their race is?

No, no, no, it's nothing like that, like the general questions,

like do you have a drug history?

Are you on drugs now?

Are you... Have you got a record?

If you do have a record, what type of record?

Are you in the government?

If you're a probation officer,

do you work for the sheriff's department?

Are you a lawyer?

-You know, we want to know these type of things.

-Why?

Well, um, we surely don't want to invite the FBI into our Klan.

PHONE RINGS

So, this is the Klan hotline, we leave this unplugged all day long

because this is all we will hear - one second, ring.

They're sent off to voicemail and then we have a message.

'To join the Klan, leave a name and number.

'We're very excited and we'll get back to you.

'Record your message at the tone...'

So, every time it makes that noise, that's someone leaving a message?

-Wanting to join.

-You've just plugged it in

and it rang twice in the space of 30 seconds.

-PHONE RINGS

-Right.

From June 2nd to the 1st,

there's 25 names on each page of 452 pages of contacts.

So, how... So, what does that mean?

So 11,300 calls in 30 days.

'It's impossible to say how many of these calls were from protesters

'and how many were genuine enquiries,

'but Amanda claims the surge in calls

'is directly related to increasing racial tension in America.'

In the last 18 months, allegations of police brutality

towards the black community have resulted in protests across America,

including violent clashes and rioting.

-CROWD CHANTS:

-Fuck you! Fuck you!

A few weeks before I met Amanda, there had been protests

in nearby Baltimore, with businesses looted and cars set ablaze.

When the black African Americans in Baltimore started rioting

and tearing up the city over the cops shooting them,

I know we got over 5,000 calls,

begging us to come out there and stand with them with guns

and to help protect their businesses and homes.

It's Obama's fault

and it's the actions of the black community is why we're rising.

Anti-racism groups claim

there are only around 3,000 - 5,000 members of the KKK.

James says there's many more.

Though he refused to tell me just how many, he did introduce me to one.

Was there a moment that made you think,

"Hey, I want to join the Ku Klux Klan?"

I've known about them for years and wanted to

make a stand for my white race that I am very proud of.

And, Bubba, are you employed at the moment?

At the moment, no. I've been a roofer for 20-something years

and I lost my job because of Mexicans.

Do you think, if the Klan were in control,

what state do you think the country would be in?

I think it'd be in a whole lot better place. I mean, there's...

there's plenty of us out here

and there's plenty of people that believe the same thing we do.

What kind of things do you do, as Klan members?

Er, just spreading the word about our heritage

and our white race and how proud we are of it.

Some people might argue, you know, it's lonely white guys

getting together cos they've got no-one else.

No, it wasn't like that for me.

That's what they want you to think, that we're a bunch of

just white trash, you know, inbred hillbilly freaks.

That's a false...pretence of what people,

everybody knows of when it comes to media

and the way they want to portray it and it's really not the way it is.

Sometimes we just get together and hang out.

Yeah, just people hanging out just like everybody else does.

It's not always business, you know?

These, these jungle bunnies, they just don't understand

-the concept of what-what law and order is, you know, you know.

-Right.

They don't understand what private property is.

They're animals, they're savages

They're not civilised people.

When I hear you using all the racial slurs, I just don't get it. Why?

You know, those are words that upset people and incite hatred.

Well, it's kind of upsetting when we get called cracker, honky,

pinky, you know, whatever these, er, other races like to call us.

You know, if you can call me a cracker, I can call you a nigger.

You are racially abused so why...

How does it help the situation by racially abusing other people?

Aren't you just making it worse?

I wouldn't say so, I'm actually combating.

Like I said, you know, um, we're not offensive, we're defensive

and, you know, we don't have a future here in America, you know,

they're trying to wipe us out, is what they're trying to do.

That might sound paranoid but James believes it

and like many of the Klansmen I met, he's armed.

This is a 1961 nine-shot .22 revolver.

This is actually... I shouldn't be, er, carrying this around.

Some people might be scared that Klan members are armed.

I'm scared that the Bloods and Crips are armed.

I'm scared that the Federal Government is armed.

There are 300 million privately-owned firearms in the United States.

What have you got here, Bubba?

Judge, 410, .45.

This has got shotgun shells loaded up in it

and if anything was to ever go get down, there are three .45 long colts

in it that will definitely put a big hole in somebody, if need be.

It packs one heck of a punch.

James is convinced America is on the brink of an all-out race war.

It's going to be a total war,

it's going to be the bloodiest war this country's ever seen.

I don't mean just some kind of war and, you know,

it's everything goes. It's going to be total war.

Having spent time with James and Amanda,

I was never sure how seriously to take their talk of race war...

White power.

..but then, something happened which changed everything.

-POLICE RADIO:

-Advising of an active shooter, multiple people down.

The Klan say they're not violent but some white supremacists are.

Two hours after I left James,

news broke of a racially-motivated massacre.

At 9:05 this evening, we received a call of a, er, a shooting

that had occurred at the church here on Calhoun Street

and we have nine deceased individuals inside of the church.

It was a Caucasian, white man

walked into an African American church and opened fire

while people were praying, having Bible study.

That's-that's unacceptable.

-NEWSREADER:

-21-year-old Dylann Roof arrested for killing nine people

during a prayer service at the Emanuel Church in Charleston.

The massacre is being investigated as a hate crime.

It was a race thing because he told me that the black people

was taking over the country and he wanted it to be segregation.

Although Dylann Roof had no known links to the Ku Klux Klan,

like them, he believed he was fighting a race war.

So I headed to Charleston to see

the impact of the white supremacist attack.

INDISTINCT VOICES AND SINGING

A block away from the church where the massacre happened,

I met a group of people who'd gathered to condemn the shooting.

Understand that when you look at these men and these women,

these black men and these black women,

yes, we look militant because we are.

We are. We have to protect our women,

-we have to protect our children and we will do so.

-Right.

We will do so by any means necessary.

Brothers Ricardo and Anthony are from Charleston.

They aren't affiliated to any activist groups

but said they just needed to protest.

Do you feel like white supremacists have too much power in this

-part of the world?

-Hell, yeah.

Fuck white supremacists, fuck it, that's what...

Fuck it.

We... Living here in the South our whole lives, we've been...

We've been subject to all police brutality, racism,

all type of shit and all we're trying to do is live our lives.

If we can't live our lives peacefully, we're going to either

force it or it's going to be given to us cos there's-there's...

There's really nothing else we can do but fight.

That's protected by free speech.

Cops try to stop a protester from burning the stars and stripes.

-It's protected free speech, it's protected free speech.

-No, sir.

-That is my flag.

-OK.

You understand what I'm saying? You cannot open burn...

-Please stop for what?

-Whose is it?

Anthony is at the front of the protest.

Whose flag is it? Whose flag is it?

Whose flag is it? Don't touch me, do not fucking... Do not touch me.

-Do not step on my shoe.

-Sir, I believe you saw somebody...

You're not going to get this flag back, there you go, there you go,

-there you go, there you go.

-It's not yours to take.

This is a message to the American government

when their terrorists attacks our American State.

This is toilet paper.

We are under a terrorist attack. Come protect us,

-we are under a terrorist siege.

-Let it burn.

-Burn it.

ALL: BURN!

We, as American citizens, might have to think about what

country we live in and rise up and say, "No more."

-ALL:

-No more!

Protesters flying the black liberation flag

set off on what they're calling the End White Supremacy March.

Black power, black power.

Some of the protesters aren't just against white supremacy...

Black power, black power.

...they seem to not want white people on the march at all.

This white woman wants to join them with her mixed-race child.

You don't need to be here, that's what I said.

PEOPLE SHOUTING "BLACK POWER"

This ain't my organisation, I'm just supporting him, so if he wants...

-This is an organisation?

-I'm good, I'm out.

I thought-I thought this was just the people...

-Yeah, this is just the people's march.

-This is the people today.

This is just the people's march.

Black people united.

Black power, y'all.

-This is my child. He does not need to fucking see that shit.

-We know.

She's told to leave the march just because she's white.

Don't cry.

I'm a journalist from the BBC.

I wouldn't give a fuck where you from, cracker.

I really wouldn't give a fuck where you from, you blue-eyed devil,

I wouldn't give a fuck.

But the woman who just got excluded, her daughter's mixed race

and she wanted to come out in solidarity.

You ain't heard what I said first time?

I don't give a fuck, cracker.

OK, keep it moving, you, your camera has to be down there.

Thank you, keep it moving, cracker.

"I'm with the BBC." I don't give a fuck.

Black power!

The massacre at the church has shaken Charleston's black community.

Anthony and Ricardo are on edge.

It's like, before this happened,

I could walk past any white person...

And speak.

"Hey, what's going on, what's up? Oh, yeah, yada, yada, yada."

Now, it's like...

Because you don't know.

The white supremacists, they're hidden in-in things...

-Exactly, that's the crazy thing.

-They're police officers...

People in the judicial system and things like that.

-You can't see them...

-That's why they....

..so that's what makes it so scary - you don't know.

A lot of people will say, well, hang on, you've just got your first black

president come in, isn't that a sign that racial tensions are decreasing?

-Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.

-Tell them why they're doing that.

Let me tell you something.

Barack Obama was a pacifier to make us shut the fuck up,

just like in all history.

Y'all want to sit on the front of the bus?

We're going to give it to you. Shut the fuck up.

Y'all want to sit in a restaurant?

We're going to give it to you. Shut the fuck up.

Y'all want a black president?

We're going to give it to you. Shut the fuck up.

That's what it is and guess what some black people do?

They shut the fuck up.

But no, don't shut the fuck up cos we're still not equal.

We're still not equal.

-Black power.

-ALL:

-Black power.

-Black power.

-ALL:

-Black power.

Most people in Charleston - black and white -

are horrified at the church massacre

but South Carolina also has a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan.

'Amanda arranged for me to meet

'the state leader of the Loyal White Knights -

'Grand Dragon Charles Murphy.'

What was your reaction to the shooting in Charleston?

I was really thinking that we was going into a full race war.

That's what the boy said he wanted.

I certainly think within the next two or three years,

it's where... The way that the black is pushing right now,

that we're going into a full race war.

There are going to be guns out on the streets and every white person

in the State of South Carolina is armed. I can assure you of that.

Er, I don't know about the black but I do know the white is armed

and when they start the race war, there's going to be a lot of people

that's going to lose their lives needlessly.

Do you not think now, after what's happened, is a good time

for your community to come together with the black community?

Never.

Why?

Because God put the curse on the black.

-I'm not going to try take it off them.

-What curse?

The curse - the black.

One time, the black was white.

Beginning of time...

..the black was white and God says,

"You will be sent to the Land Of Nod and there you will know your mate.

What could have been his mate...

..other than an animal?

And what do you think a mate..?

It had to be an ape or a gorilla.

So, you're telling me that white people were sent through Africa

where they mated with gorillas

and that's where black people come from?

That's got to be.

A lot of people would find that really offensive, what you've said.

I don't care.

I believe in staying white

and I believe the blacks staying black.

She has white fur, see, she has white fur.

Get your hand from behind my head.

That's gay, you don't want the world to see that.

Get the fuck out of here.

What's wrong with gay? Race wars.

Race? Gay is not a race.

Well, homophobic wars.

I'm not homophobic either, My aunt's gay and my sister.

My granny's gay.

Your granny is gay, I know.

My granny's gay, it's cool.

Like millions of young black American men, Anthony and Ricardo

feel targeted by the police for the colour of their skin.

Both have spent time in jail.

I got something to say about the police.

What, fuck 'em?

I-I do say fuck the police a lot but this is my reason for it -

fuck the police.

We're sitting in a car minding our own business,

no key in the ignition, no weed, no alcohol,

having a heart-to-heart

and you pull up on us 12 deep,

canine units, all of that, not even

a traffic stop, we're not moving.

No-one called you, we're just sitting.

Minding our own business.

You pull up on us and you treat us like common criminals.

You pull my brother out the car, you search him,

you search my car, it's not right, you can't do that.

"You're just black so get down before I shoot you."

"You better get down or I'm going to say that you reached for your gun

"and I'm going to shoot you anyway."

-If we sit home and do nothing, we're going to get killed.

-Mm-hmm.

We're going to...

-If we turn our backs, we're going to get shot in the back.

-Mm-hmm.

So, if white supremacists come down here with aggression,

we have to-to fight.

You know, I don't even really know what white supremacists

actually even want.

-They want white supremacy, They want...

-Right.

They want them to be superior.

So what, they want us gone, they want us dead?

-Like, what exactly is their agenda?

-All of the above,

-All of the above. They want us gone and...

-They want this country

-to themselves?

-Yes, basically, which is impossible.

This is an impossible agenda.

Sound like Hitler to me.

This is something... Exactly, this is an impossible agenda

but they want this.

The Charleston shooter said he wanted to start a race war

but national debate focuses on him posing with a Confederate flag.

THEY CHEER AND SHOUT "USA"

Two weeks later, the South Carolina Senate vote to remove

the flag from a war memorial at the Statehouse.

The Confederate flag.

It was a flag that flew over an army

that fought to maintain a system of slavery and racial subjugation.

Just because something's a tradition doesn't make it right.

Many people celebrate

but a CNN poll shows 57% of Americans

see the flag more as a symbol of Southern pride than of racism.

The Loyal White Knights feel it's an attack on their heritage

and in protest, they arrange a march on the South Carolina Statehouse.

Klansmen Amanda Lee and James Williams

say their planned rally at the Statehouse will go on

even though the flag's been furled and taken to a museum.

It broke all of our hearts.

The government, instead of being for the people and what the people

want, they take it upon themselves to make the decision for us.

In response, a coalition of anti-racism organisations and more

extreme groups led by the New Black Panthers announce a counter-protest.

Many expect trouble,

including South Carolina's Grand Dragon, Charles Murphy.

Come on in.

If they want a race war, let's get it on before I die.

I want to see one.

What would a race war look like?

It's going to be terrible.

We're protesting them taking the flag down

and when that riot starts tomorrow, there going to be bloodshed.

Er, it's going to be all over the State capital.

That's going to be World War III,

cos it's going all over the United States.

There going to be a lot of blood down there in Colombia

and it ain't going to be all mine.

I wonder if I should drink a beer today,

just in case it's my last day on Earth.

Just don't hit anyone.

Like physically hit?

Yeah, just don't hit anyone.

I mean, I'm not going to hit anybody but if somebody swings on me then...

Oh, man, this is my first time ever...will be my first time ever

in my 25 years of life,

seeing one of these guys

in their hood and in their, you know, in their robes, face-to-face.

I've seen it on the Django and I've seen it on movies

but I've never in my life ever been this, in person, I've never seen.

If I can get close enough, I'm pulling hoods off.

I want to-I want to see their face.

That's the crazy thing about it, man, I saw somebody say, you know,

the reason they wear their hoods and stuff like that,

because these are your doctors, lawyers, judges, cops...

-Sheriff.

-You know what I'm saying?

And I... You know, that's the crazy thing about it,

you know, these probably the same people that you walk next to

in Walmart and once they put that mask on and they put their hood on,

it's a whole new world.

The media and the government like to act like racism doesn't exist

any more but knowing that there's people like the KKK are still

here, like, to this day...

Just being black, it just-it just fills you with anger, like,

you keep antagonising us, we're going to act

and what's going to go on at-at the Statehouse today,

it's probably not going to end on a good note, honestly.

The KKK and the Black Panthers, this is not...

This is not a good combination.

PEOPLE CHANT

The South Carolina Statehouse is about to become a battleground

for two extreme views of America.

They believe in superiority but when you believe in superiority,

they say you're racist.

The New Black Panthers rally first, joined by anti-racism protesters.

We're here cos Sojourner Truth was here.

We're here cos black people are the creators of the world

and wherever we go, we're going to take over, you just forgot.

-Black power.

-ALL:

-Black power.

A few blocks away from the black power protest,

the Klan are gathering at a car park

and Amanda is trying to rally her troops.

Whose phone is this? Who give me that?

So, what you think so far?

This is, everybody's stuck and they're not here yet.

Why, what's happened?

There's a big wreck on the highway.

Yeah, car flipped, it's delaying people getting here.

Are you nervous?

-SHE LAUGHS NERVOUSLY

-Yeah, absolutely.

SHE SIGHS

It's an important moment for Amanda.

She's put a lot into organising the march and is hoping

for a show of strength from her Klan.

Around 100 have shown up.

We are taking a stand at the State Courthouse in South Carolina

today. We're gathering to, um, support our white heritage

and tell the governor that we do disapprove

of her decision of removing our Confederate flag.

We got a lot of new members out of this and,

er, we got a lot of supporters, locals that's coming out

today too, to stand with the Klan for the first time which is awesome.

And if we are attacked, we will fight back.

We will do what we have to do to defend ourselves, regardless.

Nobody gives a damn about white people but we do.

We're all a white race and the Klan was started in the South

and they don't mean just to wipe this flag out,

but they mean to wipe our heritage out.

-White power.

-ALL:

-White power!

Er, sorry about that.

The Klan isn't the only white supremacist group that's come out

to defend the flag.

Sorry, sorry. It seems like it's not just the Klan here?

You got a lot of different people,

um, National Socialist Movement is here as well as, er, other people.

By National Socialists, is that...

Would we know them as the Nazi party?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Let's go with that, yeah.

Actually, I-I think this is going to be the total beginning.

-Of?

-Of a-a race war.

I'm worried about the white people that are actually going out there

and, you know, start shooting people, burning down stuff.

I mean if they do, they do, I mean, what can I say?

Is anyone armed?

Erm, I can't tell you that.

SIREN BLARES

-White power!

-ALL:

-White power!

The authorities have put a ban on weapons

within 250 feet of the Statehouse.

But there's no ban on tubas.

TUBA PLAYS

Back up folks, get out of the way, out of the way, out of the way.

-BOOING

-White power!

The black power rally is meant to have finished

but thousands of people have stuck around to greet the Klan.

-White power!

-White power!

-Black power!

-White power!

-Black power!

-White power!

-Black power!

-White power!

Shame! I'm ashamed of you, I'm embarrassed by you!

How you going to stand out there with a Bible in your hand?

You should be ashamed!

-What do we want?

-White power!

-When do we want it?

-Right now!

-What do we want?

-White power!

-When do we want it?

-Right now!

-What do we want?

-White power!

-When do we want it?

-Right now!

-White power!

Is this what you expected?

Yeah, it's what I expected, there's no violence on our behalf,

we see who the true aggressors are.

What do you mean by that?

Just look at the crowd, I mean they started throwing bottles,

they start trying to egg on fights, they're the true agitators, not us.

I ain't even trying to talk, I wanna bust some motherfucker,

it's about that to me, fuck talk, fuck trying to teach a savage,

you can't teach a savage.

But that's because they think you're racists.

It doesn't matter, freedom of speech is freedom of speech.

You know, we've come here in peace

and they start throwing rocks and bottles,

and is that not like a beast would do?

They're not human, there's nothing about these people that are human.

There seems to be a lot of hostility.

Yeah, it is. Look at that, right there, that's crazy.

We're used to it though, I mean Loyal White Knights,

we put our feet on the ground,

we do stuff like this to prove to people,

hey, we do care about our white history and our love for our race.

You fucking monkeys!

-MIMICS APE

-You look like a fucking gorilla!

MONKEY CALLS

Hey, but that flag ain't racist though(!)

They going to preach to us and tell us that that flag's not racist,

look at them, it's ridiculous.

White power, white power.

Whoo! White power!

There are plenty of extremists

but there are also lots of white Southerners

just out to support the flag.

Are you a member of the Klan or?

No, I'm representing the white people.

-So you're not affiliated to an organisation?

-No.

-Why do you...?

-I don't need an organisation,

-I'm representing my white people.

-Is this part of a bigger movement?

-Yes, sir, it is.

-In what sense?

They trying to take the flag down, the monuments down,

everything white, eradicate the white history,

our Southern culture, and we're tired of it.

-White power!

-White power!

After an hour at the Statehouse, the Klan's protest time is up

but they still need to get back to the car park.

Drop the knife! Drop the knife! Get on the ground!

Get on the ground!

As police struggle to maintain order, Ricardo steps in.

-Black power!

-White power!

-Black power!

-White power!

-Black power!

-White power!

-Black power!

-White power!

-Black power!

-White power!

Hey, don't touch my fucking brother.

In the chaos, the protesters manage to steal the Confederate flag.

Rip that shit, rip that shit.

Death to white supremacy! Black power!

SIRENS BLARE

Protesters chase the Klan back to the car park.

What?! Get the fuck outta here!

We were yanked by the police into the garage, yes,

there are guys still out there.

You've seen we had over 100 people,

we're looking at maybe 55 here.

Sir, you have to get out of here, we got...

Listen, listen, I got to get everybody out the way.

-A lady of ours had a seizure.

-Yeah, I know.

SIRENS BLARE

The Klan convoy is escorted out of town by the police.

Not all the cars make it.

For those protesting against the Klan, it seems like a victory.

When I saw the skinheads walk by,

the first thing that came into my mind

was they're not going to just walk past me

and then scream this white power, from a racist standpoint,

and think that I'm, me personally, I'm just going to let that go.

That motherfucker was a mad man going in there,

I'm surprised he walked away, like I said I'm glad that, you know,

my people and those other people didn't fuck him up, but...Goddamn!

And the reason why we ripped his flag is because, for one,

we don't give a shit about it, and for two,

I'll fight for what I believe and this is just part of it,

this is just a little, a little part of it, a little example.

-What does black power mean to you?

-Black power?

Black power means unity between black people, you know,

everybody gotta stand up

and everybody gotta stand for their colour and their race,

since it's about a race thing we're going to make it about a race thing.

Black power.

They want their flag, ain't going to get it.

All right, that's what I'm talking about.

Away from the Statehouse, the Klan are licking their wounds.

They busted out her window, they busted out my window,

my seat has blood in it.

A few people got hurt, you know,

and we did have a rock thrown at our car.

They started running towards my automobile,

five or six of them, and the law, when I pulled my knife out

and I was aiming to dig in, well, he ran beside the car protecting them

and telling me to put my knife up.

What do you think you achieved today?

Truthfully, I hope that a lot of people,

when they see the news today,

actually see that we actually, in the Loyal White Knights,

we love our race, that we would go out there

and jeopardise our lives just so we can stand up for our cause.

-Do you think you achieved that?

-Yes, I do, I do.

I hope that we can start waking up the community

before this race war really happens.

Even though they claim they're growing,

the Ku Klux Klan remains a tiny organisation.

At times, they may seem ridiculous

but the Charleston massacre shows just how dangerous

white supremacist views can be.

Who should be afraid of the Klan?

Nobody. Criminals, crooks, paedophiles, drug dealers,

you know, homosexuals, anybody that hates Jesus Christ,

anybody that's not American and Christian.

Good hearted Christian black folks have nothing to fear from us.

-Will you accept the blood of Christ?

-Yes.

-Will you accept the blood of Christ?

-Absolutely.

Don't turn your back on the cross!

What's the endgame, where's this all leading?

America's such a large country,

I mean we could peacefully work out a deal with the blacks,

I mean we can give them some part of America

and we can stay in this other part

and naturally segregate ourselves from one another.

Behold the burning cross! Still brilliant!

Cos you can't force two different kinds of people to come together,

it's like putting two stray dogs together in a cage

and one of them's going to bite the other.

Come on.

-ALL:

-White power!