Generation KKK follows a network of peace activists as they work to break the cycle of hate in prominent Ku Klux Klan families. pic.twitter.com/stkqbsBNcC
— A&E Network (@AETV) December 20, 2016
I try to keep an open mind when I encounter new or different things. So when I saw someone had retweeted a trailer for the new show Generation KKK, I thought, “Oh boy”. However, I tried to keep an open mind and watch the entire trailer before I passed any judgement on the show.
The trailer features a man named Steven Howard who aspires to be “the next David Duke”, and his family, namely his 14-year-old daughter Maggie Howard. Steven is pressuring Maggie into joining the KKK when she gets a little older, but Maggie is reluctant; she secretly has African American friends, and she doesn’t share the same prejudices as her father. As I watched the trailer, I noticed her facial expressions and body language indicated that she was uncomfortable about her environment. The end of the trailer focuses on a man named Daryle Lamont Jenkins, the founder of the “One People’s Project”. Jenkins works with ex-Klan members to help those like Maggie escape the lifestyles they’re being forced to lead, or if they feel they have no way out.
In their tweet, A&E claims that the show will focus on “a network of peace activists as they work to break the cycle of hate in prominent Ku Klux Klan families”. However, giving “prominent Ku Klux Klan families” a platform on television humanizes the KKK in an attempt to humanize Klan members. Though “Generation KKK” wants to focus on peace activists that want to help those surrounded by the KKK, the show will still feature and introduce viewers to KKK members. Ultimately, (though A&E is not promoting white supremacy or the KKK) their messages and beliefs will be aired on television and will be available for thousands of people to see.
If, for example, A&E gave ISIS terrorists a show, titling it “Generation ISIS” where members were interviewed and humanized, there would be a national outcry. Those who lost loved ones through various ISIS or Al Qaeda attacks would not want ISIS leaders to have a platform on TV to tell other people their beliefs. White supremacy is embedded in America’s history, and allowing a white supremacist group to have a spot on television indicates just how deep its roots are.
Though the KKK is over 150 years old, it is still not considered a terrorist organization. For the most part, the KKK has terrorized African Americans for decades though they also stand for antisemitism, anti-Catholicism, and anti-immigration. Giving them a platform, no matter what the intentions are, is normalizing them. Allowing us to view the lives they lead, the hate they spew, and the hurt they cause will be shocking at first, but as time goes on, especially under Trump’s presidency, these actions and beliefs will seem normal. But they are not in any way, shape, or form.
