If you are a music aficionado, you may have heard of Daryl Davis. Or, if you’re interested in eliminating racism. Or, if you’re a member of the Ku Klux Klan.
On Wednesday April 23 at 7:30 p.m., Students for Liberty (SFL) and ASUPS Lectures brought Davis to campus to deliver a guest lecture quite punnily titled, “KLAN-destine Relationships: One Man Single-handedly Dismantled the KKK in Maryland.”
Despite the lack of advertising the week before the event, students and members of the community filled Commencement Hall to its capacity.
Senior Liam Tully, president of Students for Liberty, introduced Davis, calling him “one of the most unique lecturers performing on the circuit today” and “the most courageous person I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet in person.”
Davis began with some background on his biography and how he got to be doing what he’s doing. He grew up with parents who worked in foreign service, referring to his childhood self an “American Embassy Rat.”
The schools he attended overseas were truly multi-cultural, he said, before we established the term “multicultural” without the hyphen.
So, when he would come back to America, it just didn’t make any sense when people would throw things at him and call him names.
He had to have racism explained to him by his parents, rather than just always knowing it as a fact of life. It is perhaps for this reason that he was consistently plagued by the question, “How can you hate me when you don’t even know me?”
As a result, he became obsessed with learning about hate and supremacist groups, from the American Nazi Party to the Ku Klux Klan.
He was playing with his band at a venue called the Silver Dollar Lounge when a man came up to him and complimented him on his music, saying, “I really enjoy y’alls music. This is the first time I’ve ever heard a black man who plays like Jerry Lee Lewis.”
Davis responded, “Well where do you think Jerry Lee learned to play?”
They had a drink and the man admitted that he was a member of the KKK. The two became casual friends and Davis eventually decided to write a book on the KKK, in which he would interview members and ask them that question, “How can you hate me when you don’t even know me?” Davis convinced his friend to give him the information of the Grand Dragon (County Leader), Roger Kelly.
Davis interviewed Kelly and the two men realized that they respected each other. Ultimately, Roger Kelly ascended to the position of Imperial Wizard (State Leader) and suddenly quit. With his sudden departure, the KKK organization in Maryland collapsed.
Davis said slowly, “There is no KKK in Maryland now.” Davis has since continued his work in breaking down racism through dialogue, touching the lives of other KKK members and convincing them—through compassion and dialogue —to quit.
Nish Chhabra, a member of Students for Liberty, said, “I thought it was very inspirational and I really liked it. I thought he had a really good message. I was impressed by his ability to not have any hate. I liked how he wanted to like ‘throw political correctness out.’ I thought that was powerful. What I really liked about his presentation was that he literally had evidence. Like he showed the CNN thing and showed this is how it was years ago and this is how it is now. It was cool.”
Freshman Jack Kelly adds, “I dug the sincerity. He didn’t feel the need to throw around sociological buzzwords to sound like he knew what he was doing.”
When asked what he had expected Davis’s lecture to be like, Kelly said, “I expected it to be more pedantic. I had no idea he was a rock and roll guitar player.” Kelly, an avid guitar-player himself, explained that learning Davis was a musician made him like and identify with the lecturer even more than if he was just some boring professor.
You can learn more about Daryl Davis and also buy his book Klan-Destine Relationships on his website www.DarylDavis.com.