Circa 1983, the KKK held a constitutionally protected rally in downtown Villa Rica, Georgia. It never seemed rational to me there existed a constitutional provision allowing such hatred calling for the subjugation of American citizens.
Anger welled up in my chest. I had an image in my mind of the many citizens who lived in that area. The idea they were sitting in their homes scared of and angry at the hate that kept them there was unbearable.
Going 5 mph through town I had plenty of time to hold up my middle finger from the top of my steering wheel creeping by these hooded narcissists. It might have been insane on my part, but I literally couldn’t help it. I hated what they were doing.
Several years later, I read a story in a Guideposts magazine by a former KKK member who talked about his participation in a march in Villa Rica, Georgia.
He said a white girl drove by with two kids, and she had the audacity to flip them off giving them all the bird. They were furious! One of the members knew who she was and where she lived so they planned to make an example of her a few nights later.
He said he and other clan members got together and headed for this “white enemy of white people” to teach her a lesson. I’m sure they felt justified and excited for this opportunity to make a statement for their unholy cause.
It turns out the woman and her children slept well that night and were never even aware of the danger lurking outside. Whatever violence or humiliation they had planned, their goals were thwarted once they got close enough to her home but before they stepped one foot in her yard.
He said there were bushes around this woman’s house. At the moment they were close enough to cross into her yard from the street, they were shocked as armed, burly figures stood up from behind the bushes, their weapons clearly visible sparking reflections from the glowing city street lights.
These gowned chickens only hesitated a moment before they turned and walked away and never bothered that woman or her children again.
I like to think they took the position of the biblical Gamaliel when he warned the Sanhedrin that fighting the Apostles might mean they are warring against God himself.
And I will always wonder if that article was about me… If it was, I am tearing up as I write that this was Mother’s MANY years of prayers for her family in action!
She is still watching over us and her prayers are still a “sweet savor in the nostrils of Almighty God.”
