we overcome, today

I'm not sure how to say this, but, good job, Amarillo.

Y'all handled the KKK rally surprisingly well. Sure, most folks managed to be wrong about something. The conventional wisdom that the city should just ignore the white supremicists, for example, turned out to be wrong. The "noise rally" worked out pretty well, making the vast numbers of curiousity-seekers look less like a carnival and more like a city-wide repudiation of the Klan and its values.

And the cops turned out a mostly unnecessary riot squad and placed superfluous snipers on top of the Civic Center. Or at least they said they did. Which was the point, really: they smartly spread the rumor through the crowd, so that everyone knew the snipers were there. And they isolated the Klan with chain link and blocked streets, allowing their First Amendment rights, while minimizing the risk of violence.

And the competing "Diversity Rally" across town was exactly that. African-American, Hispanic, evangelical, Buddhist, mainstream Christian, and banking communities were all represented. Hopefully, the organizers are serious about making it a yearly event.



The "Noise Rally" arrives.















Our Human Zoo: The Klan, outnumbered and separated from the crowd by two chain-link fences.













A quiet riot, after all.

















Snipers (or rumors of snipers) silhouetted against the West Texas sky.














An unidentified man protests John Kanelis of the local paper.













The city united.



















Making the point en español.

















Some folks are just curious.


















One of the few Aryan Nation types on this side of the fence slinks away.













Not just noise here: at the NAACP planned diversity rally, Audriana Gutierrez sings the "Star Spangled Banner."










Strangers managed to find common ground at the diversity rally.













Diversity isn't just speech making. Taking out KKK-day aggression in a healthy way at OUT- standing Amarillo's dunking booth.










All in all, a hopeful day under the hot Amarillo sun. Who knew?


spacedark