YOU’RE WATCHING WBAL TV 11 NEWS AT FIVE. RACISM IS AN ILLNESS. IT’S A MENTAL ILLNESS. I BELIEVE THAT IT’S ONE THAT CAN BE CURED. DARRELL DAVIS JUNIOR HAS MADE IT HIS LIFE’S MISSION TO CHANGE MINDS AND FIGHT HATRED ONE FRIENDSHIP AT A TIME. IT’S NOT EVERY DAY YOU SEE A BLACK MAN BEFRIEND MEMBERS OF THE KU KLUX KLAN, BUT HERE IN MARYLAND, A MAN HAS MADE IT HIS MEMBERS OF THE KLAN AND OTHER HATE GROUPS AS POSSIBLE, NOT TO SUPPORT THEIR IDEAS, BUT TO SHIFT THEIR PERSPECTIVES. BRIANNA ROSS TALKED WITH DARRELL DAVIS ABOUT HIS JOURNEY. THIS IS THE HOOD. THIS IS THE MASK. A COLLECTION OF KU KLUX KLAN HOODS, ROBES, AND REGALIA SIT IN DARRELL DAVIS’S HOME, EACH WITH THEIR OWN STORY. IT WAS A GRAND DRAGON OF BALTIMORE. HIS DAY JOB, WHEN HE WAS TRYING TO BOMB THE SYNAGOGUE. BALTIMORE CITY POLICE OFFICER. AS A BLACK MAN, DAVIS HAS NEVER WORN ANY OF THESE ITEMS. HE DISAGREES WITH ALL THEY STAND FOR. THE ITEMS BELONG TO FORMER KLAN MEMBERS. ROGER KELLY IS AN IMPERIAL WIZARD. ROBE. PEOPLE DAVIS BEFRIENDED SYMBOLS OF HIS ABILITY TO CHANGE MINDS. THE KLANSMEN OR KLANSMAN OR NEO-NAZI IS NOT BORN WITH THAT ROBE AND HOOD OR THAT SWASTIKA THAT IS ACQUIRED. IT’S LEARNED BEHAVIOR, LEARNED IDEOLOGY. WHAT CAN BE LEARNED CAN BE UNLEARNED. DAVIS FIRST LEARNED ABOUT RACISM WHEN HE WAS JUST TEN YEARS OLD. HE WAS ATTACKED BY WHITE SPECTATORS AS THE ONLY BLACK CUB SCOUT MARCHING IN A PARADE IN MASSACHUSETTS IN 1968. SO AT THAT AGE, I FORMED A QUESTION IN MY MIND WHICH WAS, HOW CAN YOU HATE ME WHEN YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW ME? DECADES LATER, AFTER MEETING A MEMBER OF THE KU KLUX KLAN WHO WAS IMPRESSED BY HIS MUSICAL PERFORMANCE, THE QUESTION CAME BACK TO DAVIS’S MIND. WHO BETTER TO ASK THAT QUESTION OF THAN SOMEONE WHO WOULD GO SO FAR AS TO JOIN AN ORGANIZATION WITH OVER 100 YEAR HISTORY OF PRACTICING HATING PEOPLE WHO DON’T LOOK LIKE THEM, OR WHO DON’T BELIEVE AS THEY BELIEVE, GET BACK IN CONTACT WITH KLANSMEN AND GET HIM TO TO FIX YOU UP WITH THE KLAN LEADER FROM MARYLAND. START IN MARYLAND, THEN GO UP NORTH. GO DOWN SOUTH. GO TO THE WEST AND INTERVIEW OTHER CLAN LEADERS AND MEMBERS AND WRITE A BOOK. SO DAVIS ASKED THE KLAN MEMBER HE MET TO CONNECT HIM WITH THE GRAND DRAGON OF THE KLAN IN MARYLAND, ROGER KELLY. HE WARNED ME. HE SAID, DARRYL, DO NOT FOOL WITH HIM. HE WILL KILL YOU. AND I’M LIKE, WELL, THAT’S WHY I NEED TO SEE HIM. WHY WOULD HE KILL ME JUST BECAUSE OF THE COLOR OF MY SKIN? THIS MAKES NO SENSE. THIS IS WHAT I’M TRYING TO UNDERSTAND. DAVIS HAD HIS ASSISTANT SET UP AN IN-PERSON MEETING WITH KELLY AND HIS BODYGUARD IN 1990. NEVER MENTIONED. DAVIS IS BLACK. WHEN THEY CAME INTO THE ROOM AND SAW ME, THEY FREAKED. THEY FROZE, BUT THEY STAYED AND THE BEGINNING OF AN UNLIKELY FRIENDSHIP. IF YOU SPEND FIVE MINUTES WITH YOUR ADVERSARY, YOU’RE GOING TO FIND SOMETHING IN COMMON, AND THAT GAP IS GOING TO NARROW. AND WHAT’S HAPPENING IS IT’S CAUSING A COGNITIVE DISSONANCE IN THEIR BRAIN, BECAUSE AT THIS POINT, THEY HAVE FOUND SO MUCH MORE IN COMMON WITH YOU THAN THEY HAVE. IN CONTRAST, DAVIS SPENT TIME WITH KELLY, EVEN WENT WITH HIM TO KKK RALLIES, AND EARNED HIS RESPECT. MAN, THE HELL I’M BACK BECAUSE I BELIEVE IN WHAT HE STANDS FOR, WHAT HE BELIEVES IN, WHAT I STAND FOR. A LOT OF TIMES WE DON’T AGREE WITH EVERYTHING, BUT AT LEAST HE RESPECTS ME TO SIT DOWN AND LISTEN TO ME AND I’LL RESPECT HIM, TO SIT DOWN AND LISTEN TO HIM. AND AFTER YEARS OF LISTENING, ONE DAY KELLY SURPRISED DAVIS. HE GOES, I’M LEAVING THE KLAN. I’M SHUTTING IT DOWN NOW. HE WASN’T HANDING IT OFF TO HIS SECOND IN COMMAND. HE WAS SHUTTING DOWN HIS CHAPTERS. AND HE HAD LIKE 13 OF THEM IN 13 DIFFERENT STATES. AND I WAS TOTALLY SHOCKED. AND KELLY IS NOT THE ONLY ONE. DAVIS DOCUMENTS HIS EXPERIENCES WITH KLAN MEMBERS ACROSS THE COUNTRY IN HIS TWO BOOKS, CLANDESTINE RELATIONSHIPS AND THE KLAN WHISPERER. HE BEFRIENDED MANY KLAN MEMBERS, LEADING MANY TO LEAVE THE GROUP AND GIVE HIM THEIR ROBES. I KNOW THAT OVER 200 HAVE LEFT. HOW DO YOU THINK THAT YOUR APPROACH OF BUILDING, UNDERSTANDING WITH PEOPLE WHO THINK DIFFERENTLY FROM YOU CAN TODAY IN A WORLD THAT’S SO POLARIZED? I CAN TELL YOU THIS, EVERY HUMAN BEING ON THIS PLANET WANTS THESE FIVE CORE VALUES IN THEIR LIVES. EVERYONE WANTS TO BE LOVED. EVERYONE WANTS TO BE RESPECTED. WE ALL WANT TO BE HEARD. WE ALL WANT TO BE TREATED FAIRLY AND TRUTHFULLY, AND WE ALL WANT THE SAME THINGS FOR OUR FAMILY AS ANYBODY ELSE WOULD WANT FOR THEIR FAMILY. AND IF WE CAN LEARN TO APPLY THOSE FIVE CORE VALUES WHEN WE FIND OURSELVES IN AN ADVERSARIAL SITUATION OR IN A CULTURE OR SOCIETY IN WHICH WE ARE UNFAMILIAR OR UNCOMFORTABLE, I’LL GUARANTEE YOU THAT YOUR NAVIGATION OF THAT SITUATION, THAT CULTURE, THAT SOCIETY WILL BE MUCH MORE SMOOTH, MUCH MORE POSITIVE, AND MUCH MORE PRODUCTIVE. WOW. AND DAVIS SAYS HE WANTS TO OPEN AND REGALIA HE’S COLLECTED OVER THE YEARS. HE’S ALSO A MUSICIAN, AND YOU CAN CATCH HIM PERFORMING AT THE BIRCHMERE IN ALEXANDRIA IN VIRGINIA ON FEBRUARY 22ND AND SPEAKING AT NEW SPIRE ARTS IN FREDERICK ON MARCH 14TH. I CAN LISTEN TO HIM ALL DAY. HE’S SO MANY DIMENSIONS, JUST SO PROFOUND, SO MUCH OF WHAT HE SAID. AND WE PUT THE FULL INTERVIEW ONLINE BECAUSE THERE’S SO MUCH WE COULDN’T EVEN GET TO IN THE STORY. I THINK ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS IS THE COMMUNICATION. YOU’RE WILLING TO TALK ABOUT IT AND BE ABLE TO SIT DOWN AND HAVE THOSE CONVERSATIONS. THAT’S WHERE YOU CAN GET SOMEWHERE AND HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH SOMEONE WHO’S EVEN OFFENDING YOU BY SOME OF THEIR BELIEF SYSTEMS, NOT BEING AFRAID OF THAT CONVERSATION TO GO AND CONFRONT IT AND SAY, LET’S TALK ABOUT THE THINGS THAT WE HAVE IN COMMON. YEAH. I MEAN, THE FIVE CORE VALUES THAT HE TALKS ABOUT, I MEAN, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DARRELL DAVIS AND ROGER KELLY. YEAH,
‘The Klan Whisperer’: The author who befriends KKK members and convinces them to quit
‘If you spend five minutes with your worst adversary, you’re going to find something in common and that gap is going to narrow.’
A collection of Ku Klux Klan hoods, robes and regalia sits in Daryl Davis’ Maryland home, each with its own story.”He was the grand dragon of Baltimore,” said Davis as he showed one of the robes to Hearst sister station WBAL-TV. “His day job when he was trying to bomb the synagogue? Baltimore City police officer.”A Black man, Davis has never worn any of the KKK items he now owns. He disagrees with all they stand for, but the items belong to former Klan members, people Davis befriended.The KKK hoods, robes and regalia now serve as symbols of Davis’ ability to change minds.”A Klansman or Klanswoman, or a neo-Nazi is not born with that robe and hood or that swastika,” Davis said. “That is acquired. It’s learned behavior, learned ideology. What can be learned can be unlearned.”‘How can you hate me when you don’t even know me?’Davis first learned about racism when he was 10 years old, when he said he was attacked by white spectators as the only Black Cub Scout marching in a parade in Massachusetts in 1968.”At that age, I formed a question in my mind, which was, ‘How can you hate me when you don’t even know me?'” Davis said.Decades later, after meeting a member of the KKK who was impressed by his piano performance, the question returned to Davis’ mind.”Who better to ask that question of than someone who would go so far as to join an organization with an over 100-year history of practicing hating people who don’t look like them, or who don’t believe as they believe? Get back in contact with that Klansman and get him to fix you up with the Klan leader from Maryland. Start in Maryland, then go up north. Go down south. Go to the Midwest. Go to the West and interview other Klan leaders and members and write a book,” Davis said.Davis asked the Klan member he met to connect him with the grand dragon of the Klan in Maryland, Roger Kelly.”He warned me. He said, ‘Darryl, do not fool with him. He will kill you.’ And, I’m like, ‘Well, that’s why I need to see him. Why would he kill me just because of the color of my skin? All this makes no sense. This is what I’m trying to understand,'” Davis told WBAL-TV 11 News.Daryl Davis meets with Maryland Klan grand dragonDavis had his assistant set up an in-person meeting with Kelly and his bodyguard in 1990, but his assistant never mentioned that Davis was Black.”When they came into the room and saw me, they, like, freaked. They froze,” Davis told WBAL.But Davis said Kelly stayed and talked to him, marking the beginning of an unlikely friendship.”If you spend five minutes with your worst adversary, you’re going to find something in common and that gap is going to narrow,” Davis said. “What’s happening is, it’s causing a cognitive dissonance in their brain because, at this point, they have found so much more in common with you than they have in contrast, because all the beliefs and myths that they had believed are getting dispelled, right?”Davis spent time with Kelly, even attending KKK rallies with him and earning his respect. At a KKK rally filmed by CNN, Kelly spoke about Davis, saying, “I would follow that man to hell and back because I believe in what he stands for and he believes in what I stand for. A lot of times, we don’t agree with everything, but at least he respects me to sit down and listen to me, and I listen to him.”Roger Kelly’s move that surprised DavisAfter years of listening, one day, Kelly surprised Davis.”He goes, ‘I’m leaving the Klan. I’m shutting it down,'” Davis said. “He wasn’t handing it off to his second in command. He was shutting down his chapters, and he had, like, 13 of them in 13 different states. I was totally shocked.”Kelly is not the only one Davis has convinced to leave the Klan. Davis documents his experiences with Klan members across the country in his two books, “Klan-destine Relationships” and “The Klan Whisperer.” He has befriended many Klan members, leading many to leave the group and give him their robes, which now serve as symbols of his ability to change minds.”I know that over 200 have left,” Davis said.Five core valuesWhen asked how he thinks his approach could help build understanding among people with differing views today, Davis said: “I can tell you this. Every human being on this planet wants these five core values in their lives. Everyone wants to be loved. Everyone wants to be respected. We all want to be heard. We all want to be treated fairly and truthfully, and we all want the same things for our family, as anybody else would want for their family. And, if we can learn to apply those five core values when we find ourselves in an adversarial situation, or in a culture or society in which we are unfamiliar or uncomfortable, I’ll guarantee you that your navigation of that situation, that culture, that society will be much more smooth, much more positive, and much more productive.”Davis said he would like to open his own museum with all the robes and regalia he has collected over the years. Raw video below: WBAL-TV 11 News’ full interview with Daryl Davis
A collection of Ku Klux Klan hoods, robes and regalia sits in Daryl Davis’ Maryland home, each with its own story.
“He was the grand dragon of Baltimore,” said Davis as he showed one of the robes to Hearst sister station WBAL-TV. “His day job when he was trying to bomb the synagogue? Baltimore City police officer.”
A Black man, Davis has never worn any of the KKK items he now owns. He disagrees with all they stand for, but the items belong to former Klan members, people Davis befriended.
The KKK hoods, robes and regalia now serve as symbols of Davis’ ability to change minds.
“A Klansman or Klanswoman, or a neo-Nazi is not born with that robe and hood or that swastika,” Davis said. “That is acquired. It’s learned behavior, learned ideology. What can be learned can be unlearned.”
‘How can you hate me when you don’t even know me?’
Davis first learned about racism when he was 10 years old, when he said he was attacked by white spectators as the only Black Cub Scout marching in a parade in Massachusetts in 1968.
“At that age, I formed a question in my mind, which was, ‘How can you hate me when you don’t even know me?'” Davis said.
Decades later, after meeting a member of the KKK who was impressed by his piano performance, the question returned to Davis’ mind.
“Who better to ask that question of than someone who would go so far as to join an organization with an over 100-year history of practicing hating people who don’t look like them, or who don’t believe as they believe? Get back in contact with that Klansman and get him to fix you up with the Klan leader from Maryland. Start in Maryland, then go up north. Go down south. Go to the Midwest. Go to the West and interview other Klan leaders and members and write a book,” Davis said.
Davis asked the Klan member he met to connect him with the grand dragon of the Klan in Maryland, Roger Kelly.
“He warned me. He said, ‘Darryl, do not fool with him. He will kill you.’ And, I’m like, ‘Well, that’s why I need to see him. Why would he kill me just because of the color of my skin? All this makes no sense. This is what I’m trying to understand,'” Davis told WBAL-TV 11 News.
Daryl Davis meets with Maryland Klan grand dragon
Davis had his assistant set up an in-person meeting with Kelly and his bodyguard in 1990, but his assistant never mentioned that Davis was Black.
“When they came into the room and saw me, they, like, freaked. They froze,” Davis told WBAL.
But Davis said Kelly stayed and talked to him, marking the beginning of an unlikely friendship.
“If you spend five minutes with your worst adversary, you’re going to find something in common and that gap is going to narrow,” Davis said. “What’s happening is, it’s causing a cognitive dissonance in their brain because, at this point, they have found so much more in common with you than they have in contrast, because all the beliefs and myths that they had believed are getting dispelled, right?”
Davis spent time with Kelly, even attending KKK rallies with him and earning his respect. At a KKK rally filmed by CNN, Kelly spoke about Davis, saying, “I would follow that man to hell and back because I believe in what he stands for and he believes in what I stand for. A lot of times, we don’t agree with everything, but at least he respects me to sit down and listen to me, and I listen to him.”
Roger Kelly’s move that surprised Davis
After years of listening, one day, Kelly surprised Davis.
“He goes, ‘I’m leaving the Klan. I’m shutting it down,'” Davis said. “He wasn’t handing it off to his second in command. He was shutting down his chapters, and he had, like, 13 of them in 13 different states. I was totally shocked.”
Kelly is not the only one Davis has convinced to leave the Klan. Davis documents his experiences with Klan members across the country in his two books, “Klan-destine Relationships” and “The Klan Whisperer.” He has befriended many Klan members, leading many to leave the group and give him their robes, which now serve as symbols of his ability to change minds.
“I know that over 200 have left,” Davis said.
Five core values
When asked how he thinks his approach could help build understanding among people with differing views today, Davis said: “I can tell you this. Every human being on this planet wants these five core values in their lives. Everyone wants to be loved. Everyone wants to be respected. We all want to be heard. We all want to be treated fairly and truthfully, and we all want the same things for our family, as anybody else would want for their family. And, if we can learn to apply those five core values when we find ourselves in an adversarial situation, or in a culture or society in which we are unfamiliar or uncomfortable, I’ll guarantee you that your navigation of that situation, that culture, that society will be much more smooth, much more positive, and much more productive.”
Davis said he would like to open his own museum with all the robes and regalia he has collected over the years.
Raw video below: WBAL-TV 11 News’ full interview with Daryl Davis
