Cross-burning is a domestic act of terrorism. It's been classified as such.
— Ron Stallworth
How I conned the Grand Wizard, David Duke, and his coterie of followers... It has defined me in ways I never could have imagined.
John David captured the 25-year-old essence of me very well. I'm proud to call him a Stallworth brother.
When he was not talking about race, David Duke was a very pleasant guy to talk to. He was a very nice conversationalist. He seemed like a regular guy on the phone when the subject wasn't on race and on Jews and ethnicity.
I felt that if the public found out that a black man made a fool of David Duke, his attempts at a political career would have fallen by wayside.
When I was the detective at the Colorado Springs Police Department, in 1978, I launched an investigation into the Ku Klux Klan, a chapter that was forming and trying to expand, in my city.
I laugh all the time about our investigation, especially about making a fool of David Duke, who likes to think I don't have the intelligence of an ape because he thinks I'm genetically inferior.
That was part of David Duke's agenda, is to turn the Klan from a racist organization in the eyes of the public into something that is respectable and acceptable.
My job as an intelligence officer, detective, was to monitor any subversive activity which could negatively impact the city of Colorado Springs. And, let's face it: the Ku Klux Klan, historically, is a subversive group.
That was one thing that we learned, that the Klan was making an active recruitment pitch to the armed forces - not just in Colorado Springs, but in other parts of the country as well. With trained military personnel who share that ideology, you know you have a valuable soldier at your disposal.
I have never had a fear of white people.
It's the whole white-supremacist movement, no matter what they call themselves - be it Klan, Nazis, alt-right, skinheads - the basic ideology is the same. They consider themselves superior to others because of their white skin, and we should not sleep on that.
In many respects, David Duke was the playbook. He established the playbook by which Donald Trump ran and ultimately became - I won't even use the term - let's just say he became the occupant of the White House.
The black community has always complained about abuse from cops. It's nothing new. But now, more people are seeing visual examples of what they've been complaining about. That's one thing that has changed over time.
To me, race is the single most divisive factor affecting American society. It's an issue that we are afraid of, that we shy away from, and quite frankly, it amuses me that we are so sensitive to the issue.
