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David Duke:
A Record Of Hate
NOAM M.M. NEUSNER
Staff Writer
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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27, 1991
1
I
I
I
I
ust who is David
Duke?
Two weeks ago, he
got on the Republican presi-
dential primary ballot in
Michigan, despite being
widely condemned by the
Republican Party for his
white supremacist beliefs.
Several ethnic and religious
groups have openly opposed
him, citing his anti-Semitic
and racist background.
But beyond the political
maneuvering and coalition-
building, Mr. Duke's
presence in the presidential
race raises a dilemma: Is it
possible to separate the mes-
sage from the messenger?
To many of his supporters,
Mr. Duke is simply a conser-
vative who wants to trim
government's sails, both
domestically and in foreign
policy. His speeches focus on
welfare dependency, Wash-
ington inefficiency and
crime. Some have said that
his message is not dramati-
cally different from Ronald
Reagan's.
But according to a recently
released report by the
American Jewish Com-
mittee, David Duke is a Nazi
with a clear record of anti-
Semitism, racism and
xenophobia.
The report, written by
Kenneth Stern, runs counter
to Mr. Duke's claims that his
past involvement with the
Ku Klux Klan and the
American Nazi Party were
"youthful indiscretions."
Born in Tulsa, Okla., in
1950, Mr. Duke was already
involved in an anti-
integrationist group by the
age of 14. Between 1968 and
1974, he was a member of a
number of Nazi and Nazi-
affiliated organizations.
In the fall of 1969, he ad-
vocated on a Louisiana radio
station that blacks should be
returned to Africa and Jews
be exterminated. During his
studies at Louisiana State
University, Mr. Duke wrote
to his father about Jews.
"I don't want to be bigoted
or judge people unfairly, but
I can't close my eyes to what
this group has done to the
Western world. It seems to
be boiling down to who will
stand up to them or will
raise their voice against the
true intolerance they repre-
sent."
At 22, Mr. Duke was ar-
rested for fraudulently
soliciting funds for the 1972
presidential campaign of
George Wallace. In 1973, he
went "headlong" into the
Knights of the Ku Klux
Klan. He rose quickly
through the organization,
eventually becoming grand
wizard.
In that role, he toured the
country and ran for Loui-
siana State Senate in 1975,
receiving 33 percent of the
vote.
Between 1975 and 1979,
his KKK newspaper, The
Crusader, ran articles titled:
"Jew Gas Shortage to Cause
Depression," "Racial Purity
Is America's Security,"
"Anti-Semitism Justified"
and "Zionism: Ex-
clusiveness, Belief in Supe-
riority, Hostility."
In 1979, Mr. Duke, believ-
ing his leadership of the
KKK was a hindrance to
his political career, left the
Until the late
1980s, Mr. Duke
would celebrate
Adolf Hitler's
birthday.
organization and formed the
National Association for the
Advancement of White Peo-
ple (NAAWP).
Between 1980 and 1989,
the NAAWP News ran simi-
lar articles to The Crusader.
During this decade, Mr.
Duke toned down the rhet-
oric of his racism, but still
advocated eugenics as a
means of evaluating the fit-
test members of society.
In Christmas cards sent to
NAAWP News subscibers,
Mr. Duke's message was:
"Merry Christmas And May
They Forever Be White."
Mr. Duke's paper adver-
tised anti-Semitic books like
The Protocols of the Elders of
Zion, Teutonic Unity and Is
the Diary of Anne Frank Ge-
nuine? During this time, Mr.
Duke also attended a con-
vention for the Institute of
Historical Review, an organ-
ization which denies the
Holocaust ever occurred.
Mr. Duke's rise to political
prominence began in 1987,
when he tried to block a civil
rights march in Forsyth, Ga.
In 1988, running for presi-
dent as a Democrat, he
pushed a platform against
"a welfare system that only
rewards illegitimacy and
spawns increasing numbers
of welfarites who inevitably
. . . produce more illegitimate
offspring."