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The Rowelling

W

le Harris: hip-hop dancer and creator. of
Rome and Aries; brings the spirit and ener gy
of the streets to the stag e \Aiith his. new
ratTnig toeKKo is a spiritual pilgrimage : .
ithisthoroughly American dance
fort6.§1Obal lineage, from Turkish \Atiirlillg
dervishes to ceremonial African ciance.s
•
•,•
and Brazilian capoeira. 'A. f eclen-ibtive .3nd
• -
intimately inspiring vision of hio-hop music
and dance': (Los tingefes Timesl No inierr7:sson.

A

HARRY
KIRSBAUM

Columnist

Made possible in part by ProQuest Cornpany. Funded in
part by Heartland Arts Fund. Media Partners Detroitiewisb
News, Michigan Radio/Michigan Television andUthfrjan
Ctironicle/Front Page. Part of the Celebration of African-
American Dance.

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Jerry Fenby Band

here's
Lizzie
Grubman
when you need her?
The 34-year-old
celebrity publicist
from New York
became famous in
2001 for backing
her father's $70,000
Mercedes SUV into
a crowd of what she
called "white trash"

2/ 3

76

received veiled threats from Church of
the Creator pastors, and I've already
had an up-close run-in with the Klan
when I was about six years old in
downtown Flint.
My brother and I were standing on
the corner on a weekend afternoon,
waiting for my mom to finish shop-
ping in a department store when a
small "parade" came down the main
drag of Saginaw Street.
I didn't understand who these peo-
ple were, dressed in white robes and
hoods, but I got the feeling they
weren't on our side when one of them
approached us and offered some liter-
ature.
My brother, who, at 12, was still
young enough to get away with it, spit
on the Klansman's shoe and threw the
pamphlet in the trash. He was also

in the Hamptons.
Her reality show premieres on
MTV on March 10, a sad fact I read
on the Web on Friday. At the same
time, I read about the auction of Ku
Klux Klan items in a southeast
Michigan store the next day. Irony,
like porn, thrives on the Web.
When the Ole Gray Nash Auction
Service in lovely, bucolic Howell put a
KKK robe on consignment
in the window in early
January, the resulting com-
plaints from some locals and
government types drew the
expected media attention,
which drew more people to
offer more Klan items, busi-
ness owner Gary Gray said
in an Associated Press story.
"All they're doing is driv-
ing up the price," said Gray,
who added that he does not
support the Klan, but won't
turn away a buck from any-
body.
Howell auctioneer Gag Gray with some of the
By the time the auction
K K Kparaphernalia and robes he sold for $24,000
started on Saturday night, six last week.
more Klan robes as well as
swords, pins and literature
smart enough to quickly get us both
were being offered to the group of
inside and wait until the parade went
200 eager buyers, as about 10 protest-
past.
ers stood outside.
Although community leaders have
One robe was bought as a teaching
tried in recent years to erase the past,
tool for a museum at Ferris State
University in Big Rapids, according to Howell has always lived under a cloud
of hatred — traced to Robert Miles, a
the AP. All together, the auction net-
KKK leader who lived there until he
ted $24,000.
died
in 1992.
Many in the crowd who bought
Lizzie
aside, as I watched some of
items would not offer their names, the
the
local
news reports over the week-
story said, but I can't imagine why a
end, I was struck by a comment from
person wearing a silk hood would be
one person.
that shy.
It's a part of history that can't be
I thought about going, but decided
ignored,
just like the Holocaust, he
it was more Geraldo Rivera's reporting
said.
style.
Interesting choice of comparison —
I wonder if he'll get in trouble with
Harry Kirsbaum's e mail address is
Holocaust deniers. ❑
hkirsbaum@thejewishnews.com

-

2005

Besides, I've found some of my sto-
ries and columns on racist Web sites,