Yesterday, we had the opportunity to interview James Bates, a photographer who has been documenting the Ku Klux Klan for over a decade. Before the news confernece even began, pictures were lined up against the wall; all depicting the KKK. Many of these photographs contained children in them. What really struck me over and over again, was the fact that the parents were teaching their children hatred -- racism is learned and taught. Bates told us that the youngest child he saw at a KKK rally was a one-month-old baby. One picture that stayed with me was a picture of a little boy with a doll, depicting a stereotypical black man, hanging from a noose attached to a tree.
Bates said the story behind that picture was that his parents were teaching the little boy how to hang black people.
Bates repeatedly told us that he wasn't afraid of the KKK or death. "I don't fear death," Bates said. Bates also said that this project was a "way to tell people's stories in a meaningful way.'' Bates is a very insipiring and couragous man. The ability to detach and be completely objective and unbiased in a project as controversial as documenting the KKK is something that I deeply admire, and I aspire to learn these qualities in order to be successful in the field of journalism.
--Jessica Swanson
Bates said the story behind that picture was that his parents were teaching the little boy how to hang black people.
Bates repeatedly told us that he wasn't afraid of the KKK or death. "I don't fear death," Bates said. Bates also said that this project was a "way to tell people's stories in a meaningful way.'' Bates is a very insipiring and couragous man. The ability to detach and be completely objective and unbiased in a project as controversial as documenting the KKK is something that I deeply admire, and I aspire to learn these qualities in order to be successful in the field of journalism.
--Jessica Swanson