This weekend, community members in San Luis Obispo reported a person walking through public spaces wearing clothing associated with the Ku Klux Klan, intoxicated and engaging in verbal confrontation. The San Luis Obispo Police Department determined there was insufficient evidence to substantiate a hate crime and documented the incident as a non-criminal hate expression.
We do not take the concerns we have heard from community members about this incident lightly.
The fear this incident creates is rooted in real history, including here. In 1925, the KKK marched down Monterey Street, held a rally in San Luis Obispo, and burned a cross at a nearby ranch. In response, community members came together across some of the very lines the Klan sought to divide. SLO’s Jewish mayor, Louis Sinsheimer, worked alongside Catholic leaders, and members of the local Chinese community came together to celebrate diversity, and push back against the presence of the Ku Klux Klan.
15 years ago, the burning of a cross outside the home of a Black family in Arroyo Grande again brought community members together in what would eventually become this organization, Diversity Coalition.
A KKK robe is not a neutral piece of clothing or another Halloween costume. Choosing to own or wear one means invoking its history of racial terror, intimidation, violence, and white supremacy.
We also cannot ignore the broader context. The ideas represented by that robe have not disappeared. The belief that some people are more deserving of power, safety, freedom, or belonging than others is still present, as is the dangerous myth that our own safety, dignity, or liberation must come at the expense of someone else's. Across the country and in our own communities, people continue to be targeted because of their race, ethnicity, religion, immigration status, gender identity, and who they are.
We cannot become so overwhelmed by everything happening around us that we stop paying attention. Anti-Black racism, antisemitism, and discrimination do not disappear when the news cycle moves on.
That’s why we take this seriously. Not because we want to amplify one individual, but because history has taught us what can happen when hate and intimidation are dismissed or normalized. History has also shown us what we can do in response. We educate. We build relationships across differences. We create opportunities to know one another beyond stereotypes.
This is why programs that bring people together to learn, and share their stories matter. They may not feel as urgent as responding to a crisis, but they are part of how we prevent the next one.
This work mattered in San Luis Obispo 100 years ago. It mattered when Diversity Coalition was formed 15 years ago. And it matters now.
With love,
Diversity Coalition San Luis Obispo County
For more information about our coalition, programs, or how to stay engaged, visit: diversityslo.org
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