The
Ku Klux Klan is marching in
Pasadena. Lots of people have turned out to
point and laugh, or
jeer, and I wonder what it must feel like to be a
Klansman today. I see a
discarded hood and
robe. I put it on and start to walk around, because I want to see what people will do
Most folks look at me funny, but no one starts any shit. Sometimes the robe gets too hot, so I unbutton the front and push up the hood to cool off. Some people recognize me, and they give me a he's just being wacky again look. They know that I am Jewish.
I catch a glimpse myself in a window when the robe is undone. I am wearing black clothing under the white sheets, and I think the effect looks pretty snappy. Then I button up the robe and pull down the hood, and walk around some more.
I leave the city streets, and find myself on a wooded, hilly backcountry road, something like a suburb of Philadelphia. I am still in the Klan outfit. A couple of little kids bike by, and are fascinated...they've never seen a 'real' live KKK member before. One of them says to the other in a low voice that before you can wear the sheets, you actually have to kill a black person. I want to tell them that they're wrong, all you have to do is hate them, but I don't.