History has never been kind to African Americans but even within that narrow field, the hate mongering and vile assaults by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) were the stuff of nightmare. The KKK were (and still remain) a domestic terrorist group whose sole purpose was eradicating the freed slaves following the Civil War.
But I want to talk to you about two people: one of the heads of the Ku Klux Klan Johnny Lee Clary and the man he despised for so many years, Reverend Wade Watts.
First Encounter: The Radio Debate
In 1979, when Imperial Wizard (equivalent to being a national leader of the Ku Klux Klan) Johnny Lee Clary met Wade Watts at a radio station for a debate on racism, his first gesture set the tone for what was to come. He withdrew his hand after accidentally shaking the hand of Watts recalling the Klan rule that
'physical touch of a non-white is pollution.' Instead of being insulted, the Reverend laughed and consoled him saying 'he need not worry as his black wouldn't come off.'
The debate was filled with slurs and insults heaped upon Wade by Clary. And through it all, Wade smiled and said 'Jesus loves you.' When Johnny could take no more, he stood to leave. Wade stopped him before he left the station and showed him a baby abandoned by a black teenage boy and a white girl. The Reverend had adopted the baby as his own and to Johnny he asked,"You say you hate all black people. Tell me, how can you hate this child?"
The Reverend's final words to the Klan leader who ran out the door that day was
'God Bless you, Johnny. You can't do enough to me to make me hate you. I'm gonna love you and I will pray for you whether you like it or not.'Waves after Wave of Hatred
Angry at being embarrassed on national radio, KKK leader Johnny Lee Clary responded the only way he knew how. Along with the Klan, Johnny would drive by Wade's house, throwing garbage all over his lawn and showering death threats. When Wade did not take the bait, Johny upped the ante.
Dressed in their iconic ceremonial robes, the KKK came to the Reverend's doorstep one night with flaming torches and dared him to come out to meet them. Reverend Wade calmly opened the door, stared at these masked men in robes and simply said
'Boys. Halloween is 4 months away. I don't have any trick-or-treats for you. Come back in October.' before calmly closing the door on their stunned faces.
At a loss, the Klan asked Johnny what he wanted to do next. So a few nights later,
they made a huge cross and set it on fire outside the Reverend's window, another of the most iconic fear-inducing tactics associated with the KKK. The Reverend once more came out and this time asked them
if they wanted hot dogs and marshmallows for their barbecue.Stunned by his inability to ruffle Wade, the Klan went a step further.
Johnny burnt down Wade's church. As the fire was being put out by law enforcement, Johnny called up and said in a muffled voice "Hey boy. You better be afraid. We are coming to get you. You don't know who we are but we know who you are." Before he could finish his threat, the Reverend replied,
"Hello Johnny. A man like you takes the time to call me. I am so honoured. Let me do something for you." And then he started to pray to the Lord to forgive the Imperial Wizard who had just burned his church down.
The Chicken Incident
At this point, Johnny was confused but he was not ready to give up his hatred for African Americans or the Reverend in particular. One day,
when they saw Wade go to a restaurant, 30 members of the Klan entered and surrounded his table. Johnny told Wade "Boy, this restaurant is for white folk only, not your kind. So I am going to make you a promise." Pointing to the chicken on the Reverend's plate, he said,"I am going to do the same thing to you that you do to the chicken. So you think real hard before you touch that chicken."
Reverend Wade Watts looked at the chicken, then the thirty men surrounding him and finally at his long standing nemesis Johnny.
He then picked up the chicken and kissed it.Everyone watching in the restaurant burst out laughing, including to Johnny's chagrin, his own Klan members. Unable to control their laughter, Johnny hurdled them out of the restaurant as the Reverend continued with his meal. That day, the Klan stopped harassing the Reverend.
Redemption
In the years that followed, Johny found his disillusionment with the Klan growing as he grew tired of hate. At the back of his mind, he remembered one old black man who had defeated his Klan, simply because the latter used his heart to stand up to their brawn. He wanted to make amends and help share love instead of the hate he had been spreading. He
burned his coveted Klan robe in the backyard and left the Klan, resurfacing two years later as a preacher.
When the time came, he returned to his town but found none ready to accept him in his new robes. So Johnny turned to the only person in his surroundings capable of helping him - Reverend Wade Watts. The Reverend welcomed his old nemesis with open arms
and so it came to be that Johnny Lee Clary gave his first sermon in the very same church (now rebuilt) that he had burned down years ago, a lone white man now standing in front of a crowd of annoyed black men and women.
That day in the church, with Wade by his side, Johnny won back the community with his heartfelt talk of finding himself. When Johnny made the altar call for anyone wanting to turn over their life to Jesus, among those children who stepped forward was a 14 year old girl. When Johnny noticed the Reverend crying and inquired about it, Wade pointed out that
this girl - Tia - was the same adopted baby of the Reverend who Johnny had first turned his back on at the radio station years ago.
Wade and Johnny would go on to become best friends.
Wade mentored him on his new journey finding peace and even made Johnny the godfather of Tia. The two often went on the road together as evangelical preachers, spreading love and even holding rallies of their own in cities where they knew the Klan was gathering.
Their time together as friends was short though. When Reverend Watts passed away a few years later in 1998, Johnny, now an ordained minister and evangelist, gave the eulogy. As he went to shut the lid on the Reverend's casket, he fulfilled a promise he had made years ago in a restaurant standing over a plate of chicken: he kissed his friend on the forehead as he bade him goodbye.
Johnny continued the good fight as a civil rights activist till the day he died in 2014, preaching love and talking about racism on many talk shows and platforms.
Why I want you to remember the real life story of Reverend Wade Watts and Johnny Lee Clary
Reverend Watts represented everything the Klan hated. And they were hellbent on destroying him. Yet, the jovial man beat the feared Ku Klux Klan without ever raising his hand against them. He beat them with forgiveness and humour.
In his ideals, he reminds me of the quote from his own close friend Martin Luther King Jr.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
You can listen to Johnny Lee Clary tell his version here in his TED talk. I sincerely hope you take the time out to come back and listen to this amazing video of their friendship, filled with so many moving anecdotes.
There is a lot more kindness where that came from.
I have compiled over 30 heroes of kindness and compassion this year. You can find
the list here.
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