The Klansman Who Won't Use the N-Word

Jon Ronson's "The Klansman Who Won't Use the N-Word" focuses on the diminishing harshness of the Ku Klux Klan.  Thom Robb, the Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, is concerned that the Klan's negative image turns people, especially women, away from joining or supporting their cause of promoting white supremacy.  Thom goes on to say that calling Negroes the "N-word" distracts them from listening to the point that they are trying to make.  He also creates a new rule that Klan members can't wear their signature white hooded outfits to cross "lighting" ceremonies in order to help the image of the group.  Thom sees the Klan as it was pictured in the early 1900's; he says "We're supposed to be the knights on the white horses who ride into town and save our people!  We're supposed to be good guys!  Shining armor!  Do we want to go around threatening people?" (191).  Through all of these changes, Thom is trying to build the population of Klan members, and he is concerned with winning political power among his competitors of other, and more extreme, white supremacist groups.

I thought this piece was interesting and weird at the same time.  I don't think that the idea of white supremacy could, or should, ever be considered as a positive thing.  I thought the descriptions of the warm and welcoming KKK National Congress meeting in the middle of an isolated, scary town created good imagery in the beginning of the story.  I found the part about the personality test to be kind of out of place and confusing.  I don't think it really contributed to the main idea of the story or conveyed any strong messages about the Klan members themselves.  Having a KKK leader that is so positive and wanting to change everything is unrealistic to me, but this is also what made the story so interesting.  I didn't know that members of the KKK were once thought of as "knights in shining armor," and I was surprised by this.  I think the author should have mentioned this earlier because it would have given me more insight as to Thom's reasoning behind changing the Klan.