I'm a racist in the sense that I'm white, I was born white, I'm proud to be white, I
believe in my race, I want to see it perpetuated, I want it to survive on this planet, I want
to protect, defend and preserve my white race.
In Selma, Alabama, there are tens of thousands of people marching across the Edmund Pettus
bridge right now. Some of them think the bridge should be renamed. It was originally named
after a Confederate general and member of the KKK. Now some of the people here were
planning to march peacefully to the cemetery where Edmund Pettus is buried but they decided
not to and we're going to find out why.
My name is Todd Kiscaden, I'm a member of the Friends of Forrest and we're doing the
construction work to revitalise Confederate Memorial Circle in Selma, Alabama, the Old
Live Oak cemetery.
Many people are in Selma today to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the crossing of the
Edmund Pettus bridge...
That's right.
Are you taking part in these commemorations?
I'm not.
Why?
I'm over here working on the Confederate Memorial Circle.
Is there any other reason why you're not taking part today?
It was just... it's not my history.
The history Todd is proud of is represented in this cemetery, a burial ground for Confederate soldiers.
This is where Edmund Pettus is buried and it is home to a second, even more controversial
memorial, maintained by Todd's group.
The monument to Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Confederate general and the first Grand Wizard
of the KKK.
Most historians say that he was a founding member of the Ku Klux Klan.
I have no way to verify that and I don't think I believe that.
He had 29 horses shot out from under him during the war. He led from the front. His nom de
guerre was the wizard of the saddle, ok?
Do you not think that's where the name of the "Grand Wizard" came from?
I do.
But he was a founding... Grand Wizard is a KKK term.
He was not a founder.
Why did you decide to come to Selma today?
We decided we need to be here because there were indications that a hostile group was
going to come over here and I don't know what they were going to do. To march on somebody's
position is a military term, indicating that we better be prepared.
The local campaigners who planned to march on the cemetery, calling for the Edmund Pettus
bridge to be renamed, tell a different story.
There were concerns about the safety of our marchers, many of our marchers are young people
and we didn't want to put them in harm's way unnecessarily, so we decided not to march
at the Confederate Circle today.
One of the people there told us that the word "march" was a military term and he saw that
as a threat.
There was no risk of us being violent. We promote non-violence. That is our whole initiative
is to promote non-violence and to have peace, which is what Martin Luther King stood for,
so...
The name Martin Luther King provoked a different reaction from this woman. She's Pat Godwin.
As the president of Selma's United Daughters of the Confederacy, she's responsible for
the upkeep of the memorial site.
When Martin Luther King is called, er, he gets the Nobel Peace Prize, well, his tactics
provoked people to get killed. So that's not being very non-violent and I think that was
all in the plan.
If people watching this assume that what you're saying about the civil rights marchers looking
for trouble is indicative of you holding racist views, how would you respond to that?
Well, you have to define racist to me. What is a racist?
Racist is usually somebody who discriminates on the basis of skin colour.
Based on...
- That's your definition.
Is that your definition?
Yes.
Well, look at it, racists... the word racist is, like I say so many times, it's like beauty.
Beauty is in the eye, the eyes of the beholder. Well, if somebody is defining racist or racism
it all depends on who's defining it because it's their opinion. It's their opinion. I'm
a racist in the sense that I'm white, I was born white, I'm proud to be white, I believe
in my race, I want to see it perpetuated, I want it to survive on this planet.
I defend, protect and preserve my white race.
How about you Todd? Are you racist as well?
Define racism.
In the definition that was given to us by Pat.
Give me your definition.
Well, I'm asking you. Pat's definition - does that make you a racist?
I believe there's nothing wrong in us being proud of being white people, us being proud
of our Confederate ancestors, but in saying that, I did not say: "and we have to go be
mean to black people."
With Confederate flags across this cemetery, protesters decided to stay away, but some
students and one teacher did walk by.
My great grandmother was a slave on the last slave ship that docked in Selma and went to
the St James Hotel. You know, tears started rolling down my face from the moment I walked
through the gate. Um, but having...
Here? This cemetery?
Yes, this is not my first trip here, I've brought students here before.
How do you react to seeing, you know, those memorials, Confederate flags, white folks
guarding the memorials and a German Shepherd dog? What does that conjure in your mind?
That those people who are there doing that have not made progress, that they still feel
the way our society was 50 years ago. Would you be willing to test to see if the dog is
for security?
I'm not volunteering for that.
See, see?
Did you miss me?
Er, I just saw the dog. It's a big German Shepherd dog, I wondered if it was a guard
dog?
Let me tell you, I'd be more worried if it was a Chihuahua. We have a friend with a Chihuahua
that will take your leg off. Good grief!
Must be a big Chihuahua Pat.
No, it's a regular! Now, you're being prejudice against that dog because he's a German Shepherd.
Doberman Pinschers.
- You bigot! You English bigot!
That's right, German Shepherds and Rottweilers, they all get a bad rap. You know, they can
be just as docile as a little lamb but people have automatic prejudicial attitudes about
German Shepherds. He's not a guard dog, he's just a puppy.
As you know, protesters were coming and there's a dog and I just wondered if the dog was for security.
The protesters were supposed to be here at 08:30. I don't think protesters are coming.
You know, you're abusing your welcome. It's probably time to leave.
Uh-huh.
You hear me? You're here at our invitation and now you're abusing your welcome.
(Background) I don't think so - if they were going to cause violence then maybe we would
need a guard dog but if they're intending on being peaceful there's no reason for a
guard dog.
And you're really hung up on that...
This is why (unclear) and President Davis just wanted to be left alone. Do you know
what I mean? We wanted to secede from the Union, not overthrow it, we just wanted to
secede constitutionally and we did and be left alone.
We'll leave you alone. We'll leave you alone.
Thank you. OK.