so i m headed back to arkansas. the town of harrison has a population that is 96% white. and it s known for still having an active ku klux klan presence. what kind of vibe will i get here? will i see some kind of sign of modern-day racism? ta-da. the controversial billboard up in harrison in northern arkansas sparking nationwide controversy. it s sparked local outrage, some calling it racist. people say this billboard reminds them of a very unpleasant time in their town s history. i need to talk to somebody about the billboard, and this lady will do. she s patty methvin, president of the harrison chamber of commerce. it broke my heart first. after i cried for a little while and kind of had a little hissy fit, then we started working on what do we do? how do you counter a billboard that doesn t have an author?
mayberry as you can get. modern mayberry. would you recommend a black guy like myself buy a house around here? sure. sure. you d fit right in, i m sure. right in? yeah. we have heard there s still like a klan presence, like a kkk presence. has that happened here? years ago dawson did have kind of a bad reputation. small town. it s just totally just disappeared. okay. now it s been over for years. do you see black people around here ever? whenever i was growing up there wasn t really a lot because the kkk s like headquarters are just right down the road. i see them around town when i work at dairy queen down there. it s funny because you re the youngest person we ve talked to and we talked to some older people in town and they said like somebody said the klan hasn t been here for 50 years. no, they re they were trying to put a good face on it. they just wasn t open about it like they were in the past. what if i was to go down that road today? would
dancing his ass off. [ laughter ] ain t too proud to beg. so i think i can t just judge the klan by this one dude. i ve got to go talk to more klan members. which is the first time a black guy s ever said that sentence in life. [ laughter ] my next stop on the where are they now klan edition is dawson springs, kentucky. walking the streets, it feels like any quaint southern working-class town. but for decades the kkk and their neo-nazi buddies have used a property just outside of town for their rallies. and tonight the klan has invited me to witness an actual cross burning. yep. i m a kkk vip. but first, let me talk to the locals. and see if they know that the ku klux klan is still in the hood. it s a good place to live, good place to raise kids. it s about as close to modern
i have heard about this gentleman in town named thomas robb. he talks as if he s speaking for harrison. he s not. i d say if you took a survey 99% of the people that live here wish he would shut up. okay. thomas robb, have you heard that name before, first of all? yes. you kind of look like i said lord voldemort. you got really like don t say it three times, he might show up like beetlejuice. this town is real peaceful. and any drama that people want to bring here, it s not right. it s just not right. there i was, harrison, arkansas. and i heard all about this guy thomas robb. he s the leader of what is apparently the knights of the ku klux klan. it s so racist that the kkk added a fourth k just to took up the racism a notch. this is the kkkk. [ laughter ] i was like i ve got to meet this guy. i had to call him up and go hey, man, can i come to your creepy
and you know, next week i ll bring my friends and we ll have a barbecue. probably not. okay. all right. bye-bye. drive careful. thomas robb and his new klan may not be as scary as the old klan, but i still wouldn t want them living on the outskirts of my town. by wearing a suit and tie, by presenting hate speech as folksy news, he s trying to take the kkk mainstream again. and that s way more dangerous than any group wearing a hood and hiding in the shadows. but unless he picks up some ryan seacrest tv skills, i don t see it happening. this here is the real story of harrison, arkansas. it s the story of people like these who are fighting back against the ignorance of racism. i didn t think this town would be embracing of the ignorance, but i didn t know there would be such a spirit against it. when you can see our hearts, that helps more than anything. yeah.