Local network of opponents to the Ku Klux Klan
Carter describes the local network of people who actively campaigned against the Ku Klux Klan during the early 1950s, arguing that ultimately federal intervention was needed. In describing an atmosphere of highly charged tension, Carter explains how in addition to himself, other public opponents included Columbus County Sheriff Hugh Nance and the editor of the <cite>New Reporter</cite> in Whiteville, North Carolina, Willard Cole.
Citing this Excerpt
Oral History Interview with W. Horace Carter, January 17, 1976. Interview B-0035. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007) in the Southern Oral History Program Collection, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Full Text of the Excerpt
- JERRY LANIER:
-
Well, did you find the case to be the same in Columbus County, North
Carolina insofar as law enforcement was concerned? Was the
sheriff's department here actively working against the
Klan?
- W. HORACE CARTER:
-
I think there was a great deal more effort in Columbus County to find out
who they were and what they were doing and to convict them than they
were in Overy County, because I think that that's been true
down through the years as far as lawlessness is concerned. But I will
say (and Hugh Nance is a friend of mine who was the sheriff at that time
in Columbus County, and did have some part in the arrests and the
convictions), I'll say now and would tell him that I
don't believe the cases would have ever been broken had we
just had the local people trying to break the cases. And I
don't believe they would have ever come up with the evidence
to have convicted them, and I think that they would have looked around
and seen so many people that were voting for them that they would have
been a little reluctant to have done that much about it anyway. I doubt
that local sheriff's departments and police forces would have
ever broken the Klan's back.
- JERRY LANIER:
-
Well, one of the Klan leaders himself, I think, would confirm what you
just said. Mr. Brooks, in his book that he wrote in 1958, really
criticized sheriff Nance—almost charged him with cowardice in
a lot of cases, and called him the "little cowboy
sheriff." That seems to be a general agreement, that the FBI
was really the most active force in finally
bringing the Klan to justice.
- W. HORACE CARTER:
-
The original seventeen or eighteen arrests were federal arrests. But
then, you know, following right on the heels of that were the SBI (the
State Bureau of Investigation) arrests, and these were worked in
conjunction with the sheriff's department. But I
don't believe the FBI would have let all the debuties and the
sheriffs and the various local law enforcement officers even know much
about what was going on until they were ready to crack down on this.
There's too many chances of a leak here which would spoil the
thing. Incidentally, since we've mentioned the sheriff and
Hugh Nance at that time, the nearest I came to shooting somebody in my
life was in this period. And it was about two o'clock in the
morning; and of course I didn't know who it was, but I was
kind of on edge during this period anyway because they kept telling me
how they were going to take me out of the house and beat me up. And at
about two o'clock in the morning somebody knocked on my door.
There were no houses right close to where I was living at the time
(several hundred yards), and so I said, "Well, they finally
came after me." And I had my gun, and in another minute or two
I probably would have shot him. But just about the time I was started to
the door he said, "This is Hugh Nance, the sheriff."
Now, it could have been somebody else and just used this as a ruse to
get me out, but in actuality it was him, and he was telling me about
some more Klan information that he got. That's the nearest I
came to shooting somebody; it was a wonder I didn't
shoot.
- JERRY LANIER:
-
Did you have your gun along very often at all?
- W. HORACE CARTER:
-
Not in the streets, just at home. But I tried not to be by myself at
night around the county, because that was just asking for trouble.
And I had phone calls saying, like, "Your
house is being photographed; your house is being watched. We know your
schedule, and we're going to eventually get
you."
- JERRY LANIER:
-
Cole in Whiteville, did he receive the same sort of treatment?
- W. HORACE CARTER:
-
He did, as far as I know. Willard's dead now, you know; but in
the early part of this campaign it had been centered down in this area
and in Horry County, and the News Reporter
wasn't as directly involved 'til long
about—what?—'51 or '52,
somewhere in through there. But once he got involved with it, I think
Willard did a magnificent job campaigning against the Klan. And he
deserved any recognition he ever got for it; he worked hard at it. And I
think he had just as many threats as we did; and in some respects I
think you have to respect his position even more, because he was there
at the county seat, and the law enforcement officers and the
investigation centered there more than it was down here. We were way
down here in the country eighteen miles from the county seat, and I
think he may have been closer to the later stages of investigation than
I was.
- JERRY LANIER:
-
I think, too, perhaps he had one advantage in that his paper came out
twice a week; it was a substantially bigger paper.
- W. HORACE CARTER:
-
With more circulation, and just more pages and more space to say it; more
people there to be involved, right.
- JERRY LANIER:
-
Mr. Brooks was delighted to say that of all the enemies, of you and the
sheriff and Mr. Cole, that he guessed they hated Mr. Cole worse. And I
think it was because he reached more people, in a way.
- W. HORACE CARTER:
-
Sure he did. Our circulation was something less than two thousand; and I
expect at that time the News Reporter was probably in
the five thousand
bracket—I'm not sure, but certainly between
three-four-five, in that neighborhood. But it was getting to more
people, and it could have more influence, I'm sure, than we
could. Mostly what Early Brooks said about me was that I was going
crazy, or something or other; seemed like he said something or another,
"That newspaper editor in Tabor City is losing his
mind," or something like that.