COLUMBIA, Tenn. — On Monday, the people of Columbia were shocked when they woke up and found KKK flyers posted on several businesses and churches. Many of the flyers were posted to church signs, all of which were historically Black churches.
“It says, 'Be warned,' and then it has an email address to the Ku Klux Klan saying, ‘Join the fight,’” said Pastor Kenny Anderson of Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church.
He said he found the flyer, and it hurt him more than it surprised him.
“We’re living in a season of madness,” Anderson said. “Letting hate build up in you so much to where you want to be divisive all the time.”
The Columbia Police Department released surveillance video of a white man in shorts and a t-shirt putting a KKK flyer onto a food truck. More flyers were found on the marquees of Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, Bethel Chapel AME Church and Faith United Missionary Church.
“All the churches that were involved were African American churches,” Anderson said.
He said the flyers made him and dozens of other church members worried about their safety. However, he said few people were surprised the flyers would be posted.
“You look at the school shooting we’ve been having around us — it’s all this madness so it was just a matter of time for this to happen to us,” Anderson said.
All three churches were planning to talk about the flyers during a news conference on Wednesday. Police said the man posted at least four fliers during the early morning hours of July 9 in different locations around Columbia.
The Mayor of Columbia, the Maury County Mayor, the Columbia Peace and Justice Initiative and the Chief of Police all attended the conference along with the pastors.
"Most people I have encountered desire a community of unity, solidarity and healing. However, on Sunday, July 9, our congregation was met with a flyer that echoed the terroristic message of the past and an ever-present space of evil and darkness," said Rev. Tanya Mason, from the Bethel Chapel AME Church. "I say to those who think our future is in their hands, that they must not know the resilience of the people of the African Methodist Episcopal Church."
She said the church was founded in 1787 as a response to racist policies that dictated when Black communities could pray and kept them enslaved.
The KKK is a known hate group with a history of violence against Black communities. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes it as "the oldest and most infamous of American hate groups." They said in 2022, there were 22 incidents involving flyers and the KKK, as well as small and remote rallies.
According to the SPLC, most incidents involving the KKK happened in Tennessee.
The group was formed following the Civil War and used violence to prevent Black Americans from voting, holding political office and participating in many aspects of society. More than 4,400 racial terror lynchings were documented between 1877 and 1950, according to the Equal Justice Initiative.
"I never noticed in anything I've ever read, on the cross where Jesus hung on Calvary, that he chose a race, chose a denomination, chose a service. All he simply said was, 'Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,'" said another pastor. "This is the same thing we did right now, with this little note on the church. It does not frighten me, because I'm an old man who lived through hardships many times ... Don't be discouraged or dismayed that hate is in our community because it's been here before."