Stallworth - Black Klansman Race, Hate, and the Undercover Investigation of a Lifetime

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For my wife, Patsy Terrazas-Stallworth, and Mr. Elroy Bode

If one black man, aided by a bevy of good, decent, dedicated, open-, and liberal-minded whites and Jews can succeed in prevailing over a group of white racists by making them look like the ignorant fools they truly are, then imagine what a nation of like-minded individuals can accomplish. Everything that follows was accomplished despite, and in spite of, the supremacists claim in some cases to being highly educated, having more intelligence, and being far superior in every way to blacks and Jews, and anyone else they deemed inferior. My investigation of the KKK convinced me that sooner rather than later we would, in fact, overcome those who tried to define minorities by their own personal failings of racial, ethnic bias, bigotry, religious preference, and the false belief that people of color and others who did not fit their definition of pure Aryan white were not deserving of respect, much less of being classified as people.

Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.

Robert Kennedy

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they dont have any.

Alice Walker

All of this began in October 1978. As an Intelligence Unit detective for the Colorado Springs Police Department, the first black detective in the history of the department, I might add, one of my duties was to scan the two daily newspapers for any reports of information concerning any hint of subversive activity that might have an impact on the welfare and safety of Colorado Springs. Its surprising what some people will put in the paper: prostitution, obvious money schemes, that sort of thing mostly, but every once in a while theres something that really stands out. As I looked over the classified ads, one in particular caught my eye. It read:

Ku Klux Klan

For Information Contact

P.O. Box 4771

Security, Colorado

80230

Now there was something unusual.

The town of Security was a suburban housing development area located southeast of Colorado Springs near two main military bases: Fort Carson and NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command). The community was predominantly military, and there had been no known Klan activity in these parts.

So, I answered the ad.

I wrote a brief note to the P.O. box explaining that I was a white man interested in obtaining information regarding membership in the KKK and furthering the cause of the white race. I wrote that I was concerned with niggers taking over things, and that I wanted to change that. I signed my real name, Ron Stallworth, gave the undercover phone number, which was an unlisted, untraceable line, and used the undercover address, also untraceable. I placed my note in an envelope and dropped it in the mailbox.

Why did I sign my real name to the note, which would go on to launch one of the most fascinating, and unique, investigations of my career? Like all of our undercover investigators, I maintained two separate undercover identities with the appropriate support identification, drivers licenses, credit cards, etc. So why did I have this lapse in judgment and make such a foolish mistake?

The simple answer is I was not thinking of a future investigation when I mailed the note. I was seeking a reply, expecting it would be in the form of literature such as a pamphlet or brochure of some kind. All in all I did not believe my efforts would have any traction beyond a few mundane auto-mailed responses. I believed this blatant placement of such an inflammatory racist ad was nothing more than a feeble attempt at a prank, and by answering it I would see how far the prank would play itself out.

Two weeks later, on November 1, 1978, the undercover phone line rang. I picked it up, and a voice said, May I speak to Ron Stallworth?

This is he, I said.

Hi. My name is Ken Odell. Im the local organizer of the Colorado Springs chapter of the KKK. I received your note in the mail.

Oh hell, where do I go from here? I thought.

Okay, I said, stalling for time as I grabbed a pen and legal pad.

I read what you wrote, and Im wondering why you would like to join our cause?

Why do I want to join the Klan? A question I truly thought I never would have been asked, and I felt like saying, Well, I want to get as much information as possible from you, Ken, so I can destroy the Klan and everything it stands for. But I didnt say that. Instead I took a deep breath and thought about what someone wanting to join the Klan would actually say.

I knew from being called a nigger many times in my life, from small confrontations in everyday life that escalated to an ugly rhetoric, to being on the job when I was giving someone a ticket or making an arrest, that when a white person would say that to me, the whole dynamic would change. By saying nigger hed let me know he thought he was inherently better than me. That word was a way of claiming some false power. That is the language of hate, and now, having to pretend to be a white supremacist, I knew to use that language in reverse.

Well, I hate niggers, Jews, Mexicans, spics, chinks, and anyone else that does not have pure white Aryan blood in their veins, I said, and with those words I knew my undercover investigation had begun.

I continued, My sister was recently involved with a nigger and every time I think about him putting his filthy black hands on her pure white body I get disgusted and sick to my stomach. I want to join the Klan so I can stop future abuse of the white race.

Ken sure warmed up at that point, his voice easing into something sweet and friendly. He identified himself as a Fort Carson soldier who lived in Security with his wife.

And what exactly does the Klan plan on doing? I asked, pen at the ready.

We have a lot of plans. With the Christmas holiday approaching were planning a White Christmas for needy white families. No niggers need apply, Ken said.

They were seeking monetary donations through the P.O. box, and The Organization, as he referred to it, not the Klan, maintained a bank account under the name of White People, Org at a bank in Security.

Were also planning four cross burnings. To announce our presence. We dont know exactly when yet, but thats what we want to do. My pen paused over my notes as I heard this. Four burnings here in Colorado Springs? Terrorism, plain and simple.

Ken went on to explain that membership in The Organization would cost ten dollars for the remainder of the year, thirty dollars for the next year, and I would have to buy my own hood and robe.

When can you meet? he asked.

Shit, I thought, how do I meet this guy? Ahh, I cant for a week, I said.

Well then, how about next Thursday night? The Kwik Inn, do you know it?

Yes, I replied.

Seven oclock. Therell be a tall, skinny, hippie-looking white guy with a Fu Manchu mustache, smoking a cigar outside. Hell meet you, then if it all looks okay, hell take you to me, said Ken.

Okay, I said, scribbling furiously in my pad.

How will we recognize you? Ken asked.

The same question I had been asking myself since I picked up the phone. How would I, a black cop, go undercover with white supremacists? I immediately thought of Chuck, an undercover narcotics cop I work with who was about my height and build.