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Former Klansman seeks OK to rally
By JASON ALT, thedailyjournal.com from the Web, October 6, 2004
MILLVILLE -- A former Ku Klux Klan member seeks city permits to stage a rally and downtown parade here next spring.
Millville resident Joseph Bednarsky Jr. hopes up to 200 people -- including skinheads, Klansmen and their children -- participate in a display of "white pride" scheduled for May 14. The event would be organized through North-East White Pride, an umbrella group for various white nationalists, he said.
City officials responded to Bednarsky's inquiry this week by mailing him permit application papers. The process of deciding whether to grant permission would include consultation with police and recreation officials, but wouldn't be based on the content of participants' viewpoints, City Administrator Lew Thompson said.
Bednarsky expects city officials will try to impede his vision of a rally at the Cumberland County fairgrounds and a parade along High Street.
"All we are is European-Americans that want to preserve our culture and our heritage," said Bednarsky, 35. "We're people that are proud of our race."
Richard T. Smith, president of the NAACP's Greater Vineland branch, called Bednarsky's plans "disheartening," but said he's optimistic city officials won't issue any permits.
"This just gives civil rights organizations like the NAACP a reminder that there is still a lot of work that we need to do," said Smith, "and that we need to continue to struggle for equality and not to allow small-minded people like this to take us in the opposite direction."
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