Race Relations After the U.S. Presidential Elections
By Nate Thayer
November 13, 2016
Below are a select group of calls to the 1-800 hotline telephone of a Ku Klux Klan faction in the days since the U.S. presidential elections. Full warning: If you are offended by foul language and unexpurgated vitriolic hate, please do NOT read any further or listen to the audio clips below.
The calls, from all over the U.S., give an extreme view of the ratcheted up polarization among Americans in the wake of the victory of Donald Trump. They were all recorded legally, confirmed as authentic, and obtained by this reporter. They largely do not include calls from the many who expressed support for the Klan’s views, but rather those that were discarded as obviously not supporters or potential members. Klan leaders say they have seen a marked upsurge of calls to their hotline since Trump was elected, both from supporters, sympathizers, opponents, and prank calls.