2008 Woodie Awards
Davis highlights music and education to combat racism
Issue date: 2/19/04 Section: News
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Daryl Davis is changing race relations one Ku Klux Klan member at a time.
Davis, the first black man to write a non-fiction documentary on the Klan, spoke to students Feb. 11 to encourage education as a way to combat racism.
"I never set out to convert anybody ... I simply set out to expose myself and to learn from them."
The Marist Student Programming Council sponsored Davis' lecture, "Klan-destine Relations," which focused on his experience as the first black man to infiltrate the KKK.
Davis began his life living overseas with his parents who worked in the Foreign Service. The time abroad exposed Davis to many cultures in an environ separate from the pervading American culture of the time.
It was not until he moved back to the United States that he collided with one of the major issues of the 1960s: racism. As an eight-year-old boy marching with his Cub Scout group, he was pelted with rocks by members of the community angry that a black child was socializing with white children.
"I couldn't understand it, because I hadn't grown up that way," Davis said.
Not long after this incident, his family moved again, living overseas for another ten years. At the age of 16, Davis returned to high school in the states, only to have a member of the American Nazi Party come to speak in one of his classes. But instead of becoming bitter, Davis attempted to learn from the experience.
"From that day in 1974, I became obsessed with racism," Davis said, explaining how the taunting spurred him to find every book, every article, and every video that he could in order to help him understand the root of racism.
After graduating from Howard University in 1980, Davis became a full-time musician. While his profession was music, his obsession was still race relations.
In 1983, a member of the Maryland chapter of the Ku Klux Klan attended Davis' show. He was so impressed with Davis' playing that he invited him over to his table for a drink.
Davis, the first black man to write a non-fiction documentary on the Klan, spoke to students Feb. 11 to encourage education as a way to combat racism.
"I never set out to convert anybody ... I simply set out to expose myself and to learn from them."
The Marist Student Programming Council sponsored Davis' lecture, "Klan-destine Relations," which focused on his experience as the first black man to infiltrate the KKK.
Davis began his life living overseas with his parents who worked in the Foreign Service. The time abroad exposed Davis to many cultures in an environ separate from the pervading American culture of the time.
It was not until he moved back to the United States that he collided with one of the major issues of the 1960s: racism. As an eight-year-old boy marching with his Cub Scout group, he was pelted with rocks by members of the community angry that a black child was socializing with white children.
"I couldn't understand it, because I hadn't grown up that way," Davis said.
Not long after this incident, his family moved again, living overseas for another ten years. At the age of 16, Davis returned to high school in the states, only to have a member of the American Nazi Party come to speak in one of his classes. But instead of becoming bitter, Davis attempted to learn from the experience.
"From that day in 1974, I became obsessed with racism," Davis said, explaining how the taunting spurred him to find every book, every article, and every video that he could in order to help him understand the root of racism.
After graduating from Howard University in 1980, Davis became a full-time musician. While his profession was music, his obsession was still race relations.
In 1983, a member of the Maryland chapter of the Ku Klux Klan attended Davis' show. He was so impressed with Davis' playing that he invited him over to his table for a drink.