Klan Destine Relation: A Black Man's Odyssey in the Ku Klux Klan

In this disingenuous attempt to find common ground with the Ku Klux Klan, Davis, a Grammy Award-winning pianist who is black (he does not wish to be called African American) has conducted many in-depth interviews with Klan leaders since 1990. Davis was motivated by racist incidents he experienced as a child to fight prejudice by understanding those who hated him. Drawing on his recollections and the tapes he used during some of the interviews, he recounts, in somewhat stilted language, meetings he had with Klan members, including Chester Doles, an Imperial Wizard, and Tony LaRicci, a former Grand Dragon, during which he explored the Klan's negative attitudes toward nonwhite people and homosexuals. Although Davis is put off by his subject's dislike of minorities and the Klan's hate-filled rallies and cross-burnings, it is clear he relishes their expressions of approval for his country-and-western music and takes questionable pride in the fact that Klansmen are willing to share meals with him. He even calls some of those he interviewed ""friends."" (Jan.)