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Lumbee Indians vs KKK

In research for a documentary film I'm slaving away on, I've come across a very interesting 1958 incident. Back then, Robeson County, NC, had 3-way segregation: black, white, and Indian (mostly the Lumbee tribe). The Klan burned a cross on the lawns of two Lumbees, and then held a nighttime rally.

The sheriff warned the Klan that they were putting their lives in danger, but their leader did not listen. The rally was lit by a generator running a single light, and it did not give off enough illumination to reveal that the rally was being surrounded by the Lumbee -- a force variously estimated at 100, 500, or a thousand of them, many armed.

Then a shot blew the lightbulb away, and the Lumbee descended on the Klansmen, shouting and firing into the air. The Klan ran, many discarding their sheets. The Lumbee donned the sheets, cavorted around, and hung an effigee of the Klan leader.

It was the last Klan rally in the area.

Here's a link. Here's another.

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