The specter of racism reared its head in Upshur County last week.

A woman who lives on a private road in the county said that her children found Ku Klux Klan literature wrapped in a plastic sleeve at their bus stop as they were waiting to go to school. The incident occurred on Wednesday morning, April 8.

“My son saw it and picked it up. I had to explain to my children what racism is,” she said.

The leaflet consists of three pages, all printed on normal-size typing paper. It urges people to “Save Our Land. Join the Klan.”

It carries the name of the United White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan and phone numbers and other contact information.

The woman was appalled and brought the leaflet to The Mirror.

It does not advocate violence, but criticizes President Obama, Democrats and “liberal socialists.”

“. . . .it is time to take a stand, America,” the leaflet implores.

The third page explains their beliefs, including “Creating a 3-tiered school system with white schools, black schools, and integrated schools thus allowing freedom of choice to attend the school of preference. . . .”

Sometime on Tuesday night, someone threw identical literature in neighborhoods in Marshall. Most of the literature was thrown on Country Club Drive and Poplar St. there. Some of the literature was left in Black families’ driveways.

The Marshall News Messenger reported on April 8 that someone was seen tossing out KKK literature about 12:30 a.m. Sunday.

The United White Knights are reportedly the most extreme of the Klan factions.