When the Klan Wore Camouflage

You've heard of fighting for your country -- but what happens when the enemy shares your barracks? In this episode of IDKMYDE, B Daht shares how the"Camp Pendleton 14" learned that military justice isn't blind... it just wears a hood sometimes.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome back.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Know it alls to another episode of the most anticipated
podcast on the Black Effect Podcast Network.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
I didn't know.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Maybe you didn't either. I'm your host b Dot aka
King Dot because as you know, I am mister Alumni
twenty twenty five from my alma mater, Winston Salem State University.
And if you would like to support the campaign of
scholarship dollars to future Rams, send a dollar to my
cash app mister Alumni twenty twenty five. All proceeds go

(00:34):
to scholarships for future RAMS and the goal is to
eventually raise a twenty five thousand dollars endowment scholarship in
my mom's name to give to a Mass comm student.

Speaker 1 (00:44):
But we got time. If this is your first time here,
first of all, I like to say welcome.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Make sure you follow us on Instagram idk myde with
an underscore before it and after it, and find us
on YouTube idkyde and make.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
Sure you like, subscribe and follow. Do you follow on YouTube?

Speaker 2 (01:06):
Well, if you do, do that, and if you don't,
just make sure you like, comment and subscribe. And of
course we kick off every episode with three of the
most useless facts you'll never need not a day in life,
and today's three useless facts are about the military. Your
first useless fact, did you know that the US military

(01:26):
is the largest employer in the world. Bigger than Walmart,
bigger than Amazon, bigger than McDonald's over three point five
million personnel. That's if you count active, reserve and civilian staff.

Speaker 1 (01:40):
Your second useless fact, the.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
US military spends more on banded instruments than some countries
do on their entire army. In twenty sixteen alone, the
Department of Defense spent four hundred and thirty seven million
dollars on music related activities.

Speaker 1 (01:58):
I wonder's there any.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
Branch of the military where the ban marches like an
HBCU And your third useless fact. In the nineteen seventies,
it was perfectly legal to be a member of the
ku Klux Klan while serving in the military. You know,
as long as you can actively recruit on duty, you
could rock a white hood and a uniform and get

(02:19):
a pension. Those would be your three useless facts. The
US military is the largest employer in the world. The
US military spends more on banned instruments than some countries
do on their entire damn army. And in the nineteen seventies,
I said, nineteen seventies it was perfectly legal to be
a member of the KKK while serving in the military.

(02:41):
Ray on today's episode of I didn't know. Maybe you
didn't either. I have a question. Have you ever seen
somebody get punished harder for responding to racism than for
being racist? If not, take a trip with me to
Camp Pendleton, California, November thirteenth, nineteen hundred and seven, seventy six.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
I didn't know. I didn't know.

Speaker 2 (03:06):
I didn't I didn't know.

Speaker 1 (03:09):
I didn't I didn't know.

Speaker 2 (03:11):
I didn't know.

Speaker 1 (03:12):
I didn't know.

Speaker 2 (03:13):
Fourteen black Marines heard that some white Marines were holding
a ku Klux Klan meeting right there on base. Now me,
I'd assume we fighting somebody overseas, not sleeping next to
one in the barracks. But note at that time the
Department of Defense fully allowed KKK membership hood by night,
uniform by day.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
That is wild.

Speaker 2 (03:36):
So these Black Marines do what military training told them
to do, neutralize the threat. They roll up on the meeting,
Things get heated. Six white marines go to the hospital.
Who do you expect to get arrested? The actual clan members,
right note, all fourteen Black Marines were charged with a

(03:56):
tempted murder and conspiracy. I'm talking about face up to
seventy two years in prison each. Meanwhile, not a single
Klansman got detained. I mean, the official stance was basically, yeah, yeah,
the Klans, fine, but how dare y'all disrupt their little
book club meeting? Please refer to last week's episode of
gas lighting. Activists called it the Camp Pendleton fourteen, and

(04:20):
protests erupted all across the country. Folks said it wasn't assault,
it was self defense against domestic terrorism whereing government isshoot socks.

Speaker 1 (04:28):
Eventually, some of the charges got.

Speaker 2 (04:30):
Reduced, but careers were ruined, lives changed forever, and the
KKK but they still had their meetings on base like
it was Taco Tuesday. So the next time somebody says
the military is about order and discipline, ask them cool,
But who's given the orders? When the Klans and the barracks?
Because I didn't know, maybe you didn't either. I