Xernona Clayton and Calvin Craig
In 1968, Ku Klux Klan Grand Dragon Calvin Craig publicly disavowed the Klan, crediting his unlikely friendship with civil rights icon Xernona Clayton for his change of heart.
Xernona Clayton moved to Atlanta in 1965 and worked side-by-side with Coretta Scott King and Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement. In 1967 she became the first African American in the Southeast to have her own television program, The Xernona Clayton Show, and later joined Turner Broadcasting System and founded the Trumpet Awards, an annual event that recognizes accomplishments of African Americans in all walks of life.
But perhaps the most remarkable chapter in Xernona Clayton’s life was her influence on Calvin Craig, a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan. Craig was an Atlanta heavy-equipment operator who for most of the 1960s had been a strong advocate for racial segregation and a leader of Klan rallies and cross burnings.
Clayton and Craig got to know each other when they both became involved in the Model Cities program in 1967. They built an unusual relationship based on daily debates about their differing views on race and society. Surprising everyone, Craig resigned from the Klan in 1968, denouncing the organization and crediting Clayton for his conversion.
In February 2011, 43 years after Calvin Craig resigned from the KKK, Craig’s daughter Gail Craig Mayes asked to meet with Xernona to reflect on their story of racial reconciliation.
Xernona Clayton: I asked Gail, “What was the compelling reason that you had to meet me?” She said, “I came here especially to thank you, because you healed my father and cleansed our family.” Well, I nearly collapsed, I was so overtaken by those words. And then my mind went back to the years when she was little. I used to say to her father, “I’m concerned about these children, and especially this little girl. You’re transmitting this bigotry and hatred. I just hope she’ll grow up to be healthy, happy, sound, and grounded.”
Gail Mayes: I had been thinking about calling Xernona. I know that I had met you when I was a child, but I don’t really remember that much. What I did know is that it was really huge for my father to be out of the Klan, and I know that he credited you with that. I realized this is the story of love, a resurrection story of how love really heals. So that’s what really brought me down here to see you. It was just such a powerful moment. She opened the door, and we just held each other and cried.
In 1967 Atlanta Mayor Ivan Allen Jr. appointed Clayton as community affairs director for the Model Cities program. She worked with five communities, and each community had a chair. The mayor, however, cautioned Clayton that the chair of one of those communities was a Grand Dragon of the KKK.
Clayton: The mayor said, “I don’t know how you’re all going to get along.” I said, “Well, I won’t run away from people.”
On the night of the first meeting, Clayton noticed that one man did not fully shake her hand.
Clayton: He gave me just the little fingertips of a handshake, and I said to myself, “He must be the one.” But it wasn’t until the next day that he came by my office and said he was Calvin Craig. “Calvin Craig, now are you the one who heads the Klan?” He laughed and said, “Oh, Mrs. Clayton.” I could tell from that first meeting that he was a warm man; he was a very tall, handsome man, a well-attired man, and he had such a good sense of humor. Every day he would come by and make it his business to get into a discussion with me about race. Every time I asked him a question he didn’t want to answer, he just laughed . . .
I did want to change his attitude, because I was listening to Dr. King preach, saying that you’ve got to change a man’s heart before you can change his behavior. I never forgot that.
In April 1968, Craig held a press conference at his home and announced that he was leaving the KKK, crediting Clayton for his decision to get out of the Klan.
Mayes: It was at our home. We were living in Sylvan Hills at that time. I do remember him talking that it wasn’t what he believed in anymore, that he saw things in a different way, and that he wanted to get out of the Klan. It was a joyful day, I was happy; my mom was very happy that day, too. He changed as a person. I mean, he was always laughing, he always had that sense of humor. But there were many years that he was so angry. I mean, the anger was very intense. And that was the main change I saw—he was more at peace.
Clayton: I really liked that he changed, and I feel so joyful that I had anything to do with that. And so now to have Gail come into my life, I feel a link to that good feeling that I had with him. And to have her say to me how I cleansed him, it is sometimes more than I can handle. I am so imbued with the spirit that we’ve got to help people get rid of bigotry and hatred and racial misunderstanding. As human beings, we really have to figure out ways to come together. And I’m honored by her very presence that whatever brought her to this need to meet me, makes me feel good.
Mayes (overcome with emotion): You talk. I can’t talk. I just feel so close to you. It’s just been a blessing. I feel so honored to be your friend, and I just love that we can laugh and talk. I love you.
This story is condensed from an article originally published in the May 2011 issue of Atlanta Magazine