ST. LOUIS -- The Ku Klux Klan has won the right to participate in Missouri's highway beautification program, but the recognition will have to wait.
Two signs along Interstate 55 in St. Louis recognizing the Klan's participation did not last long. The signs read: "Adopt-A-Highway. Next mile adopted by Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Realm of Missouri."One of the signs was cut down hours after it went up on Tuesday, and highway workers put it back Wednesday morning. By nightfall, both signs were gone.
It will take about eight weeks to replace the signs, which each cost state taxpayers about $75 to make, officials said.
"There's no doubt in my mind that this is going to go on," said Highway Patrol Sgt. Terry St. Clair. "The thing people have to realize is that we have to do what the courts tell us. Right now, the courts say the signs can be there."
The Klan's national director defended Missouri's decision to allow the group to take part in the program, suggesting white supremacy doesn't preclude environmental stewardship.
"Most decent people are concerned about the environment," said Thomas Robb, director of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. "People are not running out to sign up for the program. It's a legitimate right to want that recognition."
Missouri reluctantly granted the Klan an Adopt-A-Highway application after five years of legal battles. The state is appealing a federal court ruling that it cannot deny the Klan from participating in the litter-control program. "We understand First Amendment rights. But this is wrong," said James Buford, president of the St. Louis Urban League. "It gives the city and state an image that we tolerate racism."
The state transportation department may consider ending the program, spokeswoman Linda Wilson said, but "we really don't want to do that because we have 4,700 adopters who are helping us."