Some guy who passed away recently in Detroit who did a lot for black people has now been found to have been a high-ranking Ku Klux Klan official. So I guess the lingering question is “Uh, what?”

Jim Burwell worked to heal the racial wounds that festered in the wake of the 1967 riot — or so it seemed.

The squat, bespectacled white man from Ohio, who ran a truck repair shop in the Cass Corridor from the early 1960s until his death in 1990, had a reputation as a color-blind businessman who gave back.

He drove thousands of black children to church services and field trips in his bus. He ran a jobs program for ex-convicts that was partially funded by a civil rights group. African-American, Catholic and Jewish-owned newspapers praised his efforts.

The Detroit Black Panther Party sometimes came to him for money. He gave generously.

But Burwell had a secret that stayed buried with him until a box of weathered documents discovered in his old garage revealed the other half of his bizarre life story:

The civil rights champion who drove the church bus also wore the robes of the Ku Klux Klan.

Michigan State Police records found among Burwell’s belongings show he was a high-ranking member of the Detroit KKK. His widow confirms his Klan membership.

Some who knew him were shocked to learn of his double life. Others weren’t surprised, claiming he didn’t hide his racism when African-Americans weren’t around.

So that’s odd. He wasn’t really doing any detriment to black people and, in fact, was helping them out quite a bit. So either he really hated black people but didn’t have the balls to go all out on it orrrrrr he was just pretending to be a racist so he could fit in. Like a closeted gay guy who can’t help but talk about supple lady parts, stifling back the vomit all the way.

I think you’re more determined by your actions than what you say, like when I say to a girl that I don’t want a baby but I steadfastly refuse to drop off my baby venom anywhere else, you might say that I’m sending “mixed signals.” Sticky ones too.

[via]