Georgia State Rep. Tommy Benton—an ardent supporter of preserving his state's Confederate heritage in every manner—said that the Klu Klux Klan was not necessarily racist and that it helped to maintain an ordered society. “It made a lot of people straighten up,” the Republican lawmaker said. “I’m not saying what they did was right. It’s just the way things were.” Though he made those comments last summer, he confirmed and stood by them this week when asked about a recent bill he drafted permanently preserving the Confederate monument at Stone Mountain.
