MHRN’s Response to State Library Commissioner’s comparison of the Montana Library Association with the Ku Klux Klan

On May 10, 2024, State Library Commissioner Carmen Cuthbertson compared the Montana Library Association (MLA) with the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). This comparison is not only inaccurate and offensive, but demonstrates a dangerous misunderstanding of the KKK’s violent history of white supremacy.  

The KKK  is the oldest and most notorious American hate group and are known for the white hoods members wore to hide their identities. KKK members have historically targeted Black Americans with threats and violence, but have also targeted Jewish, LGBTQ2S+,  Indigenous, and immigrant Americans. There are no active chapters of the KKK in Montana currently, but there have been active chapters in the state previously. To learn more about the KKK, visit the Southern Poverty Law Center’s website. 

Cuthbertson’s comparison was prompted by MLA members boycotting an annual informal gathering with the State Library Commission. Cutherbertson also claims that MLA members sent an anonymous letter to the Commission. The anonymous letter claim prompted another State Library Commissioner, Tamara Hall, to call MLA “undemocratic”. 

The Incoming President of MLA Sarah Widger denies that MLA sent an anonymous letter in a recently released public statement. Widger says that they boycotted the gathering because members of MLA “ . . . do not think [the Commissioners] are listening to us, so we will not attend this session.” This comes after the State Library Commission’s recent decisions to lower professional standards for librarians and withdraw the state’s membership from the American Library Association; choices that MLA disagreed with. Both Cuthbertson and Hall have supported the banning of books that tell the stories of LGBTQ2S+ people. 

At Montana Human Rights Network we believe that our democracy is made more robust when people participate in principled direct action. To call the purposeful boycott of an informal gathering undemocratic is a gross misunderstanding of our freedoms and responsibilities as Americans. Furthermore, the comparison of the  boycott to the violence and horrors perpetrated by the KKK diminishes the pain, terror, and violence inflicted by KKK members on Black, Jewish,  Indigenous, LGBTQ2S+, and immigrant people. 

The State Library Commissioners are responsible for stewarding and protecting our freedom to access and choose information. These accusations against MLA alongside recent decisions that undermine our local libraries and librarians are demonstrative of a disregard for this responsibility.