Tom Gordon
News staff writer

A Ku Klux Klan leader who won the right to hold a march Friday in the Sumter County city of York said Tuesday there will be no march.

"I don't believe I'd march in York if you paid me $1,000," said Jordan N. Gollub, imperial wizard of the Carthage, Miss.-based Royal Confederate Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. "I don't like some of the things the mayor said about me the other day, so I don't have any great reason to come to York. They've given us a hard time, not giving us a reason originally why we couldn't march and all this."

York, a predominantly black city of 2,800, had passed a parade ordinance that Gollub challenged, saying it put unconstitutional restrictions upon his right to march. U.S. District Judge Edwin Nelson blocked enforcement of that ordinance on Monday, and ruled it unconstitutional Tuesday. [...]

York Mayor Carolyn Gosa said she telephoned Gollub on Tuesday morning and told him the city was prepared to handle the march and that Gollub told her, "I'm not ready now." [...]

Gollub said he still hoped his group, and members of two other Mississippi Klan groups and an Alabama group, would march at 4:30 p.m. Friday in the Choctaw County seat of Butler, a majority-white city. But he said lack of interest could scuttle that plan.

"If we look like we're going to have two or three (marchers), it's really not worth the effort," said Gollub, who said there was not enough time now for him to organize a meaningful march in York. [...]

The 43-year-old Gollub, a Philadelphia native and former substitute school teacher, said he has been active in Klan groups for more than 20 years. He said the original purpose of the Friday marches was to honor western Alabama's Southern heritage and recruit new members. [...]