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Evelyn Beatrice Hall once said (though often mistakenly attributed to Voltaire), 'I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.'
This is a principle many strive to live by, yet it’s not always simple. We often cling to our beliefs as if they define us, and when someone challenges them, it can feel like a personal attack.
However, some individuals have gone above and beyond what anyone could have expected, stepping across the divide and risking everything to help someone they would least likely be expected to assist.
10. A Rabbi Welcomed a KKK Grand Dragon into His Home
A few days after Rabbi Michael Weisser relocated to Lincoln, Nebraska, he received a phone call. The voice on the other end insulted him, calling him a 'Jew Boy.' The caller warned that Weisser would regret moving to town. Two days later, a package of anti-Semitic flyers arrived at his doorstep with a note reading, 'The KKK is watching you, scum.'
Weisser soon discovered that the person behind these attacks was Larry Trapp, the Grand Dragon of the KKK in Nebraska. Trapp, he learned, was a blind man who had lost both his legs to diabetes. Instead of reacting with anger, Weisser decided to reach out to him.
Weisser began calling Trapp every week, leaving messages offering his help. Eventually, Trapp answered, and Weisser greeted him with, 'I heard you’re disabled. I thought you might need a ride to the grocery store.'
Trapp hung up the phone, but a few days later, he called back, clearly shaken. He confessed to Weisser, 'I want to get out of what I’m doing and I don’t know how.'
Weisser visited Trapp and struck up a friendship, even inviting him to move into his home. Weisser and his wife cared for the blind and disabled man. It worked—Trapp didn’t just leave the KKK; he eventually converted to Judaism.
9. The First Black Mayor of Washington Prevented a Race Riot
When Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, anger swept through the nation. Across the U.S., riots broke out. People smashed windows, threw Molotov cocktails, and even attacked firefighters who tried to put out the flames. In Washington, D.C., the person tasked with calming the unrest was Walter Washington, who would soon become the city’s first black mayor.
Washington shared the outrage of everyone else, but he believed that rioting wouldn’t solve anything. 'What’s new about it? Martin being shot?' he asked. The death of a black man, he pointed out, 'isn’t new.' And burning down the city wouldn’t bring him back.
So, he walked the streets of D.C., attempting to de-escalate the chaos. Instead of commanding the protesters to stop, he asked them to help those whose homes had been destroyed. Washington later claimed that only one person turned him down.
Though he couldn’t fully stop the riot, Washington managed to calm the situation. One observer would later remark, 'Mayor Washington probably saved hundreds of lives.'
8. Inmates Risk Everything to Save a Guard’s Life
Prison guard Kenneth Moon was quietly sitting at his desk when an inmate decided to attempt a jailbreak. He rushed up behind the unsuspecting Moon, wrapping his arm around his neck in a vicious attempt to choke him.
Other prisoners witnessed the assault—and instead of seizing the opportunity, they sprang into action. Within seconds, three men rushed over, knocked the attacker to the ground, and began prying him off of Moon.
One of them, David Schofield, immediately called for backup—but before the guards could arrive, over a dozen other inmates had gathered at the scene to help Moon back to his feet.
'I was thinking about this is somebody’s father and somebody’s son,' Terry Carswell, one of the rescuers, explained later when asked why he intervened. 'Nobody deserves to die like that.'
7. A Man Convincing His Lynch Mob to Donate to His School
In 1918, Laurence Jones came close to being lynched. Rumors had been spreading that black Americans in Mississippi were planning a rebellion, and when a white mob overheard Jones telling his congregation to 'fight to survive and succeed,' they believed he was behind it. They decided he had to die.
The mob dragged Jones out from the pines, tied a rope around his neck, and set kindling beneath his feet. They then gave him a chance to speak his final words before hanging and burning him alive.
Jones spoke about the school he had started to provide an education to black children who didn’t have the same opportunities as others. He named the white men who had helped him establish it, urging for unity. He must have been incredibly persuasive, because it actually worked.
An elderly Civil War veteran recognized the names and realized Jones was telling the truth. 'We’ve made a mistake,' the old man said to the mob. 'We ought to help him instead of hanging him.'
The mob dragged him down and even passed around a hat, raising $52.40 for his school. Jones bore no ill will, saying, 'I have no time to quarrel, and no man can force me to stoop low enough to hate him.'
6. Muslims in Pakistan Build a Church for Christians
In the Pakistani village of Khaksabad, the locals were shaken when they heard about the violence in nearby Gojra. A Muslim mob had attacked a Christian community, leaving the town in chaos and strife. They didn’t want their village to suffer the same fate.
When the local Christian church was destroyed in a monsoon, the Muslims of Khaksabad saw it as an opportunity to make a difference. They began a fundraiser to help the Christians, motivated both by sympathy and a desire to heal the division in their community.
The Muslims eagerly pitched in, contributing every penny they could. Their efforts raised enough funds to build a brand-new church for their Christian neighbors.
'A church is also a house of Allah,' one Muslim shopkeeper remarked. 'We worship the same God.'
5. A KKK Member Rescues an NAACP Member’s Life
While serving in Vietnam, John Brown found himself in charge of a man named Rayford—whom he described as 'a card-carrying member of the Ku Klux Klan.' Rayford, unsurprisingly, wasn’t keen on taking orders from a black man.
John Brown, a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, was furious dealing with a racist like Rayford. Rayford flatly refused to obey Brown’s orders, prompting Brown to be even harder on him, including one occasion when he slapped Rayford across the face with his NAACP membership card.
However, when Brown’s life was in danger, it was Rayford—of all people—who saved him. After Brown had his fingers shot off and was pinned down under heavy fire, Rayford ran through a storm of machine gun bullets to rescue him.
Despite their differences, Rayford successfully got Brown to safety. Brown never saw him again, but the experience profoundly changed his perspective. He later said, 'I learned that two people, no matter what their differences are, or races, can come together on one accord.'
4. A Criminal Rescues the Cop Who Was Arresting Him
When Jamal Rutledge was brought into the police station for violating his probation, it wasn’t the first time he had found himself in handcuffs.
He was locked in a room with Officer Franklin Foulks, who was processing his arrest, when Foulks suddenly had a stroke. The officer collapsed, and Jamal was the only one who witnessed it.
Jamal tried to help, but with his hands cuffed behind his back, he was limited in what he could do. Instead, he began kicking the door and shouting for help. Officers rushed in and performed CPR on Foulks, ultimately saving his life.
The officer praised Jamal as a hero and organized a ceremony in his honor, even though Jamal had been arrested. At the event, Jamal shared that he believed his life would change from that point on, stating, 'People do bad things, but they can change their life around.' He promised to become an upstanding citizen from then on.
However, change didn’t come easily. Jamal had been in and out of jail since he was eight years old, and it’s hard to reshape a life that’s been molded by such experiences. He was arrested again soon after, and is currently serving time. Jamal remains a lifelong criminal—but as his heroic act proved, he is still very much a human being.
3. The ACLU Defended the KKK’s Right to Free Speech
When the KKK applied to adopt a section of highway in Missouri, the state couldn’t stop them. The Supreme Court ruled that they had the same rights as anyone else, and if the KKK wanted their name on a highway cleanup sign, they were legally entitled to it.
In retaliation, Missouri changed the highway’s name to 'Rosa Parks Highway.' Enraged, the KKK refused to fulfill their duties. Once they neglected their responsibility, the state took action and legally revoked their highway adoption.
Since then, the KKK has been fighting to regain their right to adopt a highway. They’ve argued, 'We just want to clean up the doggone road. We’re not going to be out there in robes.' Surprisingly, the last group you’d expect—the American Civil Liberties Union—has supported them.
The ACLU has long been a defender of civil rights activists, but in this case, they felt compelled to support the KKK. They argued that if the KKK lost their right to challenge this in court, it could set a precedent where the courts could refuse to hear any group they disagreed with.
The ACLU argued that they defend equality and free speech—even if it means upholding the right to equality and free speech for the Ku Klux Klan.
2. An Israeli and a Muslim Saved a Palestinian Terrorist
Ahmed Mansara was just 13 when he and his cousin ran through East Jerusalem, stabbing innocent people with knives. They were Palestinians, determined to sacrifice their lives in a mission to spread terror in Israel.
The attack ended when Mansara’s cousin was shot and killed by an Israeli police officer. Panicking, Mansara fled, only to be struck by a car. A crowd of people gathered around him, some shouting, 'Die!' while others called him names like 'son of a whore' and demanded that the police shoot him in the head.
However, Mansara was taken to a hospital run by both Jewish and Muslim doctors. Though he was a murderer, he was still just a boy, and it was their responsibility to save him. They treated his injuries, prioritizing him over other patients whose wounds were less severe, and ultimately saved the life of a terrorist.
'We don’t ask who you are,' said Ahmed Eid, a Muslim doctor at the Israeli hospital, when asked why he chose not to let Mansara die. 'We treat the terrorist the same as we treat the victim.'
1. Larry Flynt Tried to Save the Man Who Shot Him
Larry Flynt, the publisher of Hustler, was shot and paralyzed by Joseph Paul Franklin, a white supremacist on a killing spree. Franklin, a serial killer, had targeted Flynt for creating a photo shoot that featured a black man and a white woman together.
Franklin was caught and, years later, found himself on death row, awaiting a lethal injection. The only person who fought for his life, much to his surprise, was Larry Flynt.
Flynt, who had been confined to a wheelchair for life due to Franklin’s actions, still didn’t want him to die. He believed that executing Franklin was an act of revenge that wouldn’t resolve anything. Flynt joined forces with the American Civil Liberties Union and filed lawsuits to try to prevent Franklin’s execution, stating, 'I firmly believe that a government that forbids killing among its citizens should not be in the business of killing people itself.'
It didn’t work, and Franklin eventually received a lethal injection. Before his death, however, he experienced a change of heart. Living alongside people of different races in prison shifted his perspective. 'I saw they were people just like us,' he said, reflecting on his time there.
