US: University apologises to KKK book-reading janitor

A janitor whom a university official accused of racial harassment for reading a historical book about the Ku Klux Klan on his break has received an apology, months later, from the school, reports Associated Press. Charles Bantz, chancellor at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, apologised to Keith John Sampson in a letter, saying the school is committed to free expression. "I can candidly say that we regret this situation took place," Bantz wrote.

Sampson's troubles began last year when a co-worker complained after seeing him reading a book titled Notre Dame vs. the Klan: How the Fighting Irish Defeated the Ku Klux Klan.

The book's cover features white-robed Klansmen and burning crosses against a backdrop of Notre Dame's campus. It recounts a 1924 riot between Notre Dame students and the Klan in which the students from the Catholic university prevailed.

Sampson, a 58-year-old white janitor and student majoring in communication studies, said he tried to explain that the book was a historical account.

Full report on the Associated Press site