Beth Rickey

Elizabeth "Beth" Rickey (June 11, 1956 – September 12, 2009) was an American activist and leader in the anti-racism and anti-discrimination movement. Her efforts specifically focused on exposing former neo-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

Early life and education Elizabeth Rickey was born on June 11, 1956, in Lafayette, Louisiana, to Horace B. Rickey Jr., a United States Army lieutenant colonel in World War II, and his wife Flora Ann Womback. She had a brother named Robert and her uncle, Branch Rickey, was the first to sign an African American baseball player, Jackie Robinson, to an MLB team. The family was traditionally Republican and had a moral opposition to racial prejudice.

She attended what is now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, where she received a Master of Arts degree in government, and Tulane University, where she earned a PhD in political science.

Career Rickey's father was a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee, and in 1988 Rickey also become a member. After hearing David Duke speak on several occasions and one journalist familiar with Rickey noted that she recognized “that Duke was both more sinister than ordinary redneck racists and far more politically savvy." She felt that when he spoke, people could not always sense the racism in his words and as such, would not be able to see his true nature and danger.

Exposing David Duke Rickey strongly disagreed with David Duke and viewed him as a sinister person. Duke described his time in the Ku Klux Klan as a "youthful indiscretion" and after he was elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives as a Republican, Rickey began following Duke and recording what he stated at public gatherings. During his speech he described his win as a "victory for the white majority" and when Rickey's recording was later aired, Duke described the meeting as a conservative, anti-tax rally.

Personal life After exposing David Duke, Rickey traveled the world and converted to Catholicism, after which she became more focused on religion.