In 1990, the Ku Klux Klan launched a racist telephone hotline that used a voice imitating Fred Rogers in an attempt to spread white supremacist messages to children. The recording copied the gentle tone of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, the beloved PBS show that had premiered nationally in 1968 and was celebrated for promoting kindness, inclusion, and racial integration. Rogers, who had famously featured Black police officer François Clemmons sharing a wading pool with him in 1969 during a period of segregation, publicly condemned the group’s actions. Rogers filed a federal lawsuit to stop the misuse of his name and persona. A court issued an injunction requiring the hotline to be shut down and the recordings destroyed. The case highlighted Rogers’ lifelong dedication to protecting children from harmful messaging and defending the values of empathy and equality that had defined his program for more than 30 years.(Historic Vids)