How many Klansmen are your friends?

A stock tactic that's often used by those who run interference for Muslims, homosexuals, and transexuals, is to ask crates: "How many of them do you personally know?" or "How many of them are your friends?"

For the record, I went out of my way to befriend Muslim students when I was in college. And I've had a number of homosexual acquaintances. 

That said, let's take a comparison: suppose I were to condemn the Ku Klux Klan. Let's say this was back when the KKK was a force to be reckoned with, and not the offseason Halloween party it's become. 

Suppose the response was: "How many Klansmen do you personally know? How many Klansmen are your friends? If you just give yourself a chance to get to know them, you'll find out that Klansmen (and their womenfolk) are some of the nicest people you'll ever meet. Only a tiny minority of Klansmen lynch blacks."

Now, for all I know, that may well be true. I'm sure many Klansmen exhibited the virtues of Southern hospitality. I'm sure many of them were quick to roll up their sleeves to help a neighbor in need. 

But, of course, that's not how critics typically evaluate the KKK. They don't frame the issue in terms of how nice and neighborly Klansmen could be in most situations. Rather, they think that's tainted by the fact that the KKK was a domestic terrorist organization.