Honestly, if you’ve spent any time on the weirder corners of YouTube or TikTok lately, you’ve probably seen the name "Zinc" pop up. It’s a tiny speck on the map in Boone County, Arkansas. Most people wouldn't even notice it if they were driving through. But for a lot of internet researchers and activists, Zinc Arkansas racist controversies are a major rabbit hole.
There’s a reason for that.
Zinc is essentially the backyard for Thomas Robb. He’s the "National Director" of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Now, a lot of folks get the name mixed up—you might hear people searching for a "Tom Zinc" who is a racist in Arkansas. In reality, they're usually conflating the town name (Zinc) with the man (Thomas Robb) or perhaps Tom Bowie, another KKK affiliate who has appeared in viral videos from the area.
It’s a heavy topic.
The Reality of Zinc and the KKK Headquarters
Zinc isn't a bustling metropolis. The 2020 census put the population at just 92 people. Basically, it’s a handful of houses and a lot of woods. But just outside this tiny town sits the "Christian Revival Center."
This isn't your average country church.
It serves as the headquarters for the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Thomas Robb moved the operations here decades ago, trying to "rebrand" the Klan into something more mainstream—or at least more suburban-friendly. He swapped the "Imperial Wizard" title for "National Director" and started focusing on internet recruitment way before most other extremist groups.
The town itself often gets caught in the crossfire of this reputation. You’ve got people living there who just want to farm or be left alone, but they’re living in the shadow of a group that the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) have flagged as a major hate group for years.
Why the Internet is Obsessed with This Place
Viral culture loves a villain. In 2020, filmmaker Rob Bliss went to nearby Harrison—which is often lumped in with Zinc—and held a Black Lives Matter sign. The video went nuclear. You saw people driving by shouting some of the most vile things imaginable.
Then came the YouTubers.
- Niko Omilana went undercover as a BBC journalist and actually got Thomas Robb to shout out "BLM" by using phonetic fake names.
- Poudii traveled there to see if it really was the "most racist town in America."
- JiDion did a similar deep dive, even sitting down with members.
These videos rack up tens of millions of views. They create this image of Zinc as a place frozen in a dark past. But is everyone there a member? No. The statistics tell a slightly more complex story, even if the atmosphere remains tense.
Breaking Down the Demographics
When we talk about the Zinc Arkansas racist label, it helps to look at who actually lives there. According to the most recent data available leading into 2026:
The town is roughly 88.3% White. That’s a high percentage, but it’s not 100%. Interestingly, about 8.7% of the population identifies as being from two or more races. There is a tiny Black or African American population (about 1%) and around 1.9% identifying as Hispanic or Latino.
These numbers matter because they show that while the town is overwhelmingly white, it isn't the "whites-only" utopia that the KKK compound tries to project.
The Neighboring Shadow of Harrison
You can’t talk about Zinc without talking about Harrison. They’re 15 miles apart. Harrison is the town that gets the "Most Racist Town" title more often. It has a history of race riots in 1905 and 1909 where white mobs literally chased the entire Black population out of town.
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For a century, it was known as a "sundown town."
Today, Harrison’s city officials are desperately trying to fix that. They’ve formed community task forces and put up billboards promoting diversity. But then you drive down the road toward Zinc and see a billboard for "White Pride Radio" or some other extremist message, and it feels like all that progress is being undercut.
The Thomas Robb "Mainstream" Strategy
Thomas Robb is a "Christian Identity" preacher. If you aren't familiar with that term, it's a theology that basically claims white people are the true Israelites and that other races are "mud people." It’s the backbone of his organization.
He’s been the leader of the Knights Party (the KKK branch) for a long time. His strategy was always to move away from the "hoods and robes" image and toward a "business suit" image.
In 1994, he actually had a bit of a mutiny in his ranks. Other Klan members thought he was too focused on money and "mainstreaming." He was even accused of embezzling a $20,000 donation. About a third of his members left because they wanted to go back to the "traditional" ways—meaning the robes and the violence.
Recent Tensions and Protests
In August 2020, Zinc saw something it had probably never seen before. A caravan of over 80 Black Lives Matter protesters drove from Northwest Arkansas right to the KKK compound.
It was a standoff.
On one side, you had activists calling for the KKK to be dismantled. On the other, you had armed militia members and "White Nationalists" standing guard. Surprisingly, the protesters offered the militia members BBQ. It was a bizarre, high-tension moment that ended without a riot, but it put Zinc back in the national spotlight.
What Most People Get Wrong
The biggest misconception is that Zinc is a town full of Klansmen. It’s more accurate to say it’s a town occupied by a few very loud ones.
The KKK compound is private property. It's a "compound" for a reason—it's isolated. The people who live in the actual town of Zinc are often just rural Arkansans living in poverty (the town has struggled economically for a long time). They are often frustrated that their home is synonymous with a hate group they may not even belong to.
But, and this is a big "but," the silence of a community can often look like complicity. When you have signs along the highway talking about "#whitegenocide," and no one takes them down or protests them locally, the "racist" label sticks.
Actionable Insights: Dealing with Extremism in Your Area
If you're researching this because you're worried about extremist groups in your own backyard, here are a few things to keep in mind:
- Check the SPLC Hate Map: They track groups like the Knights Party in real-time. It’s a good way to see what’s actually active versus what’s just internet noise.
- Support Local Diversity Initiatives: Towns like Harrison show that the only way to fight a bad reputation is through active, public work. Silence doesn't change a town's image.
- Distinguish Between Town and Group: When discussing the Zinc Arkansas racist controversy, be specific. Conflating an entire population with a specific extremist compound can sometimes alienate the very locals who might otherwise be allies in changing the culture.
- Follow the Money: Groups like Robb’s rely on "memberships" and donations. Awareness of their financial structures often does more damage to them than a protest.
Zinc remains a complicated, often dark chapter of the American South. Whether it can ever fully step out of Thomas Robb's shadow remains to be seen.