Ed Templeton’s new Toy Machine skate deck sets KKK on fire
- Text by Isaac Muk
- Photography by Deanna Templeton, Don Luong
Burning racism — It comes via his long running skate company and features a cartoon graphic of a klansman alight on a cross, as well as a broken swastika.
A new skateboard deck by Ed Templeton, released via his Toy Machine skate brand, features a burning cartoon Ku Klux Klansman in an anti-racist message.
Drawn by the Californian skater and photographer, it sees a white cloaked figure being crucified and set on fire, on top of a base of a broken swastika.
Templeton first got the inspiration from a neighbour putting up a giant cross in their front yard at Christmas, as he revealed in an Instagram post over the weekend.
“Because of the huge size of it I couldn’t help but think of the many historical Ku Klux Klan cross burning photos I have seen,” he wrote. “‘Why build a literal full size crucifixion cross style cross on your lawn?’ I wondered. Then I wondered if a klansman had been crucified on a burning cross and thought that would look amazing. So I drew it.
“Especially in this day and age of increasing racism,” he continued. “I figured this image is pretty UN-controversial. Who’d gonna defend the KKK? We’ll find out soon enough.”
He also paid tribute to fellow American skater Jim Thiebaud, who made a deck depicting a hanging klansman in 1990, as well as legendary artist Todd Francis.
Isaac Muk is Huck’s digital editor. Follow him on Bluesky.
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