Green—a 54-year-old physician with wire-frame spectacles and a small, bushy white moustache—planned to follow the public relations coup with a highly organized national membership drive that would attract legions of new followers to the reviving order. A longtime Klansman and dedicated follower of the late colonel William Simmons, Doc Green planned to apply the historic philosophies, rituals, and methods of the Klan to the emerging social conditions of post-World War II America. Just as Superman’s creators kept and built their audience by adjusting their hero as times changed, Green would do the same to attract his army of “100 percent Americans.”
In preparation for the revival, Green had done his homework. Traveling the country to test public sentiment, he had found reason to believe that millions of white protestant men from Connecticut to California, from Michigan to Mississippi, would respond to the call. With black military veterans mustering out of the service and seeking equal rights in the country they had fought for, Green wanted to tap in to white fear. To avoid potential entanglements with the federal government, he named his organization the Association of Georgia Klans, and he accepted the role of Grand Dragon of the Georgia Realm (as opposed to Imperial Wizard of the entire empire) for the time being. At the same time, he began strengthening ties to KKK realms in Tennessee, Oregon, California, New Jersey, and many other states. After pulling together Klan groups across the country, he planned to reestablish Atlanta as the imperial capital and to reign over the whole organization. There was evidence the revival was taking hold. In Mississippi, Hodding Carter, crusading editor of the Delta Democrat-Times, warned that the Invisible Empire was “sloshing over like an overfull cesspool from its stronghold in Georgia.”
What Green didn’t fully understand was that his organization had been badly compromised. The Georgia Department of Law had placed undercover agents inside Klavern No. I, and the FBI was watching and listening too. Stetson Kennedy had seen the revival coming and had stepped up his Klan-busting activities. In early 1946 he had scored an application to the Invisible Empire of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Atlanta. It read:
To his majesty the Imperial Wizard: I the undersigned, a native born true citizen of the United States, being a white male gentile person of temperate habits, sound of mind and a believer in the tenets of the Christian religion and white supremacy and the principles of a pure Americanism, do most respectfully apply for membership in the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, through Klavern No 1, Realm of Georgia.
Kennedy (as his alter ego Perkins) got in, purchased a ten-dollar robe and hood, and began ingratiating himself to the hatemongers. He spewed the same kind of racial epithets that dominated their conversations, all the while collecting information to use against them. Continuing to glean information from scores of white-supremacist newsletters, he stepped up his efforts to spread the word by working his intelligence into his articles and leaking information to friendly journalists.
Also in 1946, Kennedy published his most important book, Southern Exposure. In it he revealed the workings of organized hate groups and laid out what he saw as the underlying causes of racism in the Deep South. Described by journalists of his day as mild mannered and slight of build, with thinning blond hair, Kennedy made sure his Southern Exposure book tour would be a low-key affair. In an attempt to stay hidden from his contacts within the hate groups, he allowed no picture of himself on the book jacket and refused to let newspapers photograph him. As it turned out, one journalist almost blew Kennedy’s cover by describing him as having the face of a poet, which would have the hatemongers asking who that might be.
The St. Petersburg Times review of Southern Exposure didn’t need a photo. It featured a drawing of a robed and hooded man being speared by a fountain pen. This captured Kennedy’s chosen mode of combat: attack by press release. Kennedy reveled in the role of muckraking journalist, issuing blaring headlines and breathless prose and dreaming up sensational publicity stunts to warn of the KKK threat and the evils of racism. Through the years his methods would become more extreme and controversial, and his critics would accuse him of sensationalism, grandstanding, and shameless self-promotion.
DESPITE KENNEDY’S best efforts to infiltrate, however, the author and activist was only going to get so far inside the Klan. He needed help. By the spring of 1946, Kennedy had the help he needed to forge a direct pipeline into the deepest secrets of the Atlanta Klan. As part of his services to the ANL and ADL, Kennedy worked as the handler for a top-secret, deeply embedded mole who was operating under the alias John Brown. “This worker is joining the Klan for me,” Kennedy wrote in one memo to his employers in early 1946. “I am certain that he can be relied on.”
Brown was a former Klansman who had come to see the true nature of the hooded order and had committed himself to lifting the cover off its violent actions and conspiracies. He still had the complete trust of the KKK leadership, and he used it to burrow deep into the inner sanctum of the infamous Nathan Bedford Forrest Klavern No. 1, which met every Monday night at a cavernous union hall at 198½ Whitehall Street. Brown’s reports detailed KKK plans for the major revival that took place a year later on Stone Mountain, attacks on Negroes moving into white neighborhoods, and the involvement of Atlanta police officers in KKK violence. By Brown’s own count, 83 of the 200 men in Klavern No. 1 were Atlanta police officers, many of whom regularly directed traffic and provided security at cross burnings.
Brown’s reports were chilling. In a dispatch dated April 29, 1946, he reported that Grand Dragon Samuel Green was advised to “write a letter of appreciation to a policeman named ‘Itchy Trigger Finger’ Nash … in connection with the slaying of a Negro on Decatur Street last week. This makes the thirteenth Negro he has killed in his line of duty. It seems that Dr. Green would like to decorate these policemen who kill Negros with the Klan.”
Brown even infiltrated the paramilitary flog squad that carried out midnight whippings, beatings, and murders of selected targets. Or, as handler Kennedy reported to the ANL on May 6, 1946, “our informant is now a member of the Klan’s inner circle, the Klavalier Klub.” Kennedy went on to note, “[O]ur informant has learned that Green is an honorary member and bears card No. 000 … Obviously the Klavalier Klub is the Storm Trooper arm of the Klan and there is some effort to divorce the regular Klan officials from responsibility of its actions.” Brown even got inside a secret subunit of the Klavalier Klub that called itself the Ass-Tearers and printed on its calling card the image of a corkscrew—its implement of choice for torturing and disemboweling its victims.
The infiltrators’ reports painted a haunting picture of KKK conspiracies and violence, as well as the paranoid mentality that pervaded the Klavern. The reports detail hit lists targeting anti-Klan journalists and even plots to steal weapons caches from government stockpiles to use in an all-out onslaught against African Americans. Even the mundane matters described in the reports are eye-opening, from membership drives and publicity campaigns to ham dinners put on by the ladies’ auxiliary to raise money for their husbands’ work.
The moles centered much of their attention on Grand Dragon Green and his top henchmen of the Associated Klans of Georgia. As overseer of Klavern No. 1, Green had virtually invited the scrutiny of investigators with his militant call for white protestant men across the country to rise up and take the nation back from the Negroes, Jews, Catholics, and liberals. While Green insisted the Klan was breaking no laws, the undercover operatives knew that beyond the violent raids that the KKK was carrying out, Green and company were also acting as the central players in a resurgent national KKK movement, coordinating with Klaverns in other states and even supplying them with membership forms and propaganda pamphlets printed in Atlanta. If the Klan busters could prove that the Atlanta Klavern was acting as the center of a national program, they could push Georgia to revoke the organization’s state charter, thus leaving Green and company open to federal income tax debt and possible prosecution in federal court. And to top it all off, a kids’ radio show
was about to lift the mask off the KKK for a generation of children.
When the Superman team approached leaders of the Anti-Defamation League for input about the radio programs, they must have felt as if they had hit the mother lode: access to secret information coming straight from the inner sanctum of the most dangerous Klan in the country. The precise nature of the communication among the New York producers, the ADL staff, and the infiltrators remains murky to this day. It appears that no written correspondence took place, and personal accounts vary.
Stetson Kennedy insists that he gave the producers the idea for the anti-Klan broadcasts after watching kids at play; apparently he figured that a kids’ radio drama starring the “fabulous jet propelled character” could show a generation of youth the perils of prejudice. “Armed with complete information about the Klan’s set up, rituals and roles played by Cyclopes, Terrors, Ghouls and Titans, they wrote a series of programmes,” Kennedy later recalled. This is not the only claim of Kennedy’s that doesn’t match other accounts, but, whatever the exact communication was, it is clear that information did flow from Atlanta through the ADL to the producers of Superman. Bob Maxwell and his team could proceed, knowing they had solid information to base their show on.
* CHAPTER 17 *
“CLAN OF THE FIERY CROSS”
AS THE KLAN GRABBED for more power and the infiltrators moved to stop them, The Adventures of Superman radio team focused on the task at hand. The goal was to create a highly engaging, action-packed, 16-part series dramatizing the realities of the Ku Klux Klan to a generation of young radio listeners.
The creative team approached the series with care to avoid a direct conflict with the real Klan. Aware that the reviving order was centered in Atlanta, the radio team knew that any organized criticism would likely come from that city. In writing the script, the name Ku Klux Klan would be replaced with a made-up name to avoid any potential entanglement with an organization that operated under a legal charter in the state of Georgia and in other states. The central character in the show—and the prime target of the hatemongers—would not be African American. This would counter the stereotypical belief that the Klan targeted only blacks. In this series the fictional hate peddlers would target a Chinese-American boy and his family. The script would not use dialect or accents to distinguish characters by race, religion, or geographic region. This was not about condemning southerners or stereotyping minority groups. This was about teaching tolerance to millions of young listeners—and showing just how destructive prejudice could be. Even Superman’s heroics would be scaled back to allow the human characters to play heroes too. This would teach young listeners that ordinary people can stand up to bigotry.
Despite the delicate touch, the script would still have to reflect the Klan’s racism, violence, and greed. The story line would have to be action-packed, with plenty of cliff-hangers to keep the audience coming back. The condemnation of bigotry would have to be clear and absolute. There could be no room for misunderstanding. By the summer of 1946 the stage was set, the actors had their roles, and the drama was ready to start. As Grand Dragon Green basked in the glow of his Stone Mountain revival and as Stetson Kennedy and John Brown dug deeper into the ranks of Klavern No. 1, the 16-part “Clan of the Fiery Cross” went live. The first episode aired on June 10, 1946.
THE STORY BEGINS with Jimmy Olsen, who is managing the baseball team sponsored by Unity House—a recreational center for kids of diverse races, religions, and ethnic backgrounds. The Unity House team has won a spot in the city playoffs on the strength of star pitcher Tommy Lee—a Chinese-American boy who recently moved to Metropolis. On the pitching mound, Tommy disposes of opposing hitters with his hard fastball, sweet curve, and deceptive changeup. Off the mound, he is bright, polite, and well liked by his teammates, with the notable exception of Chuck Riggs, the former pitching ace who was moved into a backup role after Tommy won the top spot. One afternoon at practice Tommy accidently hits Chuck with a pitch. Chuck accuses Tommy of hitting him on purpose. As tempers flare, Jimmy Olsen is forced to send Chuck home to cool off.
After establishing a character that listeners could relate to, it was time to set up the villain. Enter Chuck’s gruff and opinionated uncle, Matt Riggs. Riggs repeatedly insists that Tommy was trying to kill Chuck by throwing at his head. Then Matt convinces his nephew to join him at a “secret meeting” of “100 percent Americans” to be held that evening in the woods outside the city. In a secluded glade the light of a burning cross casts weird shadows over dozens of men dressed in long robes and pointed hoods. Matt—donning a white robe with a pale blue scorpion emblem on the chest—reveals himself to be the Grand Scorpion of the Clan of the Fiery Cross, a secret society dedicated to the principle of “one race, one religion and one color.” As the Clansmen place their right hands over their hearts and separate the fingers of their left hands in a strange, ritualistic salute to their flaming symbol, Matt vows to rid Metropolis of all nonwhite, non-Christian “vermin” and “scum.” The hooded vigilantes vow to force the Lee family out of Metropolis—or worse.
Both a sympathetic character and a detestable villain had been established. Now the time had come to drive home the moral point. After the Clan burns a cross on the Lees’ front lawn, Clark Kent and Jimmy Olsen come to the aid of Tommy and his family. Clark tells Jimmy what they’re up against: “The Clan of the Fiery Cross is made up of intolerant bigots, Jim. They don’t judge a man in the decent American way by his own qualities. They judge him by what church he goes to or the color of his skin.” Calling intolerance “a filthy weed,” Clark adds that their only hope is to “hunt out the roots and pull them out of the ground.”
The story also had to reveal the time-tested methods of the hooded order. As the drama unfolds, Matt Riggs calls upon the Clan’s “action committee” to take care of the Lees once and for all. The next day the action committee kidnaps Tommy and takes him to a secluded cave to be tarred and feathered. As the action picks up, Tommy manages to escape his captors but breaks his arm in the scuffle. Running for his life, with the Clansmen in hot pursuit, Tommy comes to a river and, with no other choice, dives in, only to be washed downstream in a raging current. Fortunately for Tommy, Superman is searching for him in the skies above. At the last moment the caped hero swoops down to save the boy from a watery grave.
It was critical that the script go beyond Superman heroics to make the point that ordinary people can stand up to hate. This is driven home by Daily Planet editor Perry White, who publishes a scathing editorial condemning the Clan and offers a $1,000 reward for information leading to the apprehension of the culprits. “They can’t scare me with their mumbo jumbo and burning crosses,” howls the curmudgeonly editor. “I just hope this country realizes the threat posed by these lunatics in nightshirts.”
Of course, standing up for what’s right is not always easy. As the tale goes on, the Clan kidnaps Mr. White and Jimmy and takes them to the secluded cave, where the two abductees come face-to-face with Grand Scorpion Matt Riggs. At that point Mr. White ratchets up the moral outrage.
“Now you listen to me,” Mr. White fumes. “I happen to love my country and what it stands for: equal rights and privileges for all Americans regardless of what church they choose to worship God in or what color skin God gave them,” he lectures. “The United States was founded on that principle and we just fought a second world war to preserve it. You and others like you, with your diseased minds, want to tear down what we’ve built and fought to keep. But you can’t do it. I’ll fight you to my last breath and so will every other American worth his salt. We’ll flush you and your hate-mongering ghouls out from behind your dirty sheets and slap you in jail where you belong.”
The plot thickens. The Clan takes Mr. White and Jimmy to a secluded glade and readies their guns for the execution. Fortunately, back in Metropolis, Clark Kent and Lois Lane have been busy. They have published a special edition of the Daily Planet with news of the kidnapping and a plea for information about the Clan
. No longer able to keep his silence, young Chuck Riggs tells Clark all he knows about the Clan of the Fiery Cross, including the role of his uncle and the whereabouts of their secret hideout. Clark secretly changes into Superman and—with a hearty “Up, Up and Away”—soars off with Chuck in his arms and searches for Mr. White, Jimmy, and the kidnappers. Just moments before the execution is to occur, Superman swoops down to save the captives. The Man of Steel rounds up the goons and takes them to the police station, only to discover that Matt Riggs escaped in the confusion.
It was also important to show that the secret organization was more than just a hate group. It was a business, as much about money as about race. This point is made as Matt Riggs goes to Graham City to meet with a Mr. Secret Wilson—Grand Imperial Mogul and Supreme National Leader of the Clan of the Fiery Cross. Matt pleads with the Imperial Mogul to call out the national action committee to finish what he started. But to Matt’s astonishment, Wilson is furious. He accuses Matt of exposing the Clan to grave risk, “just when we were launching a huge, new membership drive.” Wilson claims that the bad publicity “will cost us 10,000 new members who would have paid us $100 for membership fees and $25 for hoods and robes.” Looking Matt in the eye, Wilson states that the Clan is really only about making money from weak and gullible men stupid enough to join it. “Is it possible that you actually believe all that stuff about getting rid of the foreigners—that one race, one religion, one color hokum?” Wilson asks Matt. “You’ve become drunk on the slop we put up for the suckers … the jerks who go for that 100 percent American rot … I’m running a business Riggs and so are you,” Wilson rages. “We deal in one of the oldest and most profitable commodities on earth—hate.”
Superman versus the Ku Klux Klan Page 9
