The Second Coming of the KKK

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The Second Coming of the KKK Page 29

by Linda Gordon


  cross-burnings, 142

  direct-democracy amendment, 150–51

  feminism and the KKK, 157–61

  Finnish immigrants, 148

  firing of non-Protestant government workers, 156

  history of racist laws, 139–40

  hypocrisy about drinking, 96

  Klan arrival in 1921, 139, 141–42

  Klan growth, 142

  Klan leaders, about, 139–45

  Klan membership, 139, 142

  Klan’s “blue ribbon” state, 221n

  Klan’s state and local political power, 170

  Klan support for railway workers strike of 1922, 106–7

  Ladies of the Invisible Empire (LOTIE), 157–60

  masculine and feminine labels used by Klan, 95

  population and demographics, 139–40

  targeting of Mexican Americans, 147

  vigilantism, 99, 100, 103, 148–49, 154

  woman suffrage, 110

  Women’s Ku Klux Klan, 157, 158, 159–60

  see also parochial schools, attacks on; Portland, OR; specific locations

  original Ku Klux Klan. see Ku Klux Klan, after the Civil War

  Orthodox Christians, 27, 41, 104, 148, 172

  Palin, Sarah, 123

  parades. see spectacles

  paraphernalia, 74

  paraphernalia and regalia, 15, 70, 86, 117, 118, 128, 191

  see also costumes and robes

  Parker, William H., 184

  parochial schools, attacks on, 149–56

  “Americanism” statutes, 155–56

  court decisions, 155, 156

  firing of non-Protestant government workers, 156

  Klan support of public education, 150, 152

  Oregon referendum, 150–51, 152–53, 154–55

  Oregon’s constitutional amendment, 149, 150–52, 154–55, 242n

  textbook requirements and, 155–56

  see also anti-Catholicism; Oregon

  Parsons, Elaine Frantz, 70

  The Passing of the Great Race (Grant), 21

  Paxton, Robert, 199

  Pentacostalism, 119, 120, 237n

  Perth Amboy, NJ, 104

  petitions for citizenship in the Klan, 75, 180

  Philadelphia, PA, 21

  physical Klanishness, 245n

  picnics, 1–2, 78

  see also spectacles

  Pierce, Walter M., 153–54, 155, 192

  The Pilgrim (film), 50

  Pillar of Fire religious movement, 88, 118, 119–20

  poison squads, 117, 174

  police

  Barr’s attempts to reform, 117–18

  Clarke and Tyler arrest, 114

  considered venal and lazy, 4

  investigation of Stephenson, 193

  membership in Klan, 186

  and ministers who opposed the Klan, 89

  working with vigilantes, 26, 97–98, 102–4, 136, 148–49, 205

  politics and the Klan

  “the Decade” national strategy, 165–66

  Democratic convention of 1924, 165, 166–70

  dual electoral and nonelectoral strategies, 163–64, 207–8

  immigration restriction in party platforms, 244n

  Klan evaluation of US senators, 1923, 165, 213–16

  Klansmen as governors, senators and congressmen, 164–65, 244n

  state and local political power, 170–71

  vision of democracy, 207–8

  populism

  demagogues and, 35, 200

  as parent of Klan, 32–36, 198

  producerist ethic and, 33

  right-wing populism, 34, 199, 200, 201, 206, 208

  in 1890s, 32–33, 202

  social movements that express anger, 33–35

  urban elite responses to, 20

  women activists, 110

  Populist Party, 22, 32–33, 34, 35, 110

  Portland, ME, 170

  Portland, OR

  Klan membership, 142

  Portland Police Vigilantes, 148–49

  school board election in 1921, 142, 240n

  vigilantes working with police, 103, 148–49

  see also Oregon

  Portland Telegram, 154, 175

  Port of Portland, 140–41

  Posse Comitatus, 198

  Povich, Abe, 85

  Povich, Shirley, 85

  Powell, Luther Ivan, 141–43

  premillenialism, 32

  Price, G. W., 166

  producerist ethic, 33

  profiteering from Klan

  by Clarke, 15, 16, 66

  through dues, 15, 66–67, 191

  financial incentives for recruitment, 64–66, 68–69, 182

  member reaction to, 15, 67, 191

  by Simmons, 15

  by Tyler, 15, 18

  Progressive Party, 34

  Prohibition, Klan defense of, 32, 58, 60, 95–96

  “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” (Ford), 11, 218n

  “pure Americans,” 27

  purity

  conservative gender system and, 58–60

  emotional structure, 55–60

  homogeneity and, 34, 44, 58, 85, 208

  Klan robes and, 71, 72

  Klan yearning for, 56–60, 137

  pure Americanism, 17, 27

  racial purity, 14–15, 34, 57

  religious purity, 57

  sexual purity, 57–58

  Quakers, 115

  Queens of the Golden Mask, 112, 117, 243n

  Quinn, Ole, 154

  “race suicide,” 60, 131

  Racine, WI, 80

  racism

  abhorrence of “race mixing,” 40

  contradictions in, 40–41

  as core component of Klan, 25, 197–98

  Jews and, 28, 52, 221n

  structures of feeling, 40–42

  see also white supremacy

  radio broadcasting

  Alma White’s radio stations, 120, 121

  Father Coughlin, 197

  growth of commercial radio, 6, 76, 111

  Klan radio stations, 175

  Meier & Frank radio stations, 175

  Pillar of Fire radio stations, 118, 120, 121

  reactionary modernism, 51

  recruitment for Klan

  among Masons, 30, 86, 89, 142, 185

  autonomy of local groups, 67–69, 228n

  Birth of a Nation (film), 10, 97, 141, 218n

  conspiracy theories and, 5, 35

  crime talk as strategy, 96–97

  by Daisy Barr, 117

  decentralized system for, 64–65, 67–68

  among evangelical Protestants, 29, 88–91, 231n

  Evans’s reforms and, 17

  exaggerated membership numbers, 2, 69–70, 217n

  financial incentives, 64–66, 68–69, 182

  high turnover of Klan members, 67, 191

  methods, 19

  as pyramid scheme, 65

  recruiter hiring by Clarke and Tyler, 15

  sale of Klan-related goods, 66

  southern recruiting strategy of Clarke and Tyler, 64

  through spectacles, 79–80

  use of stealth, 86

  referendums, 140, 150–51, 152–53, 207

  Reich, William, 98

  republican motherhood, 59, 227n

  Richardson, Friend, 166

  Richmond, IN, 62, 115

  right-wing populism, 34, 199, 200, 201, 206, 208

  see also fascism and fascist groups; populism

  rituals

  bonding effect of, 29, 76, 77, 79, 205

  of fraternal orders, 13, 29–30, 31, 70

  Klan costumes, ritual function of, 70–72

  Klan initiation rituals, 62, 70–77

  at Klan meetings, 74–75, 229n

  Masonic rites as source of, 12–13, 30

  militarism in, 206

  naturalization, 73, 74–76, 81, 83, 212, 229n

  as participatory theater, 76–77

&
nbsp; pleasure of, 76–77

  songs and hymns, 74, 229n

  Women’s Ku Klux Klan (WKKK), 127–28

  see also initiation and installation

  Rivers and Harbors Act, 140

  Roaring Twenties, 6

  Roosevelt, Franklin Delano, 136, 168

  Roosevelt, Theodore, 60

  Rosenthal, Simon, 175

  Royal Riders of the Red Robe, 68, 138, 147, 235n

  Saginaw, MI, 87

  Sanger, Margaret, 60, 130–31, 239n

  Sawyer, Reuben H., 144–45, 148, 152, 158

  science, suspicion of, 42–43, 44, 51, 204

  Scopes, John, 32, 222n

  Scopes trial, 32, 51, 91, 156, 222n

  Scottish Rite Masons, 141, 151

  second Ku Klux Klan. see Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s

  Senter, Laurena, 124

  Shuler, Robert, 90–91

  Silver Shirt Legion, 143

  Simkins, Francis Butler, 20

  Simmons, William Joseph, 25, 30

  after congressional hearings, 20

  Birth of a Nation and, 12

  creation of second Klan, 12–13, 25, 218n

  death, 16

  early life, 12, 218n

  hiring of Clarke and Tyler, 13, 14

  Kamelia formation, 238n

  Lanier University (Atlanta) purchase, 13

  ownership of Klan, 16, 63

  profiteering from Klan, 15

  rituals from Masonic rites, 12–13, 30

  sale of Klan, 16

  as spokesman for Klan, 14, 19–20

  vigilantism rhetoric, 98

  weak morals and principles, 13, 15

  Smelser, Neil, 204

  Smith, Al, 53–54, 56, 162, 167–68, 169

  social class. see class

  Socialist Party, 18, 84, 106, 110, 187, 241n

  social Klanishness, 245

  social movements

  businesses as, 219n

  conspiracy theories and, 55

  defined, 6–7, 217–18n

  fear of, 4–5

  Klan as social movement, 5, 6–8, 163–64, 202, 208

  myth’s role in building, 69

  populism and expression of anger, 33–35

  power of rhetoric, 5

  as products of psychological strain, 204

  transience of, 194

  Sorel, George, 69

  South Bend, IN, 104

  Southern Publicity Association, 13, 113

  spectacles

  choreography, 82–83, 200

  cross-burnings, 83–84

  entertainment and activities, 1–2, 81–82

  KKK pageant, 1925, 190

  Klantauquas, 79

  mass naturalizations, 81

  nonmembers and, 80, 82

  parades at, 69, 80–81, 82, 152

  profits from, 79, 80

  recruitment through, 79–80

  speakers at, 83

  sports teams sponsored by Klan, 85–86

  status anxiety, 5, 204

  stealth, in recruitment and publications, 17, 86, 224n

  Stephenson, David

  conviction for kidnapping, rape, and murder, 192

  coup against Simmons, 15–16

  criminal activity and fraud, 17–18, 192–94

  leadership and member recruitment, 17, 18, 69, 98–99, 186

  oratorical skills, 17, 18

  political power and strategy, 165–66, 171

  wealth accumulated, 18

  Sterling-Reed bill, 150, 242n

  Sterling-Towner bill, 150, 242n

  Steubenville, OH, 101, 234n

  Stewart, Maria, 128

  Stoddard, Lothrop, 22

  Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 45

  structures of feeling, 39–61

  abhorrence of “race mixing,” 40

  about, 39, 43, 223n

  Americanism, 41–44

  antagonism to diversity, 58

  anti-Catholicism, 27–29, 42, 45–49, 53–54, 56

  anti-Semitism, 27–28, 49–54

  contradictions in Klan beliefs, 61, 79–80, 153

  fear, humiliation, and victimization tropes, 43–45, 112, 149

  fear of immigrants, 54–55

  feeling rules, 39, 43

  inconsistencies, 61

  purity as core of Klan ideology, 56–60, 137

  resentment of elites, 3–4, 40, 42–43, 44–45

  suspicion of science, 42–43, 44, 51, 204

  suffrage for women. see woman suffrage

  summer picnics

  Colorado, 78

  Indiana, 1–2

  see also spectacles

  Sumners, Hatton, 164

  Tannenbaum, Frank, 20

  Tarkington, Booth, 6

  technology, 51, 63

  temperance movement

  Anti-Saloon League (ASL), 13, 28, 29, 101, 165, 222n, 247n

  Klan defense of Prohibition, 32, 58, 60, 95–96

  as parent of Klan, 28–29, 198

  Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), 28–29, 103, 110, 118, 124, 160

  terrorism, 2, 26, 94, 100, 206

  see also vigilantism

  Terrors, defined, 73, 212

  textbooks, Klan demands and requirements, 155–56, 196

  Thatcher, Margaret, 123

  A Thief in Paradise (movie), 176

  third Klan, 83

  Thompson, Dorothy, 207

  Tillamook, OR, 171

  Tipton, IN, 175

  The Toll of Justice (movie), 176–77

  Topenish, WA, 102

  Towner-Sterling bill, 150, 242n

  The Traitor Within (movie), 176

  Tri-K Klub, for girls, 134

  Truman, Harry, 165

  Tulsa, OK, 92

  turnover of Klan members, 67, 191

  TWK (Trade with Klansmen), 172–73

  Tyler, Elizabeth

  about, 14, 113–15, 122–23

  arrest for disorderly conduct, 114

  eugenics cause, 113, 131

  firing by Evans, 16, 115

  partnership with Clarke, 13, 14, 16, 113–14

  profiteering from Klan, 15, 18, 114

  promotion of Klan with Simmons and Clarke, 13, 14–15, 63–64, 114

  Searchlight (Klan newspaper), 114

  share of Klan revenue, 14

  Southern Publicity Association, 13, 113

  southern recruiting strategy, 64

  women’s rights advocacy, 123, 125

  United Mine Workers (UMW), 104, 106, 187

  Universal Negro Improvement Association, 93

  University of Dayton, 101, 103, 104

  University of Wisconsin, 86, 95

  Upshaw, William David “Wee Willie,” 164–65, 220n

  U’ren, William, 150–51, 152, 242n

  “Ur-Fascism” (Eco), 199

  US Children’s Bureau, 111

  US senators, Klan evaluation of, 1923, 165, 213–16

  vagrancy law, 233n

  Valparaiso University, 217n

  vigilantism, 93–107

  attack on Little family, 93–94

  Bellingham, WA, 164

  court acquittals of, 100, 102, 154, 196

  cross-burnings, 98, 101, 105, 163, 179

  FBI investigation of, 192

  Klan recruiting and, 97–98

  in Klan traditions, 97, 137, 205–6

  labor unions and, 104, 105–7

  night riders, 97, 100, 103, 177

  Oregon outrages, 100, 154

  physical violence, 100–102

  police working with vigilantes, 26, 97–98, 102–4, 136, 148–49, 205

  against saloons, gambling, and immorality, 98–99

  threats of violence, 93–94, 98, 99–100

  violence justifications, 196

  vocational Klanishness, 172

  Wapato, WA, 102

  Washington (state)

  laws against immigrant land ownership or renting, 146

  vigilantism, 102, 164

&nb
sp; Watson, Tom, 22, 33

  weddings, 86–87

  welfare programs, 59–60, 136, 247n

  Wenatchee, WA, 102

  Western American (newspaper), 125, 144, 159

  Westminster College, 121

  Wheatcraft, Vivian, 174

  White, Alma, 88, 118–22, 123, 164, 234n, 237n

  White Citizens Councils, 91, 198, 206

  White, Edward Douglass, 165

  White, Kent, 119

  “white” racial category, changes over time, 181–82, 249n

  white supremacy

  first Klan, 2, 14, 39

  second Klan, 2, 15, 40, 41, 94

  twenty-first-century groups, 198, 249n

  see also racism

  White, William Allen, 20

  Williamson County Law Enforcement League, 101

  Williams, Raymond, 39, 43, 223n

  Willson, Ellis O., 191

  Wilson, Woodrow, 11, 17, 21, 165

  Windsor, VT, 86

  Wisconsin

  Coast Guard support for Klan, 230n

  German American socialists in Klan, 187

  Klan recruiting, 30–31, 86

  Klan spectacles, 80

  University of Wisconsin Klan fraternity, 86, 95

  vigilantism, 103

  see also specific locations

  Wobblies (Industrial Workers of the World, IWW) , 105–6, 142, 149, 240n

  woman suffrage

  Klan support for, 5, 59, 118, 129, 136

  Nineteenth Amendment ratified, 109, 110, 117

  partial suffrage in states, 110

  see also feminism and the KKK; women’s political activism

  women and the Klan. see feminism and the KKK

  Women’s Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), 28–29, 103, 110, 118, 124, 160

  Women’s Ku Klux Klan (WKKK)

  attempts to punish immorality, 134–36, 239n

  charitable work, 132–33, 207

  costumes and robes, 128

  Daisy Barr and, 117, 118

  Daughters of the American Revolution and, 124

  formation and early growth, 112–13, 124–25

  Klan’s economic boycotts and, 174

  male expectations of female role rejected, 126

  merging of other women’s groups with, 112–13, 158, 159, 243n

  opinions about national issues, 130

  opposition to secrecy in marriage, 131–32

  in Oregon, 157, 158, 159–60

  poison squads, 117, 174

  political activism, 123, 132, 133, 137

  revenue shared with the Klan, 125–26

  rituals, 127–28

  similarities to WCTU, 29

  sociability and prestige of membership, 123, 127

  social events, organization and labor, 128–29

  support of women’s employment, 129–30

  Women’s KKK funeral, Muncie, Indiana, 1923, 108

  youth groups of the Klan and, 133–34, 157

  see also feminism and the KKK

  women’s political activism

  contradictions within conservative feminism, 109, 112, 133, 136, 160–61, 206–7

  history, 109, 110

  Klan’s economic boycotts and, 174, 245n, 246n

 

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