The Second Coming Of The KKK

The Second Coming Of The KKK

Adult Nonfiction
"A July 4 picnic in Kokomo, Indiana, held in 1923, was the
town's event of the decade, a lollapalooza of a carnival: some said
fifty thousand came, while others said two hundred thousand--no doubt
a wild exaggeration, but one that reflected the celebratory mood.
Reserved train cars brought in people from throughout Indiana and
nearby states. This giant gathering made its participants feel part
of something vast, patriotic, and noble--a celebration of Americanism."
Most of us see the 1920s as the Roaring Twenties, a gilded age
that sadly gave way to the Great Depression. Images of flappers with
bobbed hair and elegant garments, speakeasies, and talented jazz
musicians easily come to mind. Few of us ponder on a much darker side
to the decade that actually gives it a lot in common with today's
world. Linda Gordon admirably shines a light on it in The Second
Coming of the KKK.
For every flapper there were scads of people we'd characterize
as religious conservatives, a silent majority fed up with being silent
in a time they saw as rife with moral decay. Their formerly great
nation was going to Hell in a handbasket. It was their duty to make
America great again. The villains in this drama were basically anyone
who wasn't a native born white Anglo Saxon Protestant.
All the angst and anger created a propitious time for the KKK to
make a comeback. Only this wasn't the secret society of the post
Civil War South. This was an out-in-the-open fraternal organization
that recruited and advertised openly and threw extravaganzas like the
one described above. It shared a passion for white supremacy with its
parent organization. To draw in people who weren't especially
threatened by blacks, job stealing immigrants, Catholics (seen as
infiltrating America for a Papal take over), Jews (portrayed as both
money grubbers and socialists), and urban elites were added to the
list of those not considered true Americans. Northern chapters
thrived. Oregon and Indiana had the highest per capita Klan membership.
Although its heyday was short-lived, the reborn KKK had a major
impact on American and world history. Eugenics laws (legalizing the
forced sterilization of "undesirables") spread rapidly state by state,
culminating in the 1927 Buck v Bell decision that was cited by the
Nazis during the Nuremburg trials as justification and precedent for
their genocide. Immigration quotas were changed drastically to keep
out ethnic "undesirables". (During WWII a lot of Jewish people trying
to escape Hitler's Germany were denied entrance.) Hate speech and
actions were given increased legitimacy in public discourse while
dissent was increasingly considered unpatriotic.
"...This obligatory patriotism was expressed symbolically,
visually, in the mass pageants with their extravagant displays, and
literally in speeches and texts asserting that 'right Americans were
the chosen people, that the American governmental system was the most
perfect on Earth, that profit seeking was the grounds of American
greatness'."
The Second Coming Of The KKK is a must read for everyone who is
concerned about the trajectory America is following under the current
administration.
On a purrrrsenol note, yesterday Joey had his check up with Dr. Laura,
the vet who saved his life with a 4 1/2 hour operation 3 years ago.
She was delighted to find him in EXCELLENT HEALTH!!! (We agree this
is amazing where he was born with health challenges and is about to
turn 15.) He was only three when he had his first life or death
surgery. Before that I'd thought it was impossible up love my sweet
little cat more than I did. I was wrong. Almost losing him made
every day with him precious beyond measure. Every day from the moment
I hear him call me in the morning til my night cat assisted reading he
makes my heart sing. Dr. Laura has seen few animal-human pairings as
emotionally synchronized as we are. From protecting me from heart
disease that runs in my family and building the courage not to give up
on my dream to making impossible to say any day was just another day,
Joseph Jacob Hathaway gives me more than I could pawsibly give him.
I was also glad that I had saved up enough cash without touching the
credit card and that Joey and I got home before the rain.
My dafodills seem to have enjoyed yesterday's rain.
A great big shout out goes out to Joey and all the companion animals
who add to much to our lives and the dedicated vets and their
assistants who keep them healthy.
jules hathaway


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