3 Comments

Good to hear from you sir! Didn't mention it but I had an ancestor - Irish-American - who was the abbot of a Benedictine monastery and he ran into problems with them in the First World War period because in the "second era" of KKK activity they were very anti-Irish and anti-Catholic as well. Interesting to hear they were active in the early 80s. That was the time of David Duke and all that?

Expand full comment

David Duke may have been around then, but he had not become known widely—lots of turmoil in 1981 or 1982. The Klan of today has no links to the original group and is rumored to be created by Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Civil War General. Today's Klan is an offshoot of the Jim Crowe era terrorist groups: no brotherhood, just venom, and hate.

The Klan comprises primarily idiots with nothing positive to provide to society—small-town values, per a recent popular country song. The Klan hasn't changed its tactics in over one hundred years. How prevalent was the Klan in the 1960s small American town? One student brought her dad’s Klan robes to show and tell in Kindergarten. (I grew up in an Illinois town of less than 1200) If Trump wins, I am moving full-time to Panama. American Society was still overall racist in the 1980s; as I sit and watch one racist man destroy democracy while claiming to protect our way of life, I have very little hope for our country.

We are headed in the wrong direction, fueled by people, like many in my old small town, who only want to see white skin in their everyday lives. A recent popular country song reflects life in a small town as it is today. I would not know. I haven't been back in twenty years and have no plans for the next twenty.

“When You’re Accustomed to Privilege, Equality Feels Like Oppression.”(Unknown)

There is an excellent book on the Klan that came out ten years ago. “The Ku Klux Klan in the Heartland” Thanks S-

Expand full comment

When I was in college in the early 1980s, the clan was present in the small Missouri town I went to school. A couple lived down the street from our fraternity house, and the Klan burnt a cross in their front yard. We saw the truck wrote the license down, and called the cops. Well, the town cop was on the other side of town with no interest in arresting anyone. The Klan regularly left pamphlets and catalogs to order clan clothing in our house mailbox. I guess they thought since we used robes, we might use theirs. Something we experienced that is so heinous none of us will forget. The Klan is scum

Expand full comment