In his “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History” executive order, Donald Trump claims that anything reflecting “racist, sexist, oppressive” aspects of the American past is “a distorted narrative” that “fosters a sense of national shame.”
For him maybe. Not to this cowboy. History, even regarding fraught topics, is always fascinating and often useful. The history of our country is a tale of casting off bigotries toward a spectrum of groups, and that hatred returning in new forms. Learning about that doesn’t bring shame unless you’re rooting for the bad guys. Rather, it fosters a sense of perspective, even relief.
For instance, Friday is the 100th anniversary of the Ku Klux Klan marching down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, a high-water mark in a decade that saw the post-Civil War hate group reborn and enjoying unprecedented public acceptance. They marched unmasked, as demanded by D.C. ordinance — which also, police decided, forbade anti-Klan groups from gathering, noting “the law strictly forbids any political demonstrations on public property in the nation’s capital.”
The Klan, remember, did not fancy itself a political group, but a religious and patriotic organization — hence all the crosses and flags. The Klan made this argument to President Calvin Coolidge, urging him to welcome them, noting that he had spoken before the Holy Name Society, a Catholic group, and therefore “he should be willing to greet an organization of Protestants.”
He wasn’t. Coolidge was no racist — he privately despised the Klan, and the year before addressed the commencement at all-Black Howard University. I have a difficult time imagining the current president doing that.
But Coolidge’s response to the 1925 march (there would be others) was not a profile in courage, either. While Klansmen (and women; a third were female) were marching around the Washington Monument, Coolidge was on vacation in Swampscott, Massachusetts. He said nothing, good to his “Silent Cal” nickname. Pressed on the issue, the White House revealed that Coolidge “was not a member of the order and not in sympathy with the aims and purposes.”
By summer 1925, Coolidge must have been wearying of the Klan, which overshadowed the 1924 Democratic National Convention. Liberals wanted a condemnation of the Klan written in the party platform. But lots of Southerners were Democrats, and they argued that most Blacks voted Republican — in the areas where they were allowed to vote — out of residual loyalty to Abraham Lincoln. The Democrats punted.
Press coverage varied wildly. The Chicago Daily News headlined, “KLAN HORDES INVADE CAPITAL OF NATION,” while the Chicago Tribune went with the more demure, “Klan Parades Capital; Peace rules march.” The Associated Press spoke of the day’s “oppressive heat.” To the Tribune, the weather was “sultry.” The Tribune also used a racist slur to describe the Black children watching the “spectacular” march.
“A holiday spirit pervaded the entire proceeding and there was no cause for alarm,” the Tribune cooed.
That depends on what you find alarming.
The Chicago Defender coverage was written so sharply I wish I could go back in time and shake the hands of its writers. They summarized the Klan philosophy as “down with everybody but us” and the Klan’s “ponderous method” as one that “seeks to build by destroying.”
See the allure of this history stuff? I’m not ashamed that 30,000 Klan members marched before the Capitol in 1925, forming living crosses. As grim as the headlines are today, with groups demonized and rights trampled, we aren’t seeing massive Klan rallies. Not yet, anyway.
Some saw the Klan for what it was — and is.
“It has proved that it has no conscience — no sense of decency,” the Defender wrote. “It is just a huge monster devouring its enemies and staining with a filthy streak those things it touches while protecting. All in the name of white supremacy.”
Man, that has a familiar ring. As William Faulkner said, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” That’s why some people don’t want it taught. They pretend the shame is ours, but it’s not. It’s theirs.
Second boat tour date added
When I announced our “Sun-Times Roast of the Chicago Skyline” with Lee Bey, I did not expect it to sell out in two hours — Nostradamus I am not. Enough readers were unhappy at being unable to buy tickets that we added a second tour, Sept. 4. Half of those tickets will be grabbed by people on the waiting list, so if you want to secure a spot, don’t delay. Lee and I, needless to say, are gratified and humbled by the enthusiastic response, and will try to put on a good show with what my pal Bill Savage had dubbed “The Chicago Snarkitecture Tour.” By the time this hits print, they might be gone, but you can try: https://suntimesroast-2ndsail.eventbrite.com/?aff=steinberg