Episode 13: The Klan

Since the 2016 presidential election various groups that keep track of white supremacist political activity – the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) for example – have reported a sharp increase in such activity. Some have suggested we have entered a new phase where white nationalism, a rejection of a racial diverse society and opposition to immigrants has again risen to the surface of American life. A similar period occurred in 1920s America. The Ku Klux Klan in the 20s enjoyed a revival that saw upwards of 4 million Americans embracing the Klan as a kind of fraternal order driven by white supremacy and disdain for Catholics, Jews, immigrants and people of color. I’ll talk with an official from the SPLC and with historians – David A. Horowitz, Tom Pegram and Darrell Millner – who have studied the KKK during the Jazz Age, particularly in the state of Oregon. It’s a history lesson from the 1920s that resonates in our time.