When the KKK came to DC
24 March 2025
VANN R NEWKIRK II
| Staff Writer, The Atlantic Daily | Extract
For a couple of years now, as the USA showed increasing signs of going off the rails, I’ve subscribed to a number of American publications, including The Atlantic. The brief extract that follows is taken from the beginning of a much longer article, They Always Followed the Flag, in the most recent issue of the magazine. We should never underestimate racism as a compelling factor in US affairs. In the present day, it seems to be a fear of demography pushing aside white hegemony that's underpinning events. I hope you may be able to link to the extract here - KJ
WASHINGTON DC - A century ago, in 1925, the Ku Klux Klan came to Washington, D.C. The Klansmen had arrived in early August: the Kleagles and Dragons and Exalted Cyclopes, regalia folded and packed, families in tow.
Loyal men came from the South, as expected, but that was not where the group’s true strength lay. The Invisible Empire sent agents from all four corners, from New Jersey and Ohio and California and pretty much everywhere else.
An all-woman Klan band arrived from Cumberland, Maryland. A marching troupe paraded in from Fort Worth, Texas.
Caravans of cars choked the highways heading into Washington, DC, and specially chartered trains full of Klansmen spat out wave after wave of people into Union Station.
Steamboats ferried groups up the Potomac from Virginia.
The hordes of loyal Knights camped in Bethesda, Maryland, or at the crossroads of 15th and H Streets Northeast, in DC, or across the river at the horse-show grounds.
They crashed in boardinghouses and in hotels and with friends. In all, the members and their retinue numbered at least 30,000, not counting the horses
And then came Trump. Triumphalism indeed.
"US President Donald Trump has signed an executive order targeting the Smithsonian Institution, which operates more than 20 museums and research centres visited by millions yearly in Washington DC and New York City.
The order directs the vice-president to "eliminate improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology" from the institute's museums, centres and the National Zoo in Washington."
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdjy1jmvvwzo
So what's with the National Zoo in Washington?
"Visitors can also learn about the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center, the only scientific institution solely dedicated to understanding migratory birds" including shorebirds that stand on "one-leg".
https://nationalzoo.si.edu/animals/news/why-do-shorebirds-stand-one-leg
Question. Is the 'American way' to be propped on 'one leg', as if to restrict warmth to the rest of humanity?
For folk in PNG, a nation rejoicingly independent and free, aiming at respectful of inclusion and conversation, trust is of avoiding parade of charade.
Posted by: Lindsay F Bond | 29 March 2025 at 06:35 AM
The late Thurgood Marshall would be turning in his grave
Posted by: Bernard Corden | 26 March 2025 at 11:19 AM