Saturday 30 April 2011

Pot Calling White Kettle Black

The first two paragraphs of the Introduction to Kathleen M. Blee, Women and the Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920s:

An elderly white Protestant woman from rural northern Indiana described her time in the Ku Klux Klan movement of the 1920s with remarkable nonchalance, as ‘just a celebration . . . a way of growing up.’ The Klan fit easily into her daily life, as it did for many white Protestants in Indiana. At most, it was an exceptional chapter in an otherwise ordinary life. Even in hindsight, she showed little remorse over the devastation left in the wake of the Klan’s crusade against Catholics, Jews, immigrants, and blacks. What she remembered with pride, not regret, was the social and cultural life of the Klan; the Klan as ‘a way to get together and enjoy.’

For thousands of native-born white Protestant women like this informant, the women’s Klan of the 1920s was not only a way to promote racist, intolerant, and xenophobic policies but also a social setting in which to enjoy their own racial and religious privileges. These women recall their membership in one of U.S. history’s most vicious campaigns of prejudice and hatred primarily as a time of friendship and solidarity among like-minded women.

3 comments:

Tanstaafl said...

"For thousands of native-born white Protestant women like this informant, the women’s Klan of the 1920s was not only a way to promote racist, intolerant, and xenophobic policies but also a social setting in which to enjoy their own racial and religious privileges. These women recall their membership in one of U.S. history’s most vicious campaigns of prejudice and hatred primarily as a time of friendship and solidarity among like-minded women."

Instead of going back 90 years into the past Blee could just as easily have written a book self-righteously condemning the racial and religious privileges of contemporary jews. How much more timely and relevent and refreshing that would be. Of course she would have had quite a bit more trouble getting published, and maybe even keeping her comfortable job, what with the vicious and intolerant campaign of prejudice and hate jews tend to wage on anyone they perceive as critical of jews. No, much easier to dig up long gone semitically-correct "racists" to flog.

Kathleen Blee | Sociology:

"My areas of interest are social movements, including racist/anti-Semitic, and right-wing movements and racial violence. I currently have two research projects: studying new and emerging social movement groups in Pittsburgh and studying unreported racial hate crimes."

There's the problem. It's her special interest to attack Whites and defend jews.

Anonymous said...

Does any of 1920s Indiana remain? Such would make for a fine place to raise a family / live a life.

Anonymous said...

The more modern version of the mythically demonized KKK is much more upscale and meets in Brussels.

http://www.theforbiddentruth.net/15786-jewish-lawyers-establish-pan-european-legal-task-force-combat-anti-semitism.html#post80053

I have a comment which follows the article.

Flanders