Checking Under the Hood

Ready or not, we're going to look at some Critical Race Praxis today.

In October, 1921, Congress summoned several Ku Klux Klan officials to testify before the House Rules Committee. Republicans running the committee were concerned by reports that the Klan was not only a terrorist organization, but also a highly lucrative one. The witness list included Imperial Wizard Col. William J. Simmons, who begged off testifying on the first day of hearings, citing "a temporary indisposition," a.k.a. "the vapors."

When he finally showed up the next day, Simmons's testimony was interrupted when Senator Thomas Watson (D-GA) stepped in to shake his hand. "I am a United States Senator, and I am going to see that the witness gets fair play," Watson bellowed over the resulting uproar. "When this thing gets to the Senate, I want to ask this witness, to whose order I do not belong, but which I propose to defend, if he does not know that Congress is creating dozens of officers and employing officers at $15,000 and $35,000 salary, all of which comes out of the pockets of taxpayers!"

"The Auxiliary Government" by Grover Page in Louisville Courier-Journal, by Oct. 16, 1921

Senator Watson was probably upset by earlier testimony by civil rights leaders, some of whom (gasp!) were Black. William Monroe Trotter, representing the National Equal Rights League, testified that the Klan intimidated non-Klan Americans "by sending threatening letters to persons to cease doing certain things," and by riding through towns in their hooded gowns.

Rev. S.E.J. Watson of Chicago went further, testifying that "Many negroes have been driven from humble homes held since slavery." Rev. David Simpson Klugh of Boston added:

that the Rev. Philip S. Erwin of Florida had been tarred and feathered in Miami "only because he gave negroes good information as a preacher." Citing the case of the alleged forehead branding of a negro bell boy in Texas, Mr. Klugh said it was necessary to show by investigation whether the Klan was guilty of the act. ― Washington Evening Star, October 12, 1921

The committee also heard from a former Klansman, C. Anderson Wright, who had written an exposé of the Klan for Hearst newspapers. What committee member Rep. Edward W. Pou (D-NC) wanted to know from him was whether, by selling his story to Hearst, Wright had violated the oath he had taken upon joining the Klan.

So, what did the cartoonists have to say about all this?

"They Flee the Light" by Harry Murphy for Star Company, by Oct. 4, 1921

Conversion from newsprint to microfiche to internet has treated Harry Murphy's exquisite detail work harshly; so I'll point out that "Masked Terrorism" is accompanied in flight by rats labeled "Intolerance" and "Hate," an owl labeled "Ignorance," and a bat labeled "Bigotry."

"A Little Needed Housecleaning" by O.P. Williams for Star Company, by Oct. 6, 1921

Likewise O. Williams's cartoon here — although the labels are clear, it's the critters that are difficult to distinguish. Furthermore, I'm not entirely sure that Uncle Sam isn't somehow using the robe to scare those ills away. While "race hatred" and "bigotry" are intimately associated with the KKK, the Klan claimed to be working against "unAmericanisms."

"The Answer" by Wm. Sykes in Philadelphia Public Ledger, by Oct. 9, 1921

William Sykes, on the other hand, makes his point clearly and unmistakably.

"Potent Publicity Possibilities" by Clifford Berryman in Washington Evening Star, Oct. 12, 1921

Following the rule of "Two things make a cartoon," a few cartoonists tried tying in the Klan with completely unrelated news topics.

"Ku Kluxers" by Nelson Harding in Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Oct. 7, 1921

World powers were holding a conference on reducing arms levels after the Great War; this disarmament conference had absolutely nothing to do with the Ku Klux Klan. I guess you have to forgive a New York cartoonist who may have been preoccupied with the World Series between New York's Giants and Yankees, and the upcoming New York City mayoral election. At least this one New York cartoonist reserved this one cartoon about two issues very important to folks in other parts of the country.

"One Every Minute" by T.E. Powers for Star Co., by Oct. 17, 1921

T.E. Powers's linking of the Klan with bootleggers, on the other hand, isn't quite as far-fetched as Nelson Harding's linking of the Klan and international disarmament. As I mentioned at the top of this post, one of Congress's concerns was over how much money the Klan was making. Memberships were reportedly $10, but one could buy an exalted title within the Klub just by paying a little extra. The Klan resembled a pyramid scheme, enriching those at the top, but Imp Wiz Simmons protested that his was a benevolent, non-profit society, from which he earned a mere $1,000 per month.

"Somebody Is Always Taking the Joy Out of Life" by Wm. Hanny in St. Joseph (MO) News-Press, Oct. 13, 1921

Even this spare drawing by William Hanny suffers as much from microfiche-to-internet translation as Murphy's and Williams's cartoons above, so here's what is difficult to read. Crediting Clare Briggs, Hanny shows Mr. Congress tossing a rock labeled "Investigation" into the water, from which the Klan fisherman has a hefty harvest of $10 bills. 

Do I sense a hint of sympathy for the Klansman?

"Terrorism!" by Leo Bushnell for Central Press Association, ca. Oct. 6, 1921

And how does one look back on this cartoon by Leo Bushnell, drawing for the Central Press Association of Cleveland, Ohio's predominantly rural market, and making light of the charge against the Klan of terrorism?

"The Unmasking" by Dorman H. Smith for Newspaper Enterprise Assn., ca. Oct. 19, 1921

Dorman Smith was featured in a great many newspapers around the country. But I have observed that a few of the papers that ran Smith's cartoon daily and exclusively skipped this one.

Perhaps the editors were afraid of upsetting members of the benevolent non-profit society's local chapters.

Who could be sure that the publisher hadn't chipped in his ten bucks?