I just finished listening to a series on The Rest Is History podcast, "The Ku Klux Klan." First, yes, this is not a normal thing healthy people do with their free time. But it was informative and, subject matter notwithstanding, entertaining.
The positive takeaway: The seeming uptick in various hatreds in our country (antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-immigration, racism, etc.)? We've been through this before. That's not good, but it's not unprecedented. After the Civil War, the first iteration of the KKK grew out of white southerners wanting to keep recently freed Blacks in submission. The second iteration that peaked in the 1920s was focused on oppressing immigrants, primarily Catholics and Jews. The third iteration post-World War II concentrated on vigilante violence against expanding civil rights.
Of course, the negative takeaway is exactly the same: We as a country cannot seem to stop these awful spasms that ruin real people and real people's lives.
Our political parties don't seem to help. In fact, they typically make things worse. In Michigan, for example, we have Republicans allowing, if not embracing, hatred toward our Muslim citizens. The Democrats seem to believe it can all be managed with a properly structured public relations plan. I'm not sure what can break the cycle, but I do know it's not this.
Editor's note: John Auchter is a freelance political cartoonist. His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Public, its management, or its license holder, the University of Michigan.
