Post-Election, the Struggle for Civil and First Amendment Rights Must Continue

Race played a smaller part in the 2008 election, according to studies and exit polls, and the so-called "Bradley effect" was over-stated. Post election incidents have been isolated but not unheard of. The first incident described took place in Mississippi. We have a "winner-take-all" electoral system, so Mississippi is known as a "red" state, but looking at the map, it's easy to see pockets of pink, light blue and dark blue, but it's also one of the states where there was a pattern of racial bifurcation in the voting pattern.

Students in one Mississippi community were not allowed to talk about Obama in school. Angry parents called a local newsroom and told how their kids were threatened with suspension for saying Obama's name or wearing clothing with his name or image. Some did so anonymously because they feared retaliation against their children. The principal did not answer calls but finally issued a statement which essentially blamed individual instructors.

Teachers read a memo after the election which said:

"Seeing history in the making and being a part of that process is a wonderful thing. Many of you are excited because of this. Others are not. It is absolutely critical that we not use this election as a divisive event. We should respect one another by not saying or doing things in the wrong way that would take away from this historical event and possibly cause a disruption here at school. Celebrations at school that cause disruptions are not acceptable and against the law therefore, this should not occur. Please by mindful of this and respect one another regardless of differences in opinion."

Where is the logic in that statement? What was being soft-pedalled? The ACLU of MS continues to express concern over violation of students' free speech. Their number is (601) 354-3408 or 888-354-ACLU (2258).

The following incidents, reported by Black Planet blog, did not receive much press coverage, yet happened around election time - it wasn't all peace and justice. These fit under the category of "racist backlash."

After seeing the hate mobs attracted by the opposition, it's not surprising.

A black church in Springfield, MS burned down on election night.

A black family near Pittsburgh had their car torched outside their house, during Obama's victory speech.

A New York Muslim African-American teen was beaten with bats by a group of white men who yelled "Obama."

A campus walkway was spraypainted with "Shoot Obama" "Kill that nigger" and other racist and violent threats at North Carolina State University.

A football center at Univ. of TX wrote at Facebook, "All the hunters gather up, we have a Nigger in the White House."

The writer who described these events expected even more and hopes that blatant racism has been marginalized by 2008. As he said,

Just like Bloods and Crips don’t represent most black people, and Al Qaeda doesn’t typify the Arab world, bigots and white supremacists do not in any way showcase the general feelings of today’s Americans.

To send a check to the rebuilding fund for the church that was burned down in Springfield, MA:

Macedonia Church of God in Christ, c/o Greater Springfield Council of Churches

39 Oakland St., Springfield, MA 01108

Donate to the charitable fund set up to support the carbombing victims:

Whiteside Family Relief Fund, c/o First National Bank of PA,

4140 E. State St., Hermitage PA 16148

Lest I give the impression that the Pacific Northwest, where I live, has always been a bastion of liberalism, I want you to leave you with some final evidence to the contrary. I recently looked at some electoral maps from the last 50 years or so, and it wasn't so long ago that OR and WA voted like "red states" (and the eastern counties still do, in parts.)

This story goes back further yet, but was certainly an eye opener!

According to the Seattle Times, Ku Klux Klan were big in Belltown in the 1920s and they used to meet in the basement of the Moore Theater (which used to have a pool down there called the Crystal Pool!)

Here is a picture to prove it!

That is where they operated their state headquarters. This hidden history is being taught as part of a senior-level history class at University of Washington. The KKK had a striking presence here in the 1920s.

The newspaper story relates a wedding of Klan members in full regalia, a night parade in Bellingham and rallies in places like Renton and Issaquah that at times drew crowds of up to 50,000. That is about the size of the biggest antiwar rally since I've lived here (for 30 years.) They are also reported to have helped elect public officials across the state and published a Seattle-based newspaper called Watcher on the Tower.

"People in Washington state really have not known about the strength or impact of the KKK here during the 1920s," said James Gregory, UW professor of history who heads the Web site, called the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project.

Since there weren't many blacks in the Pacific NW, they focussed on Catholics and foreigners. They also were big in Oregon, the midwest and the south. They were founded by Confederate Amy vets, to restore white supremacy after the Civil War. During the mid 1920s, they had at least five million members. They appealed to people's Christianity for recruitment, as well as patriotism and xenophobia.

We had Mayors and attorneys locally who were open members. In 1929, the Klan held its state convention in Bellingham and the Grand Wizard was introduced by the Mayor and given the Key to the City. The large local rallies which drew crowds up to 50,000 were not all Klan members. They attracted fervor with their rhetoric, with little effort toward disruption or resistance. They finally imploded due to their own internal scandals, both in OR and WA, but they maintained a presence in both states through the 1930s, with the power base shifting from Seattle to Bellingham.

Some of the photos are newly discovered and advanced UW students have done alot of the research. While some photos came from the WA State Historical Society, others came from the estate of a local Klan member who was a photographer.

The Klan's undoing — at least in Seattle — began around 1924, after it unsuccessfully backed an anti-private-school initiative in this state, aimed at Roman Catholic schools, similar to one it had pushed through in Oregon that was repealed. That plus internal scandals led to the beginning of the Klan's demise.

MOVING ON

We have had a historic election but the pattern was mixed for local initiatives and by area of the country. Some areas persisted in showing a lack of sufficient appreciation for diversity (California!) or racial unity (some of hard-core "Bush states" from the last two elections.) The map was remade, though, and exit polls as well as studies did show a pattern of lessening racial and other discrimination, particularly in the youngest groups! We set an example, for once, and many of us felt something that had become kind of unfamiliar - pride in our collective judgement. We need to keep moving in the direction of Englightenment, not the backlash that would take us back in time.