To the man in this picture...

To the man in this picture, 

When your children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren see this picture, and read of the events in Charlottesville, VA, in which you actively participated, what do you think they will think of you? Will they smile with pride over your convictions?  Or, will they think, “that can’t be my dad…he was nothing but good and kind.” Will this image of you, and your tense, shouting face, align with their memories of baseball games and fairs and the fun they had with you? Or will they be forced to search for ways to rectify these happier images with this screaming, angry you? Will they tell their friends about this version of you?  Or, will they quietly push this part into the back of their memories? Will they be proud of you?

My great grandfather was once one of you. He joined the Klan in the early 1920s during a period of recruitment helmed by the famed D.C. Stephenson. You probably already know that Stephenson managed to recruit 30% of the white male population of Indiana into the Klan. He’s pretty famous for that. You also may know that his recruitment plan focused not on race but on ending political corruption and standing up for Protestant morality – the good ole fashioned American values of the day. They were a brotherhood defending America – the real America – at all costs. Doesn’t that sound kind of familiar? You are just standing up for your rights as real Americans, right? You’re sick of outsiders and the lazy coastal elite forcing their liberal values on you and getting an unequal share of American success while you and your friends struggle to find good jobs. Right? 

Only time separates you from my great grandfather, a father of five and a struggling farmer, who was right there with you! He was disgusted by the articles he read detailing the licentious behavior in the big cities and by reports of corrupt government officials profiting off of bootlegging. Like you, he believed in the steadfastness of his moral conviction. And he wanted his kids to grow up in an America that was safe from the influence of all that ugliness.

Likewise, only time separates me from your future great-granddaughter(s).

I was in my early 20s when my dad first confessed my great grandfather’s Klan membership. “He was a simple man, a worker, a farmer. He was a good man who used to take me for root beer sodas at the drug store. Back then the Klan misrepresented their intentions to simple men like him. He didn’t really understand what he was joining; and when he did understand, he got out.” Will your grandsons describe you like my dad describes his grandfather – as dismissively “simple” and easy to manipulate? Will your grandsons feel the need to protect you from judgment – years after you are gone?

This is my official family story – my grandfather as a victim of recruitment misinformation – a man who did better when he knew better. His independence - his moral compass was ultimately intact. But history suggests a different story. My great-grandfather joined the Klan at a time when many other men just like him were joining.  As mentioned above 30% of the white male population in Indiana, or 250,000 joined around the time that my great grandfather joined. Was my great grandfather simply seduced by a trend? Was he nothing more than a man whose convictions swayed with the wind of his times? Will your great granddaughter one day wonder these same things about you? Were you nothing more than an easily manipulated pawn of Make America Great Again fervor?

The Indiana Klan was known for intimidation rather than physical violence; as such I assume my great grandfather may have marched with a torch in hand as you are doing in this picture.  He may have shouted angrily as you are in this picture. But history suggests he probably never hurt anyone physically. Sadly, the videos from Charlottesville don't suggest the same of you.  Were you one of the men shown violently engaging your perceived enemies? If so, are you proud of this? Will you be proud to leave this as a legacy for your grandchildren? Do you think they will brag about you to their friends?  Will this be a story you tell at show and tell?

My great-grandfather ultimately left the Klan, probably sometime after 1925, when DC Stephenson was convicted of kidnapping and holding captive a young woman who he’d become enamored with.  While holding her captive, he raped her repeatedly – apparently in hopes that she would feel inclined to marry him. But she stood strong in her refusal and he ultimately returned her secretly to her parents house. She was in battered and sickly condition and she died a month later as a result of the attack. But in that final month, her description of Stephenson’s behavior, which came out when he was put on trial, was so vile that many of those 250,000 men had to confront the truth that they had been deceived about the moral uprightness of this group Stephenson oversaw. Disgusted, they left in droves.  I suspect my great-grandfather was one of these men – a follower who left only when the organization could find no defense. Will your descendants be able to say that you were disgusted enough to leave?  Now that one of your members intentionally drove a car into a crowd of people and killed and injured the daughters and sons of others? Or perhaps this excites you. Perhaps it seals your loyalty? But how will your descendants regard that loyalty?

 
I ask because, you see, I can forgive my great grandfather for being easily manipulated. I can forgive him for being a follower; I can even see him as redeemed to some degree because of his final decision to leave. But ultimately, my grandfather was a man on the wrong side of history. He wasn’t a leader or a man of great moral conviction.  He wasn’t fighting for a safer and better future for me. He was just a man, like you, who followed other men of his times into a dangerous and shameful movement. He was part of the ugliness - not its antidote. Through you, I know him a little better. And I am not proud to be his great-granddaughter.  I suspect your great-granddaughter may one day feel the same about you. But perhaps that's what you want?