Time Was When Nobody Wanted To Be Thought A White Supremacist

Now It’s The Thing To Do

The whole point of hiding beneath a sheet was to keep people from knowing who you were. Yes, there were communities where there was no shame in being racist. The 1980 “Blues Brothers” movie didn’t event Illinois Nazis as a gag. They were and are a real thing. In many communities in the South, it was always popular to be associated with a Southern heritage and long for a day when things were in their minds better, when America was greater.

Still, people that worked for major corporations, taught school, owner a small business, were government employees or were elected officials didn’t generally want to be seen as white supremacists. It was bad for business; you could lose your job or an election. You might even feel real shame about espousing racist views or belonging to racist groups. But those days are gone.

Before the Million Man March of African American men in Washington, D.C. on the National Mall, fifty-thousand members of the Ku Klux Klan marched proudly in full regalia on August 9, 1925. It should be noted that the streets weren’t lined with the National Guard or the Capitol Police. In fact, they were cheered on by the crowds that did show up, supporting their cause and, by implication, denigrating Blacks, Jews, and Catholics, among others that the Klan despised.

The FBI is actively prosecuting hundreds of participants in the Capitol riot, intended to upend the 2020 Presidential Election results. Many of the participants were members of white nationalist and supremacist groups, including the Proud Boys (unanimously designated a terrorist entity by Canada), the Boogaloo Bois, and others. The FBI is finally looking at the leaders who organized the riots and not just prosecute those who illegally entered the Capitol, chanting things like “Hang Mike Pence.” and “Kill Nancy Pelosi.” As a reminder, five people died, including a Capitol Police officer, due to their act of domestic terrorism.

It’s already been widely suggested that had the rioters been Black. There wouldn’t have been the restraint shown or…