A chilling history

Timothy Egan’s book A Fever in the Heartland is a history of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) in Indiana, America in the early twentieth century. It tells the story of how the racism and white supremacy of the KKK became more and more attractive to many, especially in a time of depression and mass unemployment. The KKK was also very anti Roman Catholic and, indeed, anti any foreigners and Native people, which meant that it saw Black citizens and many immigrants as a threat to what they considered to be the American way of life and national values.

The KKK had charismatic leaders and were extremely influential – at their height they were on the point of having an openly KKK member elected to Congress and were looking at a possible Presidential candidate. They had children’s groups, social activities, family picnics, parades and celebrations and their message was preached from many church pulpits. They operated by fear and threats and were also responsible for much violence up to and including lynching.

With power came licence to do what they wanted and the leadership of the KKK and those who espoused its values were notoriously corrupt. As there were KKK people in positions of power in local government and the judiciary nothing happened to challenge the status quo until one young woman was attacked and raped by their leader and dared to speak out, leaving a deathbed statement of what had happened to her. With this voice being heard, because of the tragedy of her story, others were able to speak out and eventually the KKK was destroyed in the area, although the author makes it clear how close they were to federal power.

This is a chilling book as much for the parallels to some current rhetoric and beliefs as much as for the story of the injustice and discrimination experienced by so many. It’s well written and easy enough to follow and the author is good at giving us relevant background to understand what is happening in context. I definitely recommend this book.