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The Invisible Empire in West: Toward a New Historical Appraisal of the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s

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The discipline of History is like any other. A new theory questioning long established interpretations is always more exciting than repeating what everybody always thought they knew to be true. In this book the editor and six essayists seek to prove that the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920's was a mainsteam organization composed of community activists primarily interested in local issues. Expressions of bigotry included in Klan activities were only a reflection of the prejudices of American society in general.

Klan successes in six western cities are presented in detail. This is a very readable and exciting book, and the six essays are well researched. Most importantly, the authors make no effort to cover up the evidence which makes their theory completely untenable.

The traditional interpretation of the Klan is that it is an organization committed to vigilante action, white supremacy, and hatred of every available minority group. And this is exactly the Klan we read about in this book. Indeed the first activity noted in the chapter on the Denver Klan was the three day warning to get out of town which the Klan gave a black janitor accused of being friendly with white women. The Klan in El Paso demanded and received the dismissal of three Roman Catholic public school principals. The Klan in Anaheim developed an extensive spy network to make sure that its own membership shopped only at Klan owned businesses.

The chapter on Salt Lake City even credits the Klan with "a legacy of prejudice that would haunt the city for decades". The Klan in Eugene Oregon started after a fiery lecture comparing African-Americans to the animals of the jungle. The Klan in La Grande Oregon appointed a ten man committee "to take up the matter of Negroes on the North Side".

The Ku Klux Klan is a shameful part of America's past, and to some extent its present. Despite the announced intention of this book, the authors make that point very clearly.