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Holland and the KKK

‘The klansman has taken your flag, your Bible and your Constitution and subverted them to the task of maintaining white supremacy and wage slavery. And the most effective ways of drying up this well-spring of hatred is the publicity and ridicule poured on the klan by newspapers and pulpits," - Kenneth Allen, 1949
 In a 1949 Holland City News article, entitled Klan Subverts U.S. Tradition, the quote above showcases the inequity sought by white supremacists and white nationalists.  I stumbled upon that article while, once again, perusing the Holland City News archive hosted by Hope College Digital Commons.  I wasn't sure what I'd find, but I'm glad I found what I did.

Between August 1923 and January 1924, there was Klan activity ranging from Holland all the way north to Muskegon:

The August 30, 1923 issue tells of "further proof" of Klan activity in Holland, phrased in such a way as to indicate that there were incidents prior to this.  There was a cross burning in Kollen Park earlier in August 1923, and a letter/manifesto from a Klan branch in Indiana mailed to the Holland City News on August 22, 1923.  Later on in the paper, we learn of the Bums Anti-KKK Law, which took effect on August 29, 1923 and prohibits public wear of face covering and masks (with exemptions for religion, medical purposes like the flu pandemic 5 years earlier, or the CoVid pandemic 97 years later), and was punishable by up to $1,000 in fines.

The November 8, 1923 issue tells us of a cross burning on Dewey Hill in Grand Haven.  Despite being drizzling rain that night, the cross burned until morning.  HCN indicates in a byline that presumptive numbers of Klan members in Ottawa County number 300 or more.  To give a modern context, Dewey Hill is the hill that they launch fireworks from at the annual Coast Guard Festival.

A week later, on November, 15, the HCN reports a man shouting about how the "mainstream media is full of lies," "fake news" and how his Klan newspaper tells you the truth...starting with how everything else is a lie.  HCN tells us that a sense of almost morbid curiosity took the citizens of Holland, and the "Klan Newsboy," as he was referred to, sold quite a few papers.  Interesting that, even today in 2020, we have politicians using the same tactics of painting everything except them as "fake news."

December 6, 1923 teaches us a little more about how the Klan tabulates their membership numbers:  The ninth cross had been found burned in Holland, and we learn that each cross burning means 100 members in the local chapter of the Klan.  Therefore, it can be reasonably ascertained that there were around 900 members at this time.  The location is said to be "the foot of 8th Street, near Black Lake."  That seems to indicate somewhere between the Civic Center and Brewer's City Dock.

By January 7, 1924, we have a few confessions from the Muskegon area:  Several residents of Mona Lake signed a letter, confessing to burning at least one cross in the Muskegon area.  Law enforcement investigated, and in true 1920's journalistic fashion, we're left with nary more than that.

That line in the opening paragraph seemed to ring true: the most effective ways of drying up this well-spring of hatred is the publicity and ridicule poured on the klan by newspapers.  Once light was shown on these racist cowards, activity died down; scattered like cockroaches.

I was unable to find any further mentions of cross burnings associated with this rash of activity.  I searched using the keyword "klan," and as a result, got a lot of results from Oakland Motors, the surname "Klanninga," and a few other odds and ends.  In other words, it was a formidable task to search the online digital archive.  I'm glad that I found so few stories, but it makes me wonder how deep underground the Klan ran in and around Holland, given that tidbit about burning a cross for every hundred new members.  900 members don't simply stop meeting and gathering after 3 months of mischief.

I'd like to leave my readers with a challenge.  It doesn't need to be anything big...doesn't even need to be something you speak of publicly.  But, I want you to look around you at neighbors, coworkers, or anyone else that you're friendly acquaintances with of a different culture, and think of something you admire or appreciate about them in their culture.  Appreciation and love is an even more effective weapon against white nationalism and supremacy than public call-outs.

Works cited:
Holland City News, "Holland City News, Volume 78, Number 47: November 24, 1949" (1949). Holland City News: 1949. 47. https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/hcn_1949/47

Holland City News, "Holland City News, Volume 52, Number 35: August 30, 1923" (1923). Holland City News: 1923. 35. https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/hcn_1923/35

Holland City News, "Holland City News, Volume 52, Number 46: November 15, 1923" (1923). Holland City News: 1923. 46. https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/hcn_1923/46 

Holland City News, "Holland City News, Volume 52, Number 49: December 6, 1923" (1923). Holland City News: 1923. 49. https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/hcn_1923/49 

Holland City News, "Holland City News, Volume 53, Number 3: January 17, 1924" (1924). Holland City News: 1924. 3. https://digitalcommons.hope.edu/hcn_1924/3 

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