The Modern Ku Klux Klan Part 22

There has never been a period in American history where sounder, saner, and more intelligent leadership was a prime necessity than it is at present. Totally unprepared in every way to enter a war on such stupendous a scale, American idealism and American practical sense were fully adequate to meet the abnormal situation; but the termination of the war found the country still functioning abnormally. To accomplish successfully the return to normal, pre-war conditions has been, is, and will be the chief thought of the leaders and the people. Economic conditions require readjustment, important matters of trade must be regulated, vital questions of finance and taxation must be handled, in fact, the whole country must settle down to production, manufacture, distribution of merchandise, and the transaction of the nation's regular business.

These matters alone should be sufficient to occupy the entire attention of the people, but, unfortunately, there exists in the United States a series of group antagonisms that bode no good for the future peace and prosperity of the country. The fact that there are a number of discordant groups in America is the basic reason why the Ku Klux propaganda has been so successful. The further fact that the country requires all of its best thought to the readjustment of its vital interests makes it all the more dastardly to stir up domestic dissension in the United States at this time of all others. These group antagonisms are of such importance to the country that until they become reconciled and subordinated to the common public interest there will never be, on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, a cohesive, h.o.m.ogeneous nation such as is the British Empire. The development of a national unity for the United States, which really began at the termination of the Civil War, is yet in its infancy stage.

Outwardly the nation is, to all intents and purposes, great power, rich, inventive and capable of meeting the most terrific forces that might be arrayed against it; inwardly, it is a collection of discordant elements, many of which a.s.sume the prerogative of dictating to the others. If the United States ever goes to pieces, the cause of its disintegration will not be due to foreign aggression but will result from internal strife.

The tendency of unwarranted dictation of one group to another has produced in recent years the voluntary "uplifter," who, generally for personal gain, has, with his followers, presumed to take charge of the personal habits, the morals and the liberties of the community under the alleged plea of elevating the community. This is one of the phases of the Ku Klux movement, which, surrept.i.tiously, would attempt to pry into the affairs of the people of a community, and a.s.sume to itself the prerogative of regulating their private matters. It is, however, but a natural outcome of a general condition. I believe, however, as a general thing:

_The American people are "fed up" on the "uplift!"_

It would be a great blessing if ninety-nine per cent of all the a.s.sociations and societies of the "uplifting" character were completely wiped out of existence, and the public be permitted to try the wholesome experiment of attending to its own business without the a.s.sistance of meddlesome individuals whose sole means of livelihood consist in professional "uplifting."

Another situation in America that may be cla.s.sified as a group antagonism is the race question which must be settled by practical common-sense methods basically upon the elementary principles of justice. For fifty years the American negro has been the football of party politics, and as a result both the negro and the country at large have been sufferers. When the negro ceases to be a political issue and when the "uplifters" keep their hands off of him and let him work out his own salvation, he will become a better and more useful citizen.

Other group antagonisms that exist in America are Capital and Labor, Radicalism, and religious groups of all shades and varieties. In the matter of Capitalism and Trades-unionism, the average American is between Scylla and Charybdis, and is inevitably the victim of both discordant elements. The burdens of taxation, high prices, and labor disputes fall upon the shoulders of that vast army of Americans const.i.tuting the middle cla.s.s. Intruding its ugly head into the industrial situation comes radicalism as a disturbing factor in unbalancing the peaceful conditions of the country. All these divergent groups must be co-ordinated and taught a national unity--a more profound respect for real Americanism--before this country can truthfully call itself a really great nation.

Perhaps the most senseless of all group antagonisms is the religious. It is a peculiar thing to the student of world religions to note the extraordinary amount of friction and discord that has attended organized Christianity almost from its inception, resulting oftentimes in persecution and bloodshed. It was, in a great measure, to escape the religious intolerance of Europe that many of the first settlers came to America. The Puritan, driven from England, sought the rock-bound sh.o.r.es of New England; the Quaker immigrated to Pennsylvania to found a colony, based upon the principle of brotherly love; the Catholic, led by Lord Baltimore found refuge in Maryland; the Cavalier settled Virginia; and, to the Carolinas came the Huguenots,--all seeking the privilege of worshipping G.o.d according to the dictates of personal conscience. So strong was the feeling against religious intolerance, and so jealous were the early fathers of the principle of religious liberty that the very first amendment incorporated into the Const.i.tution of the United States read: "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

For one hundred and twenty-five years, more or less, the antagonism of religious groups was not felt to any great extent, but in recent years there has been a steady increase of religious discord. There has been antagonism between the Christian and the Jew, between the Protestant and the Catholic, and between the various sects and denominations that profess and call themselves Christians.

The anti-Semitic feeling in the United States is due, in my opinion, to several causes. I think primarily it is based upon a feeling of jealousy of the Jew's great advance in America along all lines of commercial and professional activity. When one considers that there are only a little more than three millions of Jews in the United States, it is astounding what great progress they have made in practically every field of endeavor.

The popular conception of the Jews as merely commercial people is not borne out by the facts, because in the legal, medical, and scientific professions, in music, in the drama, and in the arts some of the leaders in America are Jewish people. Instead of meeting this unusual rise by emulation and compet.i.tion, many people give vent to their jealousy through the channels of an unreasoning anti-Semitism. On the other hand there is a great deal of legitimate criticism against the extremely lower cla.s.ses of foreign Jews who have been permitted to come indiscriminately to American sh.o.r.es, people who are ignorant of real Americanism and unwilling to learn. The general characteristics of these people are eagerly seized upon by the professional Jew-baiter, and consequently the great ma.s.s of Americans of Jewish origin, men and women of refinement and ability are made the targets of a general attack of anti-Semitism.

There is a great deal more anti-Catholicism in America than the average person realizes, and the sooner the Protestants and the Catholics find some common ground of agreement, the better off this country will be. Much of this sort of group antagonism could be eliminated if both sides of the controversy would get together and abandon the spirit of intolerance that is characteristic of each. The increase of Catholicism in America has been very rapid. There are now over seventeen million Catholics in this country, and they are found to a great extent in the larger cities. In these places the church is a force for great good, controlling people that no other religious organization can control, and should its good influence suddenly be withdrawn, the most wretched conditions would prevail.

I do not believe that the Protestant churches possess the ability to cope with certain phases of metropolitan life as successfully as does the Catholic Church.

Basic causes of group antagonism between Protestant and Catholic lie partly in the fact that the government of the Catholic Church is outside of the United States, and partly on account of the att.i.tude of the church itself toward certain American inst.i.tutions, notably the public-school system and the laws in this country governing marriages. If the Catholic Church was under an American head, with no connection with any foreign organization, there would be but little ground upon which the professional Catholic-baiter could stand, but the fact that it is governed from Rome furnishes the chief objection to the system. In spite of this however, it lies in the power of Protestant and Catholic leaders to "get together" and endeavor to eliminate the present growing friction. In my study of the Ku Klux movement, I found that one of its greatest bids for popular favor was in its att.i.tude to the rise of Catholicism in America.

The fact that such a thing can be true, should be a matter of serious reflection to the Catholic and to the Protestant. In the succeeding years, if this feeling is not allayed and the differences reconciled it means mischief.

I believe in a real Americanism based on a deeply rooted love of country, and a broad respect and mutual understanding on the part of the people. I believe firmly that all of the internal dissensions and discords in this country, where group is arrayed against group could be completely eliminated by the application of the philosophy and love of Jesus Christ.

"Invisible Empires," "Ku Klux Klans," and all organizations seeking to advance one group at the expense of another, pale into oblivion and nothingness, when the voice of the gentle Nazarene speaks down the centuries, breathing a sweet message of brotherhood alike to the white man and the negro, the Gentile and the Jew, the Catholic and the Protestant, giving to each the same message, and voicing a common creed:

"Thou shalt love the Lord thy G.o.d, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.

"On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."