This book was very well written and eye-opening in many ways. I, of course, knew about the KKK before reading this book, but I wasn't quite aware how pervasive they were, and how much they dominated the government and police departments in many states. Also, I primarily associate the KKK with anti-Black sentiment, but in the 1920's the KKK was happy to attack Catholics, Irish, and Jewish people as well--really whatever population that was not white and protestant.
A Fever in the Heartland discusses the history of the KKK from its inception after the Civil War, but focuses on the 1920's, and D.C. Stephenson, the Giant Lizard (or Grand Dragon--whatever silly, made-up name you want to go with) of Indiana. D.C. Stephenson was by all accounts a horrible person. He was assaulting women ever since he was a kid; he beat and abandoned his first wife and child; and he acted like a horror movie-version of Harvey Weinstein as soon as he had power and money.
After leaving his wife and child, D.C. Stephenson went up to Indiana, saw a strong sentiment against "outsiders" that he could exploit and went to town. He would bribe ministers to talk up the Klan in church, and presented the KKK as a group that was focused on morality. (Although the Klan was against drinking and sex, they were also very much a white supremacist hate group. The author makes sure to emphasize that the huge percentage of Indiana who joined the Klan knew what they were signing up for.) Stephenson was especially hypocritical because he was an alcoholic and an abusive womanizer.
In the 1920's the KKK was at the height of its powers. A Klan member had just been elected as governor of Indiana. Denver had a Klan mayor and governor. The governor was trying to force out all the Catholic and Jewish professors from the University of Colorado. And the Denver Mayor was stacking the ranks of policemen as well as the prosecutor's office with Klansmen. (This hit very close to home because I'm from Denver.) In Indiana, Stephenson was counting on the governor to appoint him as a U.S. Senator when the spot became vacant. He was even eying the presidency.
There were valiant people who fought back against the KKK, including journalists who pilloried them in the press, the Notre Dame quarterback, and many others. But they faced harassment, death threats, arrest, and the loss of their livelihood. There was no where to turn when the police and judges were also Klan members.
***SPOILERS & TRIGGER WARNING***
What ended up taking down this power structure in Indiana was the trial of Madge Oberholtzer. The book and some reviews have claimed "the bravery of one woman" made the difference, but I think that's a little disingenuous. In order to take down Stephenson, there had to be a prosecutor willing to take the case in spite of threats to his person and family, as well as judges to keep the trial relatively fair.
Madge first met D.C. Stephenson because she wanted him to use his influence to keep her job in education. Stephenson was immediately obsessed with her. One night he sent his goon squad to pick her up from her house--saying it was work related. Once at his house, he kidnapped her, took her away in a train where he brutally assaulted her and kept her for over two days before dumping her back at her home with her parents. At one point, Madge took poison, wanting to end her life after everything he'd done to her. Stephenson never got her medical help, and locked Madge in the rooms above his garage--even while Madge's mother was knocking on his front door desperately looking for her daughter.
Once Madge finally got home, it took her several weeks to succumb to her wounds and the poison. In that time, she told her story to an attorney who had it notarized as a dying declaration. This declaration was used in the trial for murder against D.C. Stephenson.
Part of what made this book so hard for me to read, was that I really thought Madge survived and testified in the trial against Stephenson. That's why I thought they were calling her "brave." It was heartbreaking for me to read about Madge's parents enduring the slow, painful death of their only daughter--especially after everything she'd suffered. I'm so sorry for what happened to her, and I'm impressed she was able to tell her story before she died. However, I also wonder if Stephenson would have even gotten in trouble if Madge hadn't died. He'd already attacked a large number of women, and they had been too scared of his influence to press charges. It's very likely that if Madge survived, she would have felt the same way--understandably. Also, as we all know, the United States justice system does not have a great track record when it comes to prosecuting crimes of rape. Even in the murder trial, Stephenson was trying to portray Madge as a slut. This angle may have been more successful if there was not a dead body involved.
***END SPOILERS & TRIGGER WARNING***
Besides being utterly devastated by the Klan's reach, their numerous vile hate crimes, and the harrowing story of Madge's horrific ordeal and death, it struck me how easily we can lose control of our democracy to literal evil.
"Democracy was a fragile thing, stable and steady until it was broken and trampled. A man who didn't care about shattering every convention, and then found new ways to vandalize the contract that allowed free people to govern themselves, could do unthinkable damage." (332)
I couldn't help but make comparisons to a current political candidate. In many ways he is similar to D.C. Stephenson: hungry for power no matter the cost, mistreating women, using his power to bully those who disagree with him, pretending to be religious, and attacking minorities for his own gain.
"He discovered that if he said something often enough, no matter how untrue, people would believe it." (41)
By the time the KKK lost most of its power, many of the things they were fighting for, they had already achieved. Immigration was limited to just a trickle for the "unwanted" groups. [Anne Frank was denied entry into the United States because of restrictive immigration laws backed by the KKK.] In addition, lynchings, violence, and discrimination against Black Americans didn't stop with Stephenson. Finally, the U.S. policies on forced sterilization inspired the Nazis before World War II.
I thought this book was very good and well written. It's an important part of history that we don't want to forget. So, I do recommend it. However, this book was very difficult to read and not uplifting in any way. It may have been billed as one brave lady triumphs over the KKK, but I didn't feel much triumph reading this.
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