Red/blue, black/white, left/right, up/down: too many people prefer their reality to be simple. This country’s history of racism is both complex & simple. American-style chattel slavery was pure racism. Indentured servitude morphed to slavery only for those of direct African descent. 1/6

1619-1789: slavery legal; 1789-1865: slavery protected by The Constitution; 1865-1954: racism part of our laws. Even after Brown v Bd of Education, 347 U.S. 543 (1954) racism blocked right to vote. White supremacists (i.e., racists) are loud in the MAGA crowd. 2/6

Century ago, KKK controlled Indiana & got GOP’s Jackson elected governor (53% of the vote) tho KKK hedged its bets & supported “some Democrats who would in turn be obligated to the Klan.” Leibowitz, “My Indiana,” 1964, p. 193. At Jackson’s inauguration? 3/6

KKK head D.C. Stephenson met Madge Oberholzer, a Statehouse clerical worker. Stephenson abducted & raped Ms Oberholzer & was convicted of her homicide. Jackson refused to pardon Stephenson, who then spilled dirt on Jackson, whose career was “done.” 4/6

But members of Indiana’s General Assembly held office thanks to, or were members of, KKK & did not simply disappear, but the KKK lost its sway. It’s easy to say that if Stephenson appeared today & did the same things, he’d get away with it. But MAGA is all bluster. 5/6

MAGA is a minority & only gets its way if we don’t stop it. The way we stop it is to vote it out. The vote is powerful, so the current iteration of the GOP is hell-bent on suppressing it. The history of slavery is complex, but bottom line is simple: it& its aftermath = evil. 6/6