I'm more offended by Dan "Dirty Sanchez" Caeser's mug shot than anything else in the article. That said ...

If this transcript didn't omit anything, I think the radio guy jumped the gun on calling Feller a "racist". I don't doubt that he is, based on the totality of his public life, but you can't just call the guy that based on some relatively vague comment about Caribbean ballplayers. Feller's big sin here is making a comment at the absolute worst time to refer to "Caribbean" ballplayers in anything in a less than flattering way. Now I'm in no way excusing Feller's comments, but you shouldn't label someone racist without more evidence than that.

ALL YOU WHITIES ARE RACIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"ALL YOU WHITIES ARE RACIST!"


Sometimes it feels that way.

"ALL YOU WHITIES ARE RACIST!"

From one Chinese man to another: STFU.

You know when you drink too much that looks like

"ALL YOUR WHEATIES HAVE RAISINS"

and I was going to object to that because I don't remember my Wheaties having raisins. Sure you could add some but then again if you were going to go to all the trouble of buying raisins so you could add them to your wheaties why wouldn't you just buy Raisin Bran instead? But then luckily it was reposted two more times and I figured out you were not talking about the contents of my breakfast and sometimes lunch and the occasional dinner when I have run out of Eggos or have run out of the equally important country crock. Can't have waffles without the faux butter.

Posted by IronChef Chris Wok says screw your White Children on August 14, 2005 at 10:39 PM (#1546359)

ALL YOU WHITIES ARE RACIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Never heard of a Chinese racist myself. I doubt if any Chinese person even knows how to spell xenophobia, let alone practice it.

But on this site, we're all a band of brothers. Plus BC, of course.

"From one Chinese man to another: STFU."

So you think that "Chris Wok" really is Chinese? Are you sure he isn't just a white guy trying to mock non-white bigots or those that play the race card too loosely?

Or put another way, if "Chris Wok" WERE a white guy who wanted to make minority bigots that engage in race baiting look like complete hypocrites, how would his posts be discernably different?

In any case, whether he is "white" or "Chinese" or "Alpha Centaurian", I think that it is safe to assume that he is a troll (at least where matters like this are concerned).

"Never heard of a Chinese racist myself. I doubt if any Chinese person even knows how to spell xenophobia, let alone practice it."

I suspect Filipinos, Indonesians, Indians and Pakistanis living in Hong Kong would take issue with this statement.

I doubt if any Chinese person even knows how to spell xenophobia

Wouldn't it just be a single character anyway?

I doubt if any Chinese person even knows how to spell xenophobia, let alone practice it.

Man, they called it the Middle Kingdom . . .

At least "xenophobia" doesn't have any "r" or "l" sounds, so we won't have to go down that path.

So you think that "Chris Wok" really is Chinese? Are you sure he isn't just a white guy trying to mock non-white bigots or those that play the race card too loosely?

We actually do happen to know that he is a Chinese fellow, named Tony, who is a medical student in Taiwan. At least, going on what he says. And it's too inglorious a backstory to be made up.

Never heard of a Chinese racist myself. I doubt if any Chinese person even knows how to spell xenophobia, let alone practice it.

If that were so, my Chinese friends wouldn't have been able to teach me the terms for "white devil" and "black devil."

And I make these jokes because I really don't mind being called a ghost or roundeyes.

You know, if I was goign to make up a story abuot myself, I'd make something up in which i'd be NOT A VIRGIN.

Or white devil, for that matter.

I sometimes wonder if Wok would like to meet my friends in Taiwan, but he might get made at them for commiting miscegenation...

You know, if I was goign to make up a story abuot myself, I'd make something up in which i'd be NOT A VIRGIN.

I remember when I made that story up myself...

You know, if I was goign to make up a story abuot myself, I'd make something up in which i'd be NOT A VIRGIN.

Good point. Why didn't you just lie about that part, Antoine?

I sometimes wonder if Wok would like to meet my friends in Taiwan, but he might get made at them for commiting miscegenation...

I hate when people screw up cegenation.

I sometimes wonder if Wok would like to meet my friends in Taiwan, but he might get made at them for commiting miscegenation...

I'd love to meet your buddies here. I've got so much time on my hand.

I've got so much time on my hand.

We know with what the other hand is occupied, oh virginal one.

On a serious note, there is actually A LOT OF racial threads lately on Primer. There's Carl Everett, there's the whole Carribean thing, and then there was Barry telling somebody he wont' sign for White children a while back.

I'm just here crackin' jokes when these racial threads come up. I aint making this stuff up. I'm not posting these threads, because I think they're stupid.

We know with what the other hand is occupied, oh virginal one.

I have time in one hand... and if I have SPACE on the other...

woulnd't i be able to create A TIME-SPACE CONTINUM WITH MY TWO BARE HANDS?????

Ok that's enough for the day.

Is that what you tell your mother when she walks in on you?

1 - The transcript did omit quite a bit.

Also, Feller has a pretty long history of arguably racist comments & actions (discussed in the other thread), which the radio host may or may not have been aware of.

Never heard of a Chinese racist myself. I doubt if any Chinese person even knows how to spell xenophobia, let alone practice it.

Try being a brotha in a grocery store, pal!

Try being a brotha in a grocery store, pal!

Let me guess, the owner thinks you're going to rob him?

I'm actually really pissed off at Asian attitudes towards African Americans at times. Just cuz 50 Cent advocates gang-banging doesn't mean African Americans go around robbing stores at a rate higher than that of White Trailer Trash or Asian Triad Cronies.

50 Cent doesn't advocate anything more than people spending good money on his lousy records.

I know the name "Michael Moore" will automatically cause controversey, but I read in his book that in his first movie "Roger and Me" in whcih there's a scene where a rabbit gets skinned (there's nothign gruesome about it), he got HUNDREDS of letters saying how disgusting it was. Of course, the next scene was of some footage where a Black guy gets shot by a cop, and then of course there are no complaints about THAT scene.

I don't actually remember a rabbit being skinned in the movie, but if he showed it then it was entirely gratuitous and beside the point, while showing a black guy get shot by a cop is very much part of the point of the movie, and not gratuitous at all.

I loved the way he trotted out rabbit lady as a total freakshow as the same time that he's berating General Motors for not having any respect for the people of Flint. But hey, just because I agree for the most part with someone's views doesn't mean they aren't a cheap propagandist that we'd all be better off ignoring.

Not saying he's controversial or anything...

I don't think he showed it getting skinned. Instead he showed the lady beating the rabbit to death with a pipe.

Nor do I think the fact that people wrote in about that and not the black guy getting shot has anything to do with the guys skin color. There are a lot of whacked out animal lovers out there who seem to have nothing better to do with their lives then telling people how much they love animals.

I just want to say that post number 5 really made me laugh.

Never heard of a Chinese racist myself. I doubt if any Chinese person even knows how to spell xenophobia, let alone practice it.

Maybe I'm the slow one, but I thought that was sarcasm. Some of you seem to be taking it at face value. Then again, maybe you're only pretending to take it at face value because the the sarcasm was so obvious, and now I am missing the real point.

The only person who practices xenophobia but is unable to spell the word would be George Bush.

Wok, you're handle is a joke right?

Wok, you're handle is a joke right?

It was from that Ron Kittle thing where Barry Bonds said he doesn't sign for White Children. I thought it was hilaripus quote.

It was from that Ron Kittle thing where Barry Bonds said he doesn't sign for White Children. I thought it was hilaripus quote.

Cool. I don't normally read the racism threads, hence missed the joke.

Cool. I don't normally read the racism threads, hence missed the joke.

Let's put it this way:

I live for the Treder/BL Bullpen usage threads, but I stay for the racism cracks.

Never heard of a Chinese racist myself. I doubt if any Chinese person even knows how to spell xenophobia, let alone practice it.

Maybe I'm the slow one, but I thought that was sarcasm.

Bingo. Not that I took Chris's statement seriously, either. He's a good boy.

Some of you seem to be taking it at face value. Then again, maybe you're only pretending to take it at face value because the the sarcasm was so obvious, and now I am missing the real point.

Maybe, but who knows? Literalmindedness is a disease which attacks all groups equally, except Jews of course.

Maybe, but who knows? Literalmindedness is a disease which attacks all groups equally, except Jews of course.

There is just too damn much anti-semitism on this board.

I live for the Treder/BL Bullpen usage threads, but I stay for the racism cracks.

This should go on a shirt.

Never heard of a Chinese racist myself. I doubt if any Chinese person even knows how to spell xenophobia, let alone practice it.


Happy V-J day, everyone.

I doubt if any Chinese person even knows how to spell xenophobia, let alone practice it.


Great something...something visible from space...what is it? If I were in space, I could look down and tell myself what it is.

Sometimes here it seems easier to find value in Tony Womack than it is to see a big fat tongue placed firmly in a big fat cheek. And you don't have to be Jewish to observe this.

Bingo. Not that I took Chris's statement seriously, either. He's a good boy.

Don't you call me boy motherF!@#.

Great something...something visible from space...what is it? If I were in space, I could look down and tell myself what it is.

This quote has the beginnings of a great male genitalia joke.

Chris Wok is at his peak in this thread. When SABTFRists look back at his work, they'll compare his posts in this thread and compare his performance to that of Brady Anderson in 1996... a decent poster, but a year that far exceeds his average post value.

Chris Wok is at his peak in this thread. When SABTFRists look back at his work, they'll compare his posts in this thread and compare his performance to that of Brady Anderson in 1996... a decent poster, but a year that far exceeds his average post value.

I'm like on rhetorical steroids right now.

I don't think he showed it getting skinned. Instead he showed the lady beating the rabbit to death with a pipe.

He showed both. And he cut directly to the pipe beating, not giving the audience a chance to look away.

Bingo. Not that I took Chris's statement seriously, either. He's a good boy.

Don't you call me boy motherF!@#.

You go, girl!

Chris Wok is at his peak in this thread.

Chris is the chopstick that stirs the drink.

Wok,

Your handle isn't funny. It is offensive. In fact, it is the most offensive handle on BTF. It'd be nice if you changed it.

Wok,

Your handle isn't funny. It is offensive. In fact, it is the most offensive handle on BTF. It'd be nice if you changed it.

As his ghostwriter, I might suggest "Ilonchef Chlis Wok says sclew your White Chirdlen."

As his ghostwriter, I might suggest "Ilonchef Chlis Wok says sclew your White Chirdlen."

Oh well I'm changing it to that.

Btw, I don't see how it's offensive, unless you're interpreting it as like the MIchael Jackon kind of screwing White children.

You go, girl!

Aren't you goign to do the "Girlfriend from the block" hand gestures?

Testing changed name

Testing changed name

Wok, you've outdone yourself, FWIW.

Oh--Andy came up with it. Damn.

Oh--Andy came up with it. Damn.

Just color me insclutible.

Dumb question:

Why does Krueger get fired and this guy gets a pass?

Krueger expressed himself poorly and from what I have read here and elsewhere it came down to the word "Caribbean". Felipe Alou and others declare this racist and the man is fired.

This individual uses a word long established to be a vulgarity along with tossing out the highly charged label of "racist". Nothing.

And folks I am NOT, NOT, NOT, NOT writing that Krueger should not have been fired. Got that?? Are we understood there?

Just why him and not this guy?

You know, I've recently been thinking that primer doesn't have enough racial threads.

You know, I've recently been thinking that primer doesn't have enough racial threads.

What would you ratehr have, steroid threads or racial threads?

Both have great potential for small penis jokes.

Oh--Andy came up with it. Damn.

He came up with it, I came down with it.

Booyahkasha.

"Never heard of a Chinese racist myself. I doubt if any Chinese person even knows how to spell xenophobia, let alone practice it."

I suspect Filipinos, Indonesians, Indians and Pakistanis living in Hong Kong would take issue with this statement.

You can add Thais, Africans, Europeans, Taiwanese, Mainland Chinese and HK Chinese! to this list. Hong Kong is an equal opportunity discriminator. We're very pround of this.

Oh, we're not thrilled with Koreans either.

Ivan, that sounds like a lot of work, discriminating against all those people. Where I grew up, we accepted everyone equally, except that we distrusted Montreallers, Albertans and Jamaicans, and that was a lot of work. Most of the time, I couldn't even be bothered.

I only hate two things - racism and Japanese people.

What about teh Dutch (Austin Powers 3 reference)

I don't understand how Taiwanese people dont' like the Koreans yet love the Japanese. THE JAPANESE WERE EVIL OVERLORD OCCUPIERS FOR FIFTY YEARS!!!

Also, Taiwan must be the most America loving country in teh World. Instead of burning flags, we used to MAKE American flags.

Also, Taiwan must be the most America loving country in teh World. Instead of burning flags, we used to MAKE American flags.

Yes--but how many of irregular flags were made and then destroyed before leaving the factory by the Taiwanese? DESECRATORS!!!

</hannity>

Yes, Hong Kongers seem to be weirdly Japanophilic as well. What's with Hello Kitty? Maybe it's like Americans are Anglophyllic (sp? real word?) even though they used to be colonial overlords, and opposed to freedom, etc. Indians seem to be weirdly Anglophyllic as well. Korea's actually now popular in HK as we get their TV serials.

Look, why don't all you bigots go back to Bigotland where you came from?

Bigotland -- is that like Wally World? More importantly, can I ride the Aunt Jemima Syrup Slide?

anglophilic.

andy, if you were using sarcasm it didn't come through. i've been reading here long enough to suspect there was something up, but there wasn't any spin on the delivery for some of the newbies.

i'm not hatin', just sayin' ...

Look, why don't all you bigots go back to Bigotland where you came from?

I've temporarily returned to St Louis (2 more weeks). Does that count?

oh, and bob feller kind of is a racist. back in the 40s he was quoted as saying jackie robinson didn't have the makings of a major leaguer, something about being 'too tight in the shoulders' or something, which was another way of saying he wasn't 'bred' for it.
feller is one of those midwestern farm boys who got their cue from a violent strain of rural racism that's always been around. think south indiana, places like that. it ain't just the south, baby.
he's tempered some of that in later years, and i think he actually tried to make it up to robinson, but he's an old guy and a product of his times.
i don't care for his personal views in that area, but he should be given credit for being a real hardliner about pete rose.

Judges?

Nope it doesn't count. One must be within at least 100 miles of Philadelphia to be considered in Bigotland.

andy, if you were using sarcasm it didn't come through.

It was really much more tongue in cheek than sarcasm, since I wasn't taking Chlis's post seriously in the first place. But I admit I do like to operate in the gray zone (no pun intended) now and then just to see how people will react. And I'm not a fan of the :)-, any more than I'm a fan of the Washington Post when they label a column as "Parody," presumably to lighten their ombudsman's inbox.

I operate on the assumption that a true bigot or idiot makes himself pretty clear without too much prompting, and that every other Primate gets the benefit of the doubt until he proves himself otherwise. Speaking on a purely personal level, and not as a suggestion to anyone else, I've always found it advantageous to assume cluelessness rather than bigotry or evil on the part of my worthy opponents. This sometimes makes for unwarranted sarcasm or "condescension," but it also almost never leads to outright flaming. It's purely a personal preference.

okay, tongue in cheek. i still didn't see it.

besides, aren't you in the union? you guys never say anything unless you're dead serious.



now THAT's tongue in cheek!

okay, tongue in cheek. i still didn't see it.

besides, aren't you in the union? you guys never say anything unless you're dead serious.

now THAT's tongue in cheek!

We unionists (AKA The Van Buren Boys) always post seriously unless we're bullshltting. I realize that sometimes it's hard to tell the difference, but that's what makes for real sport.

kevin, unless i'm missing the tongue in cheek spin™ -- i'm suspecting something, cuz i remember campanis using the 'lack of necessities' b.s. -- i'll make an ass out of you and me and assume you're serious, being union and all that.

from peter golenbock's 'bums', p. 144:

bob feller, from van meter, iowa, told reporters, "He's tied up in the shoulders and can't hit an inside pitch to save his neck. If he were a white man, i doubt if they would even consider him big league material."

if i can be serious here for a minute, one should remember that this is a quote from 1947. on the one hand, it would not have gotten in the papers if feller had used any more colorful language; baseball reporters in that day and age being more apt to cover up bad behavior than not. but it doesn't take much for one to imagine some of the words and expressions that got bandied about in a locker room that most assuredly would have been absent any men of color.

but i don't want to be too hard on feller, he really strikes me as just being a little ignorant and too quick to show his origins.

sorry, kevin, the nanny blitzed a s s ...

i wasn't using a really bad word.

Feller didn't say that at all! He said he "lacked the necessities" or something like that.

I don't know how that could be interpreted as racist.

I must be racist against Angel Berroa.

phredbird:

"feller is one of those midwestern farm boys who got their cue from a violent strain of rural racism that's always been around. think south indiana, places like that. it ain't just the south, baby."

Please expand on this comment. As an ex-midwestern farm boy who could be labelled a contemporary a of Feller's I want to make sure I understand your perspective.

harvey,

by referring to feller's strain of racism as rural, i wasn't restricting racism to country boys. simply the version that obtains in non-urban areas. obviously there are racist city persons too.

and it also doesn't mean one is automatically racist if one is from the country. i'm simply referring to a cultural type. i used to joke with a friend of mine in graduate school about him being from a state that was way more racist than louisiana -- he was from indiana -- because of the inordinate influence of the klan in indiana politics in the '20s. that wasn't exactly a state of urban population in the '20s.

and as has been shown in numerous publications etc., lynchings happened all over the place, midwest, south, west, whatever.

perhaps it didn't need to be stated that feller was midwestern as it applies to the question of his racism, but i find all too often that stating that someone is racist is immediately followed by a question such as 'is he a southerner?' ...

have you read 'moo', by jane smiley? it's fiction, but its based on her time in a large midwestern state university. in one especially vivid incident, a black female student goes to sit down at a table in the student union cafeteria, barely noticing a boy she could later tell was obviously from the country, who's first comment to her is that 'hey! you can't sit here, n-----!' i don't think smiley's point is that all midwesterners are racist. after all, the black girl's white friends aggressively came to her defence. she just wanted to demonstrate how a midwesterner can be racist.

also, harvey, maybe you missed post 74 if you are still curious about what i've been blathering about.

obviously there are racist city persons too.

There are racists everywhere and racists of all races, creeds, and colors. Its one thing I can state conclusively.

I loved the way he trotted out rabbit lady as a total freakshow as the same time that he's berating General Motors for not having any respect for the people of Flint.

On a large scale, I agree with Moore's points. But his methodologies are so intellectually dishonest, I can't stand him.

He spends half of his movies making every security guard/secretary/cashier look like a friggin moron, when theoretically the entire point of his crusade is to protect the little people.

and it also doesn't mean one is automatically racist if one is from the country. i'm simply referring to a cultural type.

When I mention Carribbean brain dead types, I don't mean everyone from the Carribbean is brain dead, I'm simply referring to a cultural type.

Same as when I say black people are stupid and jews are cheap. It doesn't mean they all are, I'm simply referring to a cultural type.

I'm glad we cleared that up.

barry,
if you read my post 68 carefully, you'd see what i mean. i say feller got his 'cue from a strain of racism that's always been around'. he wasn't born into it. he learned it, just like we learn much of our bad behavior. and i took pains to differentiate. i didn't make a blanket statement like 'blacks are stupid' and 'jews are cheap'. if you're saying i'm generalizing, you are simply wrong.

if you have issues with 'cultural type', you name it then. he was a natural racist?

your last two comments are disingenuos and needlessly sarcastic.

feller is one of those midwestern farm boys who got their cue from a violent strain of rural racism that's always been around. think south indiana

Your random historical fact of the day: the Klan was weaker in southern Indiana than just about any other part of the state. There's a book - Citizen Klansman about the Klan in Indiana and he compares the best known Klavern figures (& in this case I believe it's the Klan's own internal numbers) for Indiana to its population in each county. While throughout the state 1 in every 4 eligibles joined (note: this is not 1 in every four people - you could only apply if you were 1) adult, 2) male, 3) native born, 4) Protestant, 5) white. In some places it was as high as 30-40% eligibles joined, but in southern IN it was only 1/10.

Why? Two main reasons - 1) the KKK in the Midwest portrayed itself as a force for law & order - and this was during prohibition days. They actually went on semi-legal citizens raids. Southern Indiana was moonshine country. 2) the KKK in Indiana aligned itself with the state Republican party, and southern Indiana was Democrat-ville.

The KKK also didn't do as well around the Chicago-corner, but they were a lotta Papist furiners anyway.

fine, but i didn't say that the klan was strongest in south indiana. in one post i mention that racism was known in south indiana as an example of the fact that there is more racism in the midwest than one would think based on assumptions around the nation. to wit, that the south is somehow more racist than the north.

i've worked with and studied with people from indiana who do not deny the history of racism in indiana, and they all mention a certain special reputation that south indiana has. maybe is should have been skeptical.

in another post i mention the amount of influence the klan had in indiana politics. not south indiana, just ... indiana.

finally ... one in 4 eligibles joined the klan? statewide? that's pretty close to making my point.

I think the # is closer to 1 in 3 eligible men joined in Indiana, 200,000 total. To compare that to the # of Klans members in the general population, you also have to add in the Jr. Klan and Women's Auxiliaries, and those numbers I've never seen. Oddly, though, the Klan's fabled 1924 Klan Legislature was a disappointment to them; most of the legislators sought Klan endorsement, but once in office they--surprise!--decided not to back Klan anti-Catholic bills. The Klan in Indiana died in part because its leaders abducted and raped a female employee, who then committed suicide.

If you're interested in how women in the 1920s Klan thought of their activity, Kathleen Blee's book in based on some extraordinary interviews. What she portrays is a world in parts of the rural midwest where membership in the Klan was seen as completely normal and interwoven with almost all other activites--church, school, sports, etc.

That said, the Klan was not very powerful in Iowa, a state that really is very different from Indiana. Unlike Indiana, Iowa has a very strong agrarian progressive image, a different ratio of Catholics-to-Protestants, and a generally different attitude about the virtues of its southern neighbors. Indiana by contrast was kept in the Union in part by the military arrest of the leading pro-Confederacy politician in the state.

I believe that Indiana’s Civil War Governor O.P Morton, once his party had lost a majority in the houses there, simply ran the state on loans he received from the U.S. War Department. Since all of the Republicans simply boycotted the legislature the Democrats could never get a quorum and so were basically powerless.

And around 1900 Indiana's Republican governor offered shelter to the mastermind of the plot to (successfully) murder Kentucky's Democratic governor. He refused requests of Kentucky courts and the US Atty General, and the murderer lived a prosperous life in Indiana, much cheered on by local Republicans who would joke that they planned to send him back to Kentucky whenever they elected another Democrat.

Mocking Indiana: from time spent in Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, and Iowa, I've learned that it's the game everyone can play.

Is it like telling North Dakota (Nodak) jokes?

"Mocking Indiana: from time spent in Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, and Iowa, I've learned that it's the game everyone can play."

The Morgan Quitno smart state rankings for 2004-Iowa #8; Indiana #17; Ohio #20; Illinios #24; Kentucky #37. Perhaps a new butt (of the jokes) would be in order.

As a southern Indiana resident, there remain several communities in this part of the state that hold a significant racist reputation - Martinsville being the foremost among them. How much those reputations exceed the actual sentiments is arguable for most (including mine, which has gone from all-white when I arrived 12 years ago to a small but noticable African-American population today), though Martinsville deservedly maintains its status as a racist city. (or, it did as recently as a few years ago, when the local high school was stripped of the privilege of hosting boys basketball games after a particularly ugly incident involving a more diverse Bloomington North team).

The Morgan Quitno smart state rankings for 2004-Iowa #8; Indiana #17; Ohio #20; Illinios #24; Kentucky #37.

christ. of the 4 states i've lived in, 3 rank as follows -- alabama (44), louisiana (46) & arizona (48). at least my home state is a little closer to being halfway-respectable, at 36.

& to think i thought i was joking when i used to say that alabama, where i live now, made arkansas (the home state in question) look like a big harvard in comparison ...

sorry y'all, i'm at work now and not able to easily participate.
thanks gregD for your comments. i know i must have given people the impression that the midwest is homogenous and so whatever goes for indiana goes for iowa etc., etc.
my original point is that feller's ignorance stems from something that is out there in all parts of the country, simply lack of critical thinking that leads to unskillful behavior.
i want to stress moreover that i can't really speak to how much of a racist feller may be now ... as i said earlier, he has tried to temper earlier perceptions with other comments, some of which i find a bit hard to believe, one of them being about how he played ball with blacks and hispanics when he was a kid. in rural iowa? in the twenties and thirties?
but he did participate in the robinson pile-on way back when ... and he had a lot of company.

FWIW, in the 1980's the KKK had a very strong presence in my hometown of Shelton, Connecticut. Various Klan memberships blew the lid off a boy scout troop around 1981 or 1982.

I don't think people made fun of Indiana for being dumb...that's what Alabama is for...they made fun of Indiana for being self-righteous small-minded killjoys. Under this line, Indiana didn't harbor assassins and turn out for the Klan because they were dumb; they did it because really weren't worth much of a crap as human beings. The movie Footloose captures this particular belief/prejudice.

Has anyone ever stood through the fist-pumping rendition of "I am an American!" at Purdue. That crap would definitely not fly in Iowa.

I am an American

Well, I think I know one guy who isn't getting invited to the state picnic this year.

obviously there are racist city persons too.

Perhaps you haven't heard that the correct term is "racists of urbanness"?

I'd never heard of Morgan Quitno. Hmmm.

I met Feller once - seemed like an equal-opportunity jerk. Not much of a sample size, but...

Indiana by contrast was kept in the Union in part by the military arrest of the leading pro-Confederacy politician in the state.

I'm told that the word Hoosier initially meant a person from the South who moved into the Old Northwest Territory (modern IL, IN, WI, OH, & MI). Not many got up North to WI or MI. Plenty came over straight west from PA to OH. Illinois began as a Hoosier state, then Chicago got going. Indiana was the Hoosier state.

1924 Klan Legislature was a disappointment to them; most of the legislators sought Klan endorsement, but once in office they--surprise!--decided not to back Klan anti-Catholic bills. The Klan in Indiana died in part because its leaders abducted and raped a female employee, who then committed suicide.

Well, the '24 legislature was hindered by infighting in the Klan. D. C. Stephenson was the architect of the Klan in Indiana (and the Midwest) but he'd alieanted others. I think he'd even been forced out of the Klan by that time. He had the support of some, other Klan leaders had the support of other legislatures.

Stephenson's also the guy who abducted and raped a female employee. IIRC, he met her at the governor's inauguration ball in '25, and that's when the crimes happened, this further hurt the Klan. When she swallowed mercury, he initially refused to get her medical treatment, which added a murder charge to the rape & kidnap.

He expected to be pardoned by the Klan governor, and when that didn't happen, he got his revenge. He unleashed two black boxes full of info on Klan Korruption and malfeasence. Given that the order portrayed itself as (among other things) a force for clean government, this hurt the Klan that much more.

A white woman raped, crime, corruption - it sure would be nice to say that the KKK died in the Midwest because people renounced racism, but that's not quite how it played out.

FWIW, some journalists attending Klan rallies in the state in its heydey said they greatly resembeld progressive era rallied held 10 years before. . . . Stephenson was made Grand Dragon of Indiana on 7/4/24 in Kokomo, IN. Reporters said the crowd there was larger than the crowds that used to turn out for the Indy 500 at the time. The Brickyard got over 100,000 back then. Kokomo: also the home of 1980s AIDS posterboy Ryan White. Given how he was treated, it's rather fitting that a monster Klan rally was held in that town.

The KKK tended to do the best in the 1920s outside the south in the most culturally/ethnicaly homogenous parts of the country - Oregon, Colorado, Maine, Indiana - four of its stronger states were also four of the most WASPy states out there.

*the correct term is "racists of urbanness"*

oh ... i wasn't sure. i was thinking maybe it should be 'metroracist' ...

I don't think people made fun of Indiana for being dumb...that's what Alabama is for...they made fun of Indiana for being self-righteous small-minded killjoys.

I swear it's a state law in Indiana that the stoplights be timed to make people stop as much as possible.