KKK - The Ku Klux Klan in Kanada
Having just mentioned a current event, I will now return to my consideration of older ones, and of other assorted odd subjects. In 1923 in London some "Verminous Missionaries" visited and Mayor Wenige did not welcome them. Here is what he had to say:
" Mr. Wenige, the Mayor of London (Ontario) issues a public statement in which he says:
London needs no Ku Klux Klan or other order that seeks to gain unjust ends by a cowardly praise of masks and mystery. Gentlemen of foreign extraction in this municipality who may be planning a local organization would first do better to give the matter serious thought. Canadians will not tolerate men with bloody hands walking in their midst. Justice in this Dominion is swift and sure. As mayor of London I will use all the power of my office to rid the city of verminous missionaries of an order that seeks to terrify citizens who may differ from these so-called Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in race, religion, or ability to succeed. London, like the rest of the British Empire, has been safe from democracy for a long time. But London is not going to be safe for Ku Klux Klan or any other hooded order. And any non-Canadian who may seek to establish it here will be deported as an undesirable alien, so far as it lies in the hands of the mayor of this city to bring it about."
The message the Klan brought back then was:
"Here you have problems that must be faced and solved by direct action. And we are coming to Canada because we believe that this whole continent must be welded into the greatest empire in history, pledged to enforcing the white man's law and the white man's ideals on the rest of the world and the preservation of peace. Our idea is a sort of confederacy at present. That would not necessarily mean your separation from the British Empire, but a more definite alliance between the two great English-speaking countries of this continent. We have a definite program in view that would be of greatest benefit to all."
Apart from a belated nod to "Black History Month", this brief post should serve to remind those who were shocked a few months ago to see the PEGIDA people protesting outside of City Hall, that racial problems are not new, even in London, Ontario.
Sources:
"Canadian Mayor and the Ku Klux Klan," The Times (London), Mar. 17, 1923.
"Canada and the Serpent, Globe & Mail, Mr, 15, 1923.
"Facing the Challenge; As Racism Once Again Rears its Ugly Head, all Londoners Must find the Courage to Step up and Resist Hatred and Bigotry," Larry Cornies, London Free Press, August. 19, 2017.
For a very good account of KKK activities in London see: "The Ku Klux Klan in London, Ontario," John Lisowski, The London and Middlesex Historian, Vol. 24, 2015. In it, you will learn of a Dr. Bratton from South Carolina who was kidnapped on Wellington Street and returned to South Carolina where he had been implicated in the lynching of a black man.
There has just been a new book published that involves the Klan and Confederates in London. See: London Ontario's Unrepentant Confederates, the Ku Klux Klan and a RENDITION on WELLINGTON STREET, by Ron W. Shaw. Mr. Shaw apparently lives next door in Perth County and information about the book can be found here.
Post Script:
Perhaps the quickest way to be reminded of much more recent Klan activities (and even cross-burnings) in this area is to see the Wikipedia entry for Martin Weiche. Anyone who visited the old cinemas on Dundas Street will likely remember Mr. Weiche, who was often in front of them handing out pamphlets. Mr. Lisowski discusses Weiche in the article mentioned above.
It is easy to prove that racial problems have been persistent. It is more difficult to determine if they are getting worse. One thing has changed and that is the religious component. In the past, the Klan was concerned about the Catholics. Now such people are more worried about the Muslims.
