Colorado
Related: About this forumStapleton must wish his KKK-stained great-grandfather was his biggest problem
It had to happen. Denvers KKK-stained history has gone national. A New York Times story Tuesday, written by the excellent Julie Turkewitz, questions whether Walker Stapletons election run for governor will be affected by the states grappling with his familys past.
I had a different question. What grappling?
As you may know, Stapletons great-grandfather, Ben Stapleton, was a five-term mayor of Denver. And when he was mayor, he was also a member of the Ku Klux Klan, which, shockingly, ruled the state. Many people are probably unfamiliar with this shameful period in the 1920s or the hooded Klansmen who paraded down Denvers streets.
But does anyone really believe that it will matter in Stapletons race against Jared Polis? Do you think Polis will make it an issue or even mention it?
In the Times story, Turkewitz notes that Colorado may not be so great at dealing with the shameful parts of its past. Is that changing? It is true that as Southern states argue over what to do with Confederate monuments, the Stapleton neighborhood did vote on whether to change the neighborhood organizations name, given its namesakes KKK membership.
Read more: https://www.coloradoindependent.com/171254/littwin-stapleton-kkk-tancredo-muslim-immigrant
MichMary
(1,714 posts)My first reaction was to shudder and hope that I will never be held responsible for things my great grandparents did.
marble falls
(61,775 posts)much, much worse.
We had a Klan mayor in Akron, Ohio at the same time and there was one in Minneapolis, too.
packman
(16,296 posts)Go back far enough in ANY family history and you will find some asshole who did asshole things.