Ku Klux Klan ruled Denver a century ago; legacy still felt nownews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from nownews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
For eighty years, the state historical society had two thick ledgers in its possession that went largely unnoticed by anyone other than researchers who knew what they were looking for. The ledgers belonged to a private organization and included details about the men who d attended meetings of that organization, including their names, addresses, professions and whether they d paid their membership dues. The sort of thing you would expect any organization to keep, explains Jason Hanson, chief creative officer and director of interpretation and research at History Colorado, but then you know which organization. It was the Ku Klux Klan, which had a strong grip on the centers of power in Colorado in the mid-1920s.
Photo of the author courtesy of Miles Simmons Powell
“Say it again!” I yelled, staring Billy T. down. Though there was a hot, prickly itching behind my eyes, they stayed dry. He chanted in a taunting schoolyard singsong.
“N ger, N ger, N ggger.”
I was 11 years old in Boulder, Colorado, the only Black kid in the schoolyard. All the kids gathered around to watch me cry. Again.
As a little girl, I didn’t know I was Black. Not until I was 9 or 10 did I understand how my color set me apart.
I was adopted at the age of 8 by a white woman and a Black man. I had been moved around between foster homes and a previous adoption, and though my current family had some issues, my brand-new baby brother and sister were beautiful. I’d landed all right.