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leeshajoy's review
challenging
dark
informative
tense
2.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Suicide attempt, and Racism
Moderate: Hate crime
tracylevy's review
4.0
I grew up in Washington State in the 90s and early 2000s. We were of course taught about the Klan but it was always isolated to the Southern States. There was a clear divide of the North and the South. And learning of the second wave of the Klan was always centered around Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (albeit a very tempered version of him. ) And again always about the South.
I then finished my undergrad in Massachusetts and wrote my capstone on the second wave of the Klan in Central Massachusetts with Worcester being the centerpiece. My finished paper was paper was hastily and poorly written but was well researched and had a snappy title (Klan Kapital of the Kommonwealth.) By my late twenties I was well aware the Klan and white supremacy were not just Southern issues but deeply American.
It is uncomfortable to learn that is history we were taught is incomplete (often by design) but it is worth knowing. White supremacy is alive and well in the United States and pretending it isn't only allows it spread and deepen. White supremacy is a problem for white people to solve, learning about its pervasive history is a good place to start
Anyway, an excellent graphic novel explaining of an important piece of history (also, if history doesn't make you uncomfortable, you aren't paying attention.)
I then finished my undergrad in Massachusetts and wrote my capstone on the second wave of the Klan in Central Massachusetts with Worcester being the centerpiece. My finished paper was paper was hastily and poorly written but was well researched and had a snappy title (Klan Kapital of the Kommonwealth.) By my late twenties I was well aware the Klan and white supremacy were not just Southern issues but deeply American.
It is uncomfortable to learn that is history we were taught is incomplete (often by design) but it is worth knowing. White supremacy is alive and well in the United States and pretending it isn't only allows it spread and deepen. White supremacy is a problem for white people to solve, learning about its pervasive history is a good place to start
Anyway, an excellent graphic novel explaining of an important piece of history (also, if history doesn't make you uncomfortable, you aren't paying attention.)
viralmysteries's review
4.0
Thanks to Insight Comics for the ARC at BEA 2019!
I enjoyed this graphic novel that tells the story of Madge Oberholtzer, a young Hoosier who is sexually assaulted by D.C. Stephenson, the Grand Wizard of the Indiana KKK, and how the trial to bring D.C. Stephenson to justice helped break the Klan's hold on the state of Indiana and played an important role in damaging the Klan's reputation around the country, ending the 2nd wave of the Klan.
This is a story that I had never heard of before, and I greatly appreciated seeing it put to print in this fashion. My only frustration with it was how several of the characters acted like the Klan was an aberration, a sort of strange pox that emerged out of nowhere, when it really really wasn't. Less than a decade prior to the Oberholtzer case in 1925, President Woodrow Wilson had shown the famous Klan movie "Birth of a Nation" at the White House. The Klan was one of the most powerful institutions in the country at the time, as evidenced by D.C. Stephenson's chokehold on the politicians. Between his control of the various county prosecutors, the state Attorney General, the various state and federal elected officials, and his deep ties to the business community, D.C. Stephenson was not a foreign malignancy brought to Indiana. He and his supporters were all too homegrown.
Overall, I found this to be a valuable historical lesson on the way that reactionary hate groups like the Klan organized and took power, and it showed how the Klan integrated themselves into existing social and political infrastructure to spread far and wide and turn their hateful doctrine into law. Recommend if you are looking for an interesting story portrayed in a different method (we need more history told through graphic novels).
I enjoyed this graphic novel that tells the story of Madge Oberholtzer, a young Hoosier who is sexually assaulted by D.C. Stephenson, the Grand Wizard of the Indiana KKK, and how the trial to bring D.C. Stephenson to justice helped break the Klan's hold on the state of Indiana and played an important role in damaging the Klan's reputation around the country, ending the 2nd wave of the Klan.
This is a story that I had never heard of before, and I greatly appreciated seeing it put to print in this fashion. My only frustration with it was how several of the characters acted like the Klan was an aberration, a sort of strange pox that emerged out of nowhere, when it really really wasn't. Less than a decade prior to the Oberholtzer case in 1925, President Woodrow Wilson had shown the famous Klan movie "Birth of a Nation" at the White House. The Klan was one of the most powerful institutions in the country at the time, as evidenced by D.C. Stephenson's chokehold on the politicians. Between his control of the various county prosecutors, the state Attorney General, the various state and federal elected officials, and his deep ties to the business community, D.C. Stephenson was not a foreign malignancy brought to Indiana. He and his supporters were all too homegrown.
Overall, I found this to be a valuable historical lesson on the way that reactionary hate groups like the Klan organized and took power, and it showed how the Klan integrated themselves into existing social and political infrastructure to spread far and wide and turn their hateful doctrine into law. Recommend if you are looking for an interesting story portrayed in a different method (we need more history told through graphic novels).
larakaa's review
challenging
informative
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs and Racism
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