Canada must stand guard against revival of KKK

Now that Donald Trump has cleared up any confusion about where he stands on race-related issues, the focus turns to Canada.

In case you haven’t been paying attention, Trump has delivered clear signals to neo Nazis, white supremacists and nationalists that he has their backs. How similar are we to Yankeeland? Unfortunately for many caring Canadians, we’re too much alike for comfort. This is especially true in terms of what might be called “casual racism.”

That’s where racially charged and demeaning comments and phrases slip from lips that otherwise would be considered caring.

These kinds of comments are heard with alarming frequency.

Also, people with neo-Nazi views walk among us. They show themselves regularly on social media.

In rural areas, where you’re more likely to know folks for miles around, it can be a shock when those neighbours you thought you knew show their true colours match the Confederate flag.

It’s pretty safe to spout off when you think few are listening, or on social media where you assume that many of your contacts share your views. Hopefully these spewers of all that’s ugly would be surprised to learn that’s not true.

All this notwithstanding, we don’t see the more serious forms of hate too often in Canada. It raises its ugly head when groups organize for no reason other than their shared hatred of everyone not like them.

Since such cowardly groups would operate in secret, it’s hard to be sure of their status. But by their nature, when they gather a big enough crowd of like-minded lunatics, they love to make a public statement. Crowd courage is one of their hallmarks.

The KKK did have a run in Canada, when it was known as the Ku Klux Klan of Kanada.

The Canadian Encyclopedia tells us that the KKK first appeared in Montreal about 1921. Within four years, chapters had spread across much of the country.

The message of hatred didn’t catch on in any serious way in most of Canada, although the organization did gain a foothold in Saskatchewan. By the late 1920s it boasted 40,000 members in that province. After the 1929 Saskatchewan provincial election, in which the Klan helped elect the Conservative government of J.T.M Anderson, the organization faded away across the country.

However, when it was going strong, violence and property damage were tools borrowed from the Klan founders in the southern U.S.

These included a dynamite attack on St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Barrie. When the bomber was caught he said he was operating on orders from the Klan.

Authorities, media and religious leaders all condemned the violence and the Klan, so by 1926 membership in the province was in decline.

An attempt at revival in the ’70s in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta fizzled and now the Klan is believed to have little more than a fringe following among hate groups.

In today’s political climate, particularly as created by Trump and his like-minded associates, we might not have heard the last of the KKKK as ramifications spill over into Canada. Macleans.ca suggests a Klan revival is possible in this country and cites the distribution of some KKK literature last year to “dozens” of homes in British Columbia.

In the face of this, it’s important for us to remember the adage: if we don’t stand for something we’ll fall for anything.