Even though the electoral votes of every state are important to Democrats in this election year, there are reasons that we should give special attention to Indiana The eleven electoral votes available to the Presidential candidate who garners the most votes in Indiana represent profound change. Since 1940, Indiana has only gone Democratic once. In 1964 Indiana swung to the Democratic side to support LBJ. At that time the Civil Rights Movement was underway and Indiana figured to be an important part.
The history of the Great State of Indiana has one large wart on it, a wart that we still see in the shrill voices of the conservative right, and one whose removal will move this country forward. It is a well-known historical fact that the Ku Klux Klan once was headquartered in Indiana (the only Northern state to have done so). In fact, the artist Thomas Hart Benton, when asked to create an historical mural about Indiana history for the 1933-34 "Century of Progress" Chicago World’s Fair, included images of the KKK in the work.
picture and more below the fold
If you look in the center of the work you’ll see several sheeted figures burning a cross. Many young Hoosiers, both black and white have heard the stories about lynchings and other heinous repressions visited upon many of the African American citizens of Indiana.
Last Friday, Governor Sarah Palin added a new page to Indiana’s sordid history by choosing to hold a rally in Noblesville, Indiana. One only need check Wikipedia (forgive me for this) to find more about Noblesville’s contribution to Indiana’s racist past:
In 1995, a large trunk was discovered in an abandoned barn. The trunk contained over 1,000 membership cards and dues receipts revealing the names of citizens of the local chapter of the Invisible Empire of the Ku Klux Klan, as well as hoods, sashes and other equipment, according to Allen Safianow, professor of history at Indiana University's Kokomo campus.
In the lead article in the June issue of the Indiana Magazine of History, Safianow describes in detail the effects of the discovery. They ranged from calls for public disclosure of the names to comments that the finder of the trunk, a local building contractor named Don Roberts, should have burned its contents and kept his discovery secret. Instead, Roberts donated all of the Klan materials to the Hamilton County Historical Society, where they are preserved as a valuable resource for those seeking a better understanding of the Klan's operations in Indiana.
"You can't burn history," Roberts said later in explaining his decision. "That's what is wrong today. Too many people are trying to bury history, and history is history. You may have liked to change it, but it's gone, it's behind us."
History is behind us, but the wrongful actions of the past still linger and Palin’s choice of the Noblesville venue reminds us that if we are not vigilant history can repeat itself. For Obama to win Indiana this year is not only important in electoral votes, but also a symbolic gesture that we have finally entered a "Century of Progress."