Professor of history and faculty member from the university of illinois at chicago. The Research Focus is race agenda. The author a black entrepreneur in San Francisco and the price from women historians. In 2019 she was a fellow at the huntington library. Her new book the fight against the color line. Thank you for being with us. Im going to hand it over to you and i will see you again for qanda at the end. Thank you so much. I am so happy to be here. Let me just get this going. First of all i have a big thank you for the California Historical society. I wouldnt have a career as a historian without them. They have been helping me every single step along my career. I visited them for my first book where he mentioned my research on the old library on bakers street and the librarians, the curators, i cant say enough. I dedicated all of my time and i want to give a special shout out for them helping me tonight and setting the program up. But i also want to give a shout out to deborah kaufman. One of my chapters wouldnt exist without her help and ive worked for years she was one of the people that actually gave me the idea for this book and worked in the archives for many years and encouraged me to write the chapter on the position which plaintiff launched the book. So big thanks and a lot of appreciation for you all. Lets get to it. What ive tried to do in the book is give the sense of that the breadth and the depth to depth to reveal the extent of jim crow or the segregation practices and also attemptingct to underscore the system and the network of resistance that existed in the state that involves networks of africanamericans and other allies from statehood to the Civil Rights Movement. Now clearly while i did go up and down the state and spend time in the librarys on riverside and lots of time at bancroft i tried to focus on the contours of jim crow to statehood and the beginning of the black freedom movement. Many other scholars have documented the nuanced ways that were operated in the state. They helped us understand the way that racism and segregation operated in and across the state. But for the most part they were considered 21st century and i was interested in the beginnings of the system. How was it established and how was it refined and established before what we think of is the 1950s as part of the Civil Rights Movement and the montgomery bus boycott or the sit in movement. So my book charts before that era. What i want to do today is focs on the story that is in chapter five of my book about how africanamericans and their allies push back against the racially restrictive housing and the role of White Supremacists and the ku klux klan in that story. The owner of the largest publishing out of Central Avenue district in los angeles shes a very important figure some of you might know about her bec 19e party ticket. But my interest in this story is that she was one of the first to sound the alarm in california about the arrival of the ku klux klan. And she also became one of the most formidable opponents. When we think about the ku klux klan most of us think about usually probably about the origins and of the reconstruction era in American History after the civil war. The clan formed part of the effort to stop africanamericans in the quest for freedom. You can see its showing this clan on the right to left is the name of another White Supremacist Organization active in the south. You can see the words there, worse than slavery. Now the clan of the 19th century we associate agreement with the moment of freedom and its foundations in the south and the terror that it promulgated across the south. My concern tonight is not that but what we call the second clan of the 1920s but became particularly strong in the midwest and some of you might remember the clan was popular in ohio and indiana but it was also strong in california. It was that year the clan arrived in Downtown Los Angeles setting up an office right downtown and immediately ran a frontpage headlines and also had another article what should we do about the arrival of the clan that instructed them about the dangers of the clan. You can see in Downtown Los Angeles in 1924. While the strength remained in Southern California, it did spread up and down the state so there were chapters oakland, anaheim and San Bernardino county and riverside up and down the state. They also sounded the alarm and wrote to the National Office information what do we know about this organization, what can we do to stop it. So as soon the clan arrived, ooafricanamericans across the state organized against it. They had the reputation of being a more professional clan in some ways meaning that the members were members of the professional class and there have been studies that show that a lot of the clan members in the 1920s ran for office, city council, were middleclass outstanding homeowners. That in some ways shows the violence that they also practiced. I want to say one of the points i make in the book in the chapter about homeowners into the clan in california is that we cannot be fooled by this betrayal of the second clan or third clan im going to talk about in a minute as somehow less dangerous. Another kind of myth or idea that some folks have had is that the concerns africanamericans. The second clan in the 20th century was more concerned about catholics and immigrants in america. But in california, they were also always concerned with africanamericans and it was a threat to the clan members. The clan of california had a tremendous publicity in 1922 when they raided the home of a mexican family in inglewood and this is a pitcher of the clan at a funeral because when they attempted, they accused the family of being bootleggers. The clan then got the attention and there was a trial. While everyone might not have known about the clan in the 1920s, this episode became national news. After that trial they were alerted and told to investigate the membership of the clan and find out if the organization was strong and of its members were and what dangers it might represent to the state. Now this led to a raid on the headquarters. What the office uncovered in the raid surprised even the most cynical. The membership from the headquarters of the ku klux klan revealed that there were over 3,000 clan members in la county, over 1,000 in the city including three and two names from the lists volumes. The la chief of police into the la county sheriff were all members. As a messenger put it in the report, quote, no courageous thinker would contend they could rely on police and the authority for any evidence reveal the police and authorities are one would think that this episode would have put an end to the california clan but after the trial was botched and that is a story that i dont have time to go into that you can read about which all of these clan members debated the naacp wrote to the headquarters and said that it continued to operate openly ever since the trial. What does this have to do with housing and segregation . Contrary to popular assumptions as i said earlier, the clan had a focus on africanamericans as well as immigrants, catholics and others but i want to have another assumption about the clan and that is that some believe the clan disappeared during the 30s and especially with world war ii and the ideology. Can we have those on the second clan and many believe that that was kind of the end of it. That it wouldnt have been possible for the clan with their own supremacist ideologies one believes during the war. And in fact they did go underground for a while, but they didnt disappear, and that is important in california history because in the 45 and 46 we see the resurgence of the clan in california. Then you have the particular target of black and brown families moving into white only areas of the state and its often aimed at war veterans, so this is the clan i want to spend more time tonight. One of the things they hoped to stop was black and brown homeowners moving into previously white only neighborhoods. Some of you may be familiar with this man. A prominent black attorney and later a judge who was the naacp a pointmi person on the legality of restrictive housing. Many of you im sure are familiar with the term. That is the part that says this house, this property may never be sold to. These restricted and ensured that neighborhoods would stay white only or segregationists hoped. So he made it his business to investigate the restrictions and segregated housing and to expose them. Mi again the point person on this part of the law he would be instrumental in fighting against the restricted housing. He would be one of the lead attorneys up and down the state for dozens and dozens of cases where black folks moved into previously white neighborhoods. He also defended some of the most highprofile including the case of mcdaniel the actress that won the oscar for gone with the wind. So he is also a part of the story. He was a refrigeration engineer that lived and worked in los ngangeles for 25 years by 1945. As many black angelenos, he was frustrated by the housing shortages. He was the father of Young Children and their you see his daughterte and his son and his wife. They were feeling squeezed out of the neighborhood by the restrictive housing and restrictive covenant. The estimated that about 80 of the Southern California housing was tied up in the restrictive housing and restrictive covenants. So that year there washa a break when you get a job at the plant. He plays in as were the shipbuilding yards in Northern California. But this steel plant was east of la and promoted assault from the jim crow restriction so when they got a job as an engineer in this plant, he felt like he won the lottery. It was the first facility to turn on one site. Its opening according to one historian turned him into a national benchmark. As an engineer with lower paying lower status jobs. 1945 in december he and his family moved to a plot of land in fontana. The property was south of baseline street in an area of town that no one ever lived. They told him the Vigilante Committee had a meeting on the case last night that left much to deal with. If i were you i would get my family off the property at once. He contacted the members and also another paper the los angeles fentanyl and they recounted the threats received from the sheriff about the vigilantes. Ten days later it burst into flames. The fire began with an explosion and rushed tohe the scene. But its not before they were all severely burned. Nextdoor neighbors drove him to the hospital in a statement later to the press they said that they didnt know that it was a black family because they were lightskinned they assumed that they were white. The little girl died 15 minutes after she was admitted and the boy died at the next morning as did their mother. Here is some coverage from the San Bernardino press. As soon as possible i years subsided, conflicting reports circulated. According to the theory that they reported to the press, he was lighting a lantern and excluded. Now, the press wasnt having it. The la chapter also investigated the crime and as they began to investigate the crime it quickly became apparent that it wouldnt have been possible for the lamp or lantern to cause the kind of explosion. Heres a pitcher of the eagles office. Because the balls of the house were not to the ground. So this lamp or lantern theory showed doubt on this theory. Now it is a long investigation process, many months of investigation, and i i dont hae time to detail but there was an elaborate coverup of evidence that would have led to criminal conviction. The court are for example in his investigation refused to admit evidence. The lantern if self that was still intact but supposedly blew up wasnt in the investigation. And the District Attorney it had become clear was in the midst of this coverup. But there was also an organized resistance to the coverup and the effort to seek justice for the family were also ongoing. In 1946, the leader of the los angeles socials worker party distributed the pamphlet up and down and a spoke about the murds across the country. There was also a foreword by the sister, so the sisterinlaw. In addition to the workers party, the Labor Movement also pressured the governor and the attorney in San Bernardino to investigate the murders. Since hed been a refrigeration engineer he had also been a member of the labor. Nothing came of it much to the disappointment of this organized resistance. What any person can know with entire certainty is that they were the victims of jim crow. Jim crow kept them from finding a home in los angeles and in the role of a violator of Community Traditions as he worked a sense of duty as a Deputy Sheriff to the plan to deprive the citizens of the constitutional rights. Only jim crow is alive. The story doesnt quite end there. Far right and in 1946 the clan stepped up its efforts to terrorize the homeowners and this caused him to continue his investigation of the clan. That year in 1946, the clan burned crosses in the homes across Southern California and it also burned a cross inside of the jewish fraternity. In 1946, he began calling the clan members into his office. Butsu again, the results were disheartening for those seeking justice. He found no evidence of the socalled vigilante activity to be directed at the africanamericants community wee against mr. Short personally. Many people wondered if the response was linked to the bid for governor that year. He went up against earl warren and was defeated. What he did do with the help of a superior court judge is to revoke the charter by making it unlawful for the organization and they knew that this was largely symbolic because in the 1950s the activities resumed. And here you have a pitcher from 1962 with new racial intimidation and you can read the caption on the sidewalk in front of the presumably black family and at the home of the teacher, that teacher was William Bailey in southcentral la. The attack continued into the 50s. Now, we also know that brown v board of education in 1954 was inspiring White Supremacists to push back against integration with new inspiration. So, while the clan may have morphed into a different kind of organization, it hadnt disappeared. There were educated men with good jobs. They could purchase property, they could vote, they could inherit public spaces and institutions. It was formidable and never acted alone joined by the naacp, the socialist workers party, the communist party and activists such as williams and marshall it was the restricted housing. A few of them remembered and risked everything to cross the colored line and move into neighborhoods that were known to be watched by the kkk. They family sounded the alarm against the clan. They found new expressions in fontana afteron the decision. The backlash against and the revival of the clan became so successful that by 1965 they ordered an investigation. Two years earlier in 1963 and africanamerican captain bought a house in San Bernardino only to watch it get destroyed by arsonists before he and his family could move in. Little had changed in the 17 years since the murder. The golden stayed had published those who dared to challenge segregation. Some paid with their lives. Thank you for listening. I would invite anybody to put their questions in the qanda box. I read a quote by you and you said you dont hear stories about los angeles or the west. Why do you think that is and do you think it is changing . My recollections are dated. Schoolteachers are doing so much to teach children about these Civil Rights Movements in the west so i want to say first and foremost i know they are teaching about the west. I personally didnt learn about the Civil Rights Movement even in my hometown. I grew up in pasadena and a lot of what i learned about i learned from acquaintances and chteachers but not to the approd curriculum i learned from teachers like Thomas Stokes who was my eighth grade teacher who taught about black history and a program that was kind of extracurricular unit stories about the robinson family. I think that a lot of things have changed since i was in public school. One of the ways that its left out of the story its also left out of textbooks. Its not the fault of teachers necessarily. The textbooks get to the chapter of civil rights its always Martin Luther king, the south, montgomery alabama, maybe chicago. So that also has to change. And with the work of the scholars that i mentioned at the beginning of my talk, i think that its changing. But we also have the Civil Rights Movement and White Supremacy as a natural phenomenon and the resistance against White Supremacy is something that is national. I have so many questions, but so does the audience. Im going to do the first one. Just a reminder we will look at the chatterbox as well. We will be able to get you in order. First, how did the board of education restrict housing for people a connection there. Okay. So very quickly at the end there when i was reading from my book that the backlash against brown was phenomenal across the country. That unanimous decision that segregation was it didnt necesy get implemented in the way that folks might have liked. We know theres a backlash and its something that we are still living with today. Those of you that are interested might want to look at the book democracy in chains where she charts the way that think tanks and scholars and politicians who were part of the backlash against brown were against brown v board and fighting integration the way they deceived of the modern s conservative movement,o what youre asking is the link between brown and restricted housing. So what i was suggesting is that its not always the call to land but the ba