This picture gave me chills
and
…look which side is so filled with cowardice that every single one of their faces are covered.
Because I couldn’t resist doing some snooping, apparently this picture is from a 1938 stand-off between the Klan and Black residents/locals of Lakeland, Florida. I found it in a special exhibition archive at the Lakeland city website, here. And here’s an article recounting historical and current racial tensions in Polk County and Lakeland in specific.
The article gives this chilling context for the image (which appears to be from Life magazine and shot by a local photographer named Dan Sanborn):
The rally on Aug. 30, 1938, wasn’t the first rally and cross-burning in Polk County, and it certainly wasn’t the last. According to news reports, more than 200 KKK members from Polk, Hillsborough and Pinellas counties descended on Lakeland and paraded through the northern section of town.
“The white robed and hooded marchers frequently herded groups of Negroes together and voiced a warning against further outbreaks,” the Polk County Record reported. “The parade climaxed with the burning of a wooden cross.”
And how many folks have grandparents that were young around this time????
One of the most powerful images I’ve ever seen.
(Source: scumbagcrew)
