A most un-Maine scene

[Super Amputee Cat]

You except this kind of thing in places like Selma, but Maine???

[Cardinal]

The same sort of thing happened in the history of my town. It was ironic, given that the old part of the city is still laced with tunnels from the days of the Underground Railroad.

[Gedunker]

The Klan got a governor elected here in Indiana. It ended quite badly -- something to do with the governor murdering his mistress. (Who says Hoosier politics are dull?) So, no, I don't believe that the south was the exclusive domain of the Klan.

Still, I want to climb into the picture and punch one those idiots right in the schnozz.

[Seabishop]

I knew someone who lived in Bangor and said they saw someone in full Klan costume waiting for the bus.

[MaineMan]

Yes, unfortunately the social situation of the isolated, extrmemly poor whites in Maine led them to behave similarly to the isolated, extremely poor whites in the south.

Milo is a town of probably less than 1000. Old mill town. The mill is long gone, as are the jobs. Its is a pretty isolated part of the state, which in Maine, says a lot. I sduspect not much has changed there in terms of tolerance, just that folks aren't necessarily proud to be identified with the Klan anymore.

I seem to remember something about Lewiston, ME having had at one time the largest klansmenship in the country or some other startling fact like that...

[jordanb]

Well, the klan's headquarters were in Brighton Michigan, which is now a 'burb of Detroit.

[pete-rock]

I remember a news report from 10-12 years ago that cited an FBI report that, at that time, the state with the second largest Klan membership total was Massachusetts, right behind Mississippi. This was about the time David Duke was making his move to become Senator (or Governor?) in Louisiana, and people were talking about the "new look" of the Klan.

I've always thought there were plenty of Klan members beyond the South; they were most visible there because they were most active there.

[Super Amputee Cat]

Yes, unfortunately the social situation of the isolated, extrmemly poor whites in Maine led them to behave similarly to the isolated, extremely poor whites in the south.

Milo is a town of probably less than 1000.

According to the 2000 Census, Milo's population was 2,383. There were only 8 blacks living in the town that year.

[Planderella]

I remember a news report from 10-12 years ago that cited an FBI report that, at that time, the state with the second largest Klan membership total was Massachusetts, right behind Mississippi. This was about the time David Duke was making his move to become Senator (or Governor?) in Louisiana, and people were talking about the "new look" of the Klan.

Governor. He was finally sent to federal prison a few years ago - I forgot the charge, I think it was mail fraud or something to do with campaign finances. I think he was just released to some half-way house in Mississippi last week.