The Ku Klux Klan in Indiana 7th grade · age 12

The Judgment Lab asks: What do we think about that? When we answer this question, our ultimate goal is to articulate our own principles and values in a thoughtful and respectful way.

In the early 1920s, D.C. Stephenson recruited hundreds of thousands of White Hoosiers into the Ku Klux Klan by playing on their fears about Black Americans and immigrants moving into Indiana. The Klan grew enormously popular — at least a quarter of all White men in the state joined, including ministers, mayors, shopkeepers, and factory workers. By 1924 the Klan had taken over Indiana's Republican Party, electing its candidate for governor, winning the Indianapolis mayor's office, and influencing everything from policing to schools. Every Indiana member of Congress voted for the Immigration Act of 1924, which sharply limited who could enter the country.

Black Hoosiers fought back, but they were vastly outnumbered. Most Hoosiers — ministers, editors, politicians — either stayed silent or quietly went along with the Klan. Only four Indiana newspapers openly criticized it. Against a movement this popular, Black Hoosiers could slow the Klan but could not stop it.

The Klan finally collapsed after its leader, Stephenson, was convicted of murder in 1925 and then exposed how he had controlled government jobs and courts across the state. By 1930 the organized Klan appeared dead in Indiana. But here is the key detail for your question: during the years the Klan held power, there were White Hoosiers who privately disliked what it stood for — yet most of them chose not to speak up, because the majority of their neighbors and voters supported the Klan.

The general question asks about majority rule and minority rights. Majority rule means that in a democracy, the group with the most votes or the most support gets to make decisions. Minority rights are the protections that ensure people who are outnumbered — because of their race, religion, or beliefs — are still treated fairly and not harmed by what the majority decides. In 1920s Indiana, the White majority overwhelmingly supported the Klan, and Black Hoosiers were the minority whose rights were threatened by that support.

Were those White leaders — the ministers, editors, and politicians who privately disagreed with the Klan — wrong to stay silent, or did they have good reasons for keeping quiet when the majority of their community supported it?

Follow the steps below to complete this Judgment Lab. By the end of the lab, you will have decided whether you think those White leaders should have spoken out against the Klan publicly, even though most of their neighbors and voters supported it. You will also articulate and test your principles about under what conditions majority rule should be limited or minority rights protected.