Today in History - Nov 19 - The Impeachment of Jack Walton

November 19 is the anniversary of The Impeachment of Jack Walton in 1923. 100 years ago today. As the governor of Oklahoma, he issued a surprisingly fiery response to the Tulsa Massacre and the violence following it.

As mentioned previously Oklahoma was recently made into a US state, annexing Indian Territory, and making it a white ethnostate. The KKK was a very powerful force in the new state, and their presence was everywhere, including spread throughout the high ranks of the regime. Believable reports say that Walton himself had ties to the KKK.

The Tulsa Massacre was still very much in public memory at the time Walton took office. The KKK were emboldened, and violence was commonplace. A black police officer had his ear cut off, a Jewish man was beaten and had his genitals flayed. Walton felt he had to do something. History is unsure of whether morality had anything to do with it, as opposed to wanting to appeal to the anti-KKK people outside of Oklahoma for a national bid. But one thing is clear; he wanted to stop the KKK.

He declared martial law in Tulsa county following the incident with the Jewish man, much to the dismay of the white residents who argued that it was not appropriate for a sophisticated city like Tulsa. Ignoring the fact that they had recently destroyed an entire black district and lynched hundreds of residents, their complaints were of course sympathised with by the media and the government at large.

Walton called in the national guard and set up military tribunals. He censored the newspapers after one of them printed a KKK ad calling for people to oust him. Of course, that's what eventually happened. Most of the white residents considered him to be a dictator and far overreached his authority. The state legislature was eventually able to hold a session and voted for his removal. Despite promising to do something about the KKK after he was removed, they of course did very little. Walton was held up as a dictator and a crook.

It's doubted by the modern lens that Walton was truly as moral as he claimed. There's some hand wringing that he was colluding with wealthy capitalists and lining his own pockets. I would argue that punishment for such things is extremely selective, and is business as usual for most. I would further argue that his real crime was treating white people the way that minorities are treated in the US. It's more than a little hypocritical to complain about suspension of habeas corpus when you are literally kidnapping/beating/murdering black people in the streets. Where is the outrage against suspending habeas corpus and torturing brown people today?

Things aren't much better today. A rogue governor sending in the tanks against the fascists for once is at least entertaining though.