Cicero Pays Klan to Cancel Rally
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Cicero, a gritty blue-collar Chicago suburb once seen as a hotbed of racism, cut a $10,000 deal with the Ku Klux Klan to head off a rally that officials feared would trigger violence. The town arranged for a $10,000 contribution, pledged by an anonymous donor, to pay for printing and distribution of Klan literature. In exchange, the Klan called off the rally, which had been set for Saturday. Cicero’s racial tensions date back many decades. During the civil rights era, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. likened Cicero to Selma, Ala. In 1985, President Reagan canceled a visit after racial tensions flared.
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