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Topic: Superman vs. the KKK: Hear the 1946 Superman Radio Show That Weakened the Klan (Read 14 times) previous topic - next topic

Superman vs. the KKK: Hear the 1946 Superman Radio Show That Weakened the Klan

Superman vs. the KKK: Hear the 1946 Superman Radio Show That Weakened the Klan

[html]Years ago, back in 2016, we featured a 1950 Superman poster that urged students to defend the American way and fight discrimination everywhere. Today, we present another chapter from Superman’s little-known history as a Civil Rights defender. The year is 1946. World War II has co*e to an end. And now membership in the Ku Klux […]
                              

Years ago, back in 2016, we featured a 1950 Superman poster that urged students to defend the American way and fight discrimination everywhere. Today, we present another chapter from Superman’s little-known history as a Civil Rights defender.


The year is 1946. World War II has co*e to an end. And now membership in the Ku Klux Klan starts to rise again. Enter Stetson Kennedy, a human rights activist, who manages to infiltrate the KKK and then figures out an ingenious way to take them down. He contacts the producers of the popular Adventures of Superman radio show, and pitches them on a new storyline: Superman meets and defeats the KKK. Needing a new enemy to vanquish, the producers greenlight the idea.






The 16-episode series, “The Clan of the Fiery Cross,” aired in June 1946 and effectively chipped away at the Klan’s mystique, gradually revealing their secret codewords and rituals. Listen to the episodes above. And take heart in knowing this: According to Stephen J. Dubner and Steven Levitt, the authors of Freakonomics, The Clan of the Fiery Cross was “the greatest single contributor to the weakening of the Ku Klux Klan.” Mocked and trivialized, the Klan’s numbers went back into decline.


For more information on this chapter in superhero history, read the well-reviewed YA book, Superman Versus the Ku Klux Klan: The True Story of How the Iconic Superhero Battled the Men of Hate. Also find more information on these episodes at the Superman Homepage.


To hear more original Superman radio shows, head over to Archive.org.


Note: There is a little bit of a controversy about the exact role Stetson Kennedy played in infiltrating the Klan. You can read up on that here.


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Related Content:


The Original 1940s Superman Cartoon: Watch 17 Classic Episodes Free Online


1950 Superman Poster Urged Kids to Defend All Americans, Regardless of Their Race, Religion or National Origin


Read Martin Luther King and The Montgomery Story: The Influential 1957 Civil Rights co*ic Book

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Source: Superman vs. the KKK: Hear the 1946 Superman Radio Show That Weakened the Klan (http://ht**://www.openculture.c**/2025/03/superman-vs-the-kkk-hear-the-1946-superman-radio-show-that-weakened-the-klan.html)