Stetson Kennedy Exposed Klan

In June to July 1946, “The Adventures of Superman” ran a 16-part radio storyline called “Clan of the Fiery Cross,” after American activist Stetson Kennedy infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan and fed the show’s writers details about how it worked. The plot used that inside information to lampoon the group’s secrecy and rituals on a kid-friendly mainstream program, turning their “mystique” into something listeners could laugh at instead of fear. Those broadcasts seriously hurt recruiting in the Klan, and by 1948, people were showing up to Klan rallies just to mock them.

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