In this memoir, Ron Stallworth writes about becoming the first black detective in the Colorado Springs Police Department and doing a bit of undercover work investigating the Black Panthers before eventually becoming deeply involved in an investigation into local KKK activities. And by "deeply involved," I mean that he accidentally ended up in an undercover investigation as the voice of a white man named Ron Stallworth who was supposedly interested in joining the Klan. He communicated with KKK members over the phone, while a narcotics officer named Chuck acted as the face of white Ron Stallworth when face-to-face meetings were necessary.

I bought this, even though I almost never read memoirs, because this case sounded bonkers and because it was set in Colorado Springs, one of the primary places I grew up. I had seen previews for the movie but didn't immediately realize it was based on a book, and I somehow missed that it was set in Colorado Springs. Since it didn't seem likely that the movie would be shown in my area (it wasn't), I figured I'd give the book a shot.

For the most part, I enjoyed this, and I'd recommend that anyone with a connection to Colorado Springs read it. It was a fascinating piece of the city's history, and although I'm too young to have been in the city at the time it took place, I still enjoyed seeing places mentioned that I knew and/or had been to before.

There was a lot of stuff here that I didn't know. For example, I hadn't known about the grip that the KKK had on Colorado politics in the 1920s and 1930s, or that they had such a huge presence in Denver in particular. I went to both middle school and high school in Colorado and don't remember any of this coming up. I suppose this information could have been covered and I just missed it (history didn't generally interest me), but I'd have thought this kind of thing would have stuck with me.

I enjoyed the times when Stallworth poked fun at the KKK, and there were a few moments in the investigation that made me outright gasp. I wonder how much of it made it into the movie (I still need to watch it). There was a bit involving a KKK application that I imagine would have looked overdone onscreen - I still can't believe that Chuck and the other officer got out of there without any of the KKK members figuring anything out or growing suspicious.

The book's organization was a little confusing, to the point that it was sometimes difficult to follow the case's timeline. I had thought that Stallworth was writing about events relatively chronologically, but this didn't turn out to be the case. For example, on page 84 of my copy of the book, Stallworth was asked by those who knew about his investigation to show off his KKK membership card (which struck me as risky - was it a good idea for so many people to know about the investigation and for Stallworth to show off the card? what if any of those people were secretly KKK members?). Four pages later, Stallworth was calling David Duke to ask about the status of his membership card. There were a few other moments like this, but this one was the most glaring. I also found his occasional "Officer Ed" rants to be overly sudden and a little off-putting.

There were many things Stallworth wrote about that were still applicable today. At one point, for example, there was an anti-KKK protest, and 20 or so KKK members showed up as counter-protesters. They were initially ignored and didn't even bother to put on their robes until one of them asked a member of the media if they'd like a story and the person said yes. After that, it became a media feeding frenzy. As Stallworth wrote:

"The media all too often unwittingly creates the very news it reports because of its zeal to get a story. This only benefits the person or subject being covered and gives them or it a power neither deserves." (126)

 It's the kind of thing you can still see in play today, as the media gives screen- and air-time to white supremacists who wouldn't otherwise have that significant of a platform. That said, there were times when I very much disagreed with Stallworth's interpretations, particularly his thoughts on "Antifa" (his decision to capitalize it, not mine).

I wonder whether the movie faithfully stuck to the book's ending, or whether it embellished things a bit? If this had been fiction, the ending would have been deeply disappointing -

All in all, I'm glad I read this, despite my issues with some of it.

Extras:

Several pages of black-and-white photos of documents, items, and photographs relating to the KKK investigation and the beginning of Stallworth's career as a police officer.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)

And I'm done.

I've recommended this to the Colorado Springs folks I know, and I think people (especially white people) with any kind of connection to Colorado should probably read it. That said, there were organizational issues with the text (stuff would get mentioned earlier than it should have, muddying the timeline, and some things came out of the blue, like one of Stallworth's Officer Ed rants). Also, I very much disagree with Stallworth's "Antifa" statements at the very end (he chose to capitalize the word and clearly considered it to be an organized movement).

ETA: One thing I wondered about was the legality of the book. Stallworth based the book on his own experiences and police reports that he'd been instructed to destroy. Instead of destroying them, he stole them and took them home, where he kept them for the past 30+ years.

Only about 20 people showed up to the anti-KKK protests mentioned at this part. A couple KKK members showed up as counterprotesters. They were being ignored at first and weren't even in their robes until one of them asked a member of the media if they'd like a story, and the person said yes. Then the Klan members put on their robes and it became a media feeding frenzy.

 

"The media all too often unwittingly creates the very news it reports because of its zeal to get a story. This only benefits the person or subject being covered and gives them or it a power neither deserves."

What gets me is that this is something much of the media still hasn't figured out. Or maybe they've figured it out but don't care, because ratings are all that matter, even if it means giving white supremacists a platform.

"First they got their ideas about how to light a cross from a James Bond movie, and now they were bragging about secret handshakes. It was as if Dennis the Menace were running a hate group."

Heh. I like the moments where Stallworth pokes fun at the Klan.

One thing I've learned in the past few pages: the KKK influence on Colorado politics, particularly Denver politics, was huge in the 1920s and 1930s. Denver's mayor during this period was a devoted KKK member, and in 1923 approximately half of Colorado's tens of thousands of KKK members lived in Denver (103). This was never once mentioned during my school years, although admittedly I only spent part of my childhood and teens in Colorado. I'm guessing, though, that even if I'd spent my entire life in Colorado, I wouldn't have known this.

The timeline's a little hard to follow. On page 88, Stallworth is "anxiously" calling David Duke about the status of his KKK membership card. On page 84, Stallworth writes about becoming a strange sort of celebrity among criminal justice officials, who'd see him at the cop bar, offer to buy him a drink, and ask to see his KKK membership card. (This entire section seemed a bit weird to me. Wouldn't it have been seen as a potential problem that the investigation was such a badly kept secret?)