By the time I arrived at the county courthouse in Skokie last Saturday, the Ku Klux Klan rally was in full swing. I counted more than 400 protesters and more than 100 police, some on horseback. I’d read that about 30 KKK members were expected, but I couldn’t see or hear them. They were near the courthouse or inside, and police in riot gear had blocked the long driveway leading up from the road. Beyond the police barricade a small crowd of protesters milled around outside the courthouse entrance.
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Anti-KKK chants filled the air. Protesters carried signs and cameras. My sign read “Are Those Hoods Made in America?” In my mind the answer was simply yes–the KKK’s message seems as ineradicable here as anywhere. But many of the people around me interpreted the sign more literally, shouting, “Hey, right! They probably do buy ’em from overseas!”
They made their way toward the barricaded drive, evidently seeking to join the rally inside, but the crowd of protesters had blocked the drive entrance. The protesters started throwing snowballs, and political chants gave way to simple shouts: “Bastards!” “Kill them!”
Most of the crowd began drifting east on Old Orchard. Then suddenly there was a buzz, shouts. Young men sprinted past us from behind. I peered ahead and saw another pack of three or four skinheads walking stiffly toward us.
