May 30, 1927: The Ku Klux Klan Rally In Queens

May 30, 1927: On this Memorial Day, a national holiday, the Ku Klux Klan marched in Queens to protest that "Native-born Protestant Americans" were being "assaulted by Roman Catholic police of New York City."

What, you thought the KKK only hated black people? They hate Catholics and Jews, too. In fact, given the way they treated the Governor of the State of New York, Alfred E. Smith, it could legitimately be argued that, in the 1920s, hating Catholics was a higher priority for them than hating blacks. Maybe not in the South, but definitely in the North.

According to an article in The New York Times, "1,000 white-robed Klansmen marched through the Jamaica neighborhood, eventually spurring an all-out brawl in which seven men were arrested."

Among those arrested, the article identifies a man with the name and address of the home of Fred Trump, in the Queens neighborhood of Jamaica. The article details the charges filed against six of the men. However, it does not identify any charges against Fred Trump, and merely states that he "was discharged."

The Times article did not say that Fred Trump was a member, or even a supporter, of the KKK, or whether he was a bystander, falsely accused or otherwise the victim of mistaken identity during the chaotic event.

A contemporaneous article from another newspaper, the Daily Star, noted that Fred Trump was detained "on a charge of refusing to disperse from a parade when ordered to do so."

Frederick Christ Trump -- and that's pronounced "Krihst," not "Krighst" like in Jesus' title -- was born on October 11, 1905, in The Bronx, meaning he was 21 years old at the time of the arrest. Although both of his parents were born in Germany -- Fred's grandfather had changed the name from "Drumpf" -- long after World War II, Fred told people that his family was of Swedish origin. According to his nephew John Walter, "He had a lot of Jewish tenants, and it wasn't a good thing to be German in those days."

He went into the real estate business, owning apartment buildings in Queens and Brooklyn. In 1950, folksinger Woody Guthrie rented one of Fred Trump's buildings, and wrote a song titled "Old Man Trump" (Fred was 45, 7 years older than Guthrie), about how he stirred up racial hate "in the bloodpot of human hearts."

In 1954, Fred was investigated by a U.S. Senate committee for profiteering from public contracts, including overstating his Beach Haven building charges by $3.7 million -- about $40 million in 2022 money. He ended up not being charged.

He was listed as chairman of The Trump Organization. His son Donald, born on June 14, 1946, would become the Organization's president. On October 16, 1973, 27-year-old Donald's name appeared in The New York Times for the 1st time. It was in an article about how the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice filed suit against the Trump Organization, charging them with violating the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Within 2 years, the case was settled, with both sides claiming victory.

But think about that for a moment: The U.S. Department of Justice. The federal government. In 1973. This means that Fred and Donald Trump were, officially, too racist for Richard Nixon.

Donald was not Fred's oldest child: That would be Maryanne Trump Barry, who became a federal Judge appointed by, oddly, President Bill Clinton. Unlike her father and her brother, she has never been accused of any impropriety.

Nor was Donald Fred's oldest son. That was Frederick Christ Trump Jr. But being the eldest son and the namesake didn't help Freddy. He wasn't strong like his father. He was weak. Weak enough to become an alcoholic. (This is known, as opposed to Donald's addictions to the drugs cocaine and Adderall, which remain, for the moment, pure speculation.)

Freddy became a pilot with Trans World Airlines. (Another company associated with the Trumps that has since gone out of business, although I don't think any member of the family can be blamed for it.) As far as I know, there was never an incident of him flying drunk. Nevertheless, Freddy died in 1981, at age 43, as a result of complications of his drinking.

For this reason, Donald not only swore off alcohol -- except for his brief marketing of Trump Vodka, which apparently didn't wash Trump Steaks down well -- but learned to be the strong, tough son for his father that Freddy wasn't.

The results speak for themselves: Donald merely talks tough, but is truly a bigoted, whiny little bitch. Just like his daddy was.

From his father, Donald learned that discrimination was okay, and that you had to be strong, and fight every perceived slight.

By the time Donald married Marla Maples in 1993, by which point he had become one of the most famous (but not, as he claimed, one of the richest) people in America, Fred had begun to fall victim to Alzheimer's disease. He died on June 25, 1999, at the age of 93.

Is there any publicly known proof that Fred Trump was a member of the Ku Klux Klan, or even a sympathizer? No. Is there evidence? Yes. Certainly, the amount of evidence gathered since 1927 suggests that, at the very least, he shared their views toward black people.

When asked about the issue in September 2015 by The New York Times, Donald lied, and denied that his father had been arrested:

He was never arrested. He has nothing to do with this. This never happened. This is nonsense and it never happened...

This never happened. Never took place. He was never arrested, never convicted, never even charged. It's a completely false, ridiculous story. He was never there! It never happened. Never took place.

But it did. Whatever Fred Trump had done, 88 Memorial Days earlier, he had been arrested.

Criminal behavior, like bigotry, cruelty and cowardice, runs in the Trump family.

*

May 30, 1927 was a Monday -- but, at the time, that was not a given: May 30 had been Memorial Day in America since 1868, and it wasn't until 1968 that it became, by law, the last Monday in May, and thus a 3-day weekend.

As was once traditional, baseball teams played doubleheaders on Memorial Day. This time, all 16 teams then in the major leagues played them:

* The New York Yankees split with the Philadelphia Athletics at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. The A's won the opener, 9-8. Lefty Grove went the distance, but George Pipgras didn't get out of the 3rd inning. The  Yankees won the nightcap, 6-5. Babe Ruth won it with a home run in the top of the 11th inning, the 14th of 60 home runs he would hit that season.

Over the 2 games, Ruth went 4-for-9 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs, Lou Gehrig went 5-for-10 with a walk and 5 RBIs; and Ty Cobb, running out the string with the A's, went 1-for-6 with 6 walks.

* A weird doubleheader was played at the Polo Grounds. The 1st game had a football score: The New York Giants beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 14-10. The 2nd game had a soccer score: The Phillies won, 1-0. For the Giants, Rogers Hornsby went 2-for-5 with 2 walks and 2 RBIs, Bill Terry went 2-for-9 with 3 RBIs, and Mel Ott went 0-for-3 with 2 walks in the 1st game and sat out the 2nd game.

* The Brooklyn Robins -- as the Dodgers were known from 1914 to 1931, while Wilbert Robinson was their manager -- swept the Boston Braves, 5-2 and 6-2 at Braves Field in Boston. Babe Herman went 0-for-3 in the 1st game, but 3-for-5 with 4 RBIs in the 2nd game.

* The Washington Senators swept the Boston Red Sox, 3-0 and 13-5 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Walter Johnson pitched a 3-hit shutout in the 1st game. Having started the season injured, this was his 1st appearance, and it was his 113th career shutout, still far and away a major league record. It was his last. And it was his 413th career win, still far and away an American League record, and 2nd only to Cy Young overall. He would win 4 more games, and made his last major league appearance on September 30 of that year -- as a pinch-hitter, against the Yankees, in the same game where Ruth his his 60th homer.

* There was a split at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. The Chicago Cubs won the 1st game, 7-6. Their shortstop, Jimmy Cooney, turned an unassisted triple play in the bottom of the 4th inning, off a line drive by Paul Waner. Hack Wilson singled Sparky Adams home with the winning run in the top of the 10th inning. The Pittsburgh Pirates won the 2nd game, 6-5. This game also went 10 innings, and Joe Harris singled Glenn Wright home with the winning run.

* There was a split at Navin Field in Detroit. (It was renamed Briggs Stadium in 1938, and Tiger Stadium in 1961.) The Cleveland Indians won the 1st game, 9-8. The Detroit Tigers won the 2nd game, 11-3.

* There was a split at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The St. Louis Browns won the 1st game, 11-3. The Chicago White Sox won the 2nd game, 10-0. Alphonse "Tommy" Thomas pitched a 7-hit shutout.

* And the St. Louis Cardinals swept the Cincinnati Reds, 6-3 and 3-1 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.