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In 1935, the nation was shocked when a
murder in Michigan, originally thought to be a gangland
slaying, uncovered the existence of the Black Legion, a
secret organization which was dedicated to hunting down
Negroes, Jews, Catholics, and Communists. State, county,
and city employees were required to swear they were not
members throughout Michigan, which was the focus of the
Black Legion's bombings, fires, floggings, and murders.
Ironically, it was under the Michigan criminal
syndicalism law, passed to punish Communists, that the
investigatory grand jury was launched. More than fifty
men in Michigan were sentenced to long prison terms for
their vigilante actions. The Black Legion caused a brief
national sensation; a leaden movie with this title
starred Humphrey Bogart as a factory worker who succumbs
to doctrines of hatred. The Ku Klux Klan condemned the
Black Legion!
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