When Superman saved the day

For reasons that I can’t yet get into right now, I’ve been looking through an archive I found that contains scripts for and transcripts of old-time radio shows ( http://www.genericradio.com/library.php ). 

Some time back, I talked about the time Spider-Man won a significant and decisive victory against his biggest foe ever. For those who weren’t with us at this point, I’ll sum up: In the wake of a moral panic about the supposed content of comic books, the comic book industry established the Comics Code, an overly legalistic body that soon developed a reputation for making senseless and arbitrary decisions about what was and wasn’t “appropriate” for the general public. 

Matters came to a head when the US government asked Marvel to help them address the growing problem of drug use in America. Marvel responded by drafting Spider-Man for the cause, but the Comics Code refused to certify the issue *because* it involved drug use. Marvel pushed ahead anyway without Code approval. This act of defiance, combined with the overwhelming success of the story arc (such that some schools wanted reprints as educational materials), marked the beginning of the end for the Code. 

Well, when I was looking through the available scripts, I was reminded of another time in which a superhero helped vanquish a real-life foe. 

I keep hearing people whine about such-and-such person being a closet member of the KKK; it’s used as a quick way of silencing and mocking people who disagree rather than hearing out and stopping to rebut opposing arguments. Well, for those who do that, knock it off. The KKK’s a ghost now. Superman helped see to that. 

The year is 1946. Human rights activist Stetson Kennedy decides to infiltrate the KKK and other such groups in an effort to find out their secrets and determine whether or not they had infiltrated various government organizations as feared. During his time inside, Kennedy would go on to make a record of everything he saw and learned. From there, it was simply a matter of trying to find an outlet he could trust to reveal his findings to the world. 

And as it just so happened, the producers behind the “Superman” radio show were looking for new villains the Man of Steel could fight against. World War II was over, and that left them scrambling for a credible enemy for him to fight. Credible information about the code words, rituals, and practices of the Klan? They were all over it. 

The end result was the 16-part serial “Clan of the Fiery Cross”, which aired during June and July of 1946. The effects of the serial were as swift as they were devastating. The Klan tried feebly to call for a boycott of Kellogg’s, the show’s main sponsor, but to no avail; the company stood by the show. Instead, the Klan found itself the object of national ridicule and saw its recruitment numbers begin to dwindle. While there were occasional resurgences, from what I’ve seen it’s been all downhill for them since. 

And who says that superheroes don’t save people in real life? I mean, other than Bill Maher, of course, but who takes him seriously anymore? 

As far as what I was doing looking at scripts, that’s a little something for later. 

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