The Day The Klan Came To Town

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In 1923, the Ku Klux Klan reaches its peak, expanding its reach beyond the South and targeting not just African Americans, but also Catholics, Jews, and southern and eastern Europeans, all under the guise of "white supremacy." With a façade of moral decency and family values, the Klan positions itself as a "civic organization," attracting new members, law enforcement, and politicians to its vision of white, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant "Americanism." Pennsylvania becomes a focal point for this movement, particularly when the Grand Dragon decides to showcase their power in a small town near Pittsburgh, populated by Catholics and Jews. On "Karnegie Day," around thirty thousand Klan members gather to initiate new recruits and march into the town, brandishing torches and guns to assert their version of Americanism. The narrative centers on Primo Salerno, a Sicilian immigrant with a troubled past. Drafted from the sulfur mines of Sicily to fight in World War I, he later becomes entangled with local fascists, prompting his emigration to the U.S. Reluctant to engage in conflict, he finds himself compelled to stand up for his community against the Klan's intimidation, realizing that the town's survival may depend on his courage.