Current Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric Echoes the KKK

Hamilton County made headlines as the Best Place to Live in the entire country. Now it’s making headlines for being the site of a nativist anti-immigration rally. 

Earlier this summer, the cities of Carmel and Fishers were recognized as among the Top 2 Best Cities in the entire country. They are known for their top-rated school systems, family-friendly environment, and excellent parks and recreation facilities. 

Now, they’re making headlines for an entirely different reason. 

Greg Bovino, former commander of US Border Control who oversaw the ICE occupation in LA, Chicago, and Minnesota (resulting in the deaths of American citizens at the hands of ICE agents) is a featured speaker at a secretive “Heritage Rally” being planned in Hamilton County on August 1. Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, a self-proclaimed Christian Nationalist church pastor who most recently proclaimed that Islam was a “demonic death cult” and called for banning the Muslim call to prayer, is also a featured speaker. 

The “Heritage Rally” is hosted by Save Heritage Indiana, a nativist group that claims “our home is being invaded” by immigrants. The group advocates for a nationwide 30 year moratorium on immigration.

Nativists, such as Beckwith, Bovino and Save Heritage Indiana, represent an extreme offshoot of nationalism that actively opposes immigrants or minorities, because they fear they threaten the dominant culture. The Heritage Rally will take place in Fishers at an undisclosed location; tickets are $50. 

The event organizers note, “This gathering is for people who have decided that the time for polite silence is over.” The dress code specifies that women are to wear dresses. 

A $500-per-ticket VIP event will happen at an undisclosed “fine dining” location in Carmel the evening before.  

Nativist individuals like Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, or groups like Save Heritage Indiana are unfortunately not new in Indiana. In recent years, neo-Nazis have marched in Indianapolis, and KKK chapters have spread flyers in the Indianapolis suburbs of Fishers and Beech Grove. DC Stephenson, the Grand Dragon of the KKK in the 1920s, hailed from Indiana and built up the Evansville Klavern. 

It’s no coincidence: their alt-right beliefs share common rhetoric: emphasizing “American heritage” as a way to exclude immigrants and people of color, and fusing Christianity and the government. 

Although the KKK fell into obscurity in the decades after the Civil War, it was re-introduced and re-branded in the 1920s to focus more on Christian Nationalism combined with white supremacy. They also opposed immigration, which they claimed was “periling America.”

During that time, the KKK became particularly strong in Indiana, which was said to have had the most powerful and populous KKK chapters in the entire country. Within just five years, a third of Hoosier men had joined the KKK—numbering over a quarter million men in Indiana alone.

“Some of the core messages that the alt-right are selling today are not that different [from the Klan],” notes IU historian Dr. James H. Madison. “And again, it's us vs. them. Whether them is African-Americans or Islamic people, it's really a creation of fear.”

When you examine their words side-by-side, the similarities are chilling: 

“We cannot afford to ignore the fundamental fact that to admit the oppressed of other lands today would operate, in the not distant future, only to work worse oppression on our own citizens. To the people already in America we owe a greater duty and one which we can not ignore.” —DC Stephenson, Indiana KKK Grand Dragon, 1923

“We can't take in the whole world - we have to care for the people of this community, the ones who are here legally […] Most people have no idea this is even happening, that our culture is being stolen right out from underneath our eyes.” —Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, featured Heritage Save Indiana rally speaker

Although separated by over one hundred years, the implication is the same: that immigrants don’t belong, that they are “less than,” and that they are the cause of society’s ills. 

It’s a particularly egregious statement, seeing as Hamilton County is quickly diversifying, with immigrants making up 11.5% of the population. 

Conflating religious identity with political identity is another similarity: 

“No one can deny that the United States is a white Protestant country.” — The Fiery Cross, weekly newspaper of theIndiana KKK, 1920s

“The heritage of America is a Christian heritage and so that’s why Christianity takes precedence over all other faiths.” — Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith, featured Heritage Save Indiana rally speaker

The majority of historians and experts disagree, yet Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith continues to double down on his belief that Christianity should fundamentally shape government and public life. 

At a time when Hamilton County has the opportunity to celebrate its ranking as the best place to live in the entire country, its leaders are instead faced with an important decision: speak out against the "Heritage Rally,” or stay silent. 

And it begs the question—why Hamilton County? Event organizers knew they would encounter pushback; that’s why the event location has not been disclosed. Why stage their rally in what is quickly becoming a swing area in Indiana politics? Could it be that they are testing the mettle of Hamilton County residents, to see if they will simply be complicit, or if they will decisively stand up against bigotry?

Hamilton County may well be their test track for the xenophobic propaganda that they are gilding as “Heritage Rallies.” The response of Fishers’ leaders will prove whether this test track is their on-ramp to greater visibility, influence, and power, or a spike strip that deflates their movement before it even begins. 

We call upon Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, Fishers City Councilmembers, and Fishers business owners to stand in solidarity and issue a public statement condemning the Heritage Rally, and stop it in its tracks. 

City of Fishers:

317-595-3111

MayorFadness@FishersIN.gov