“Domin Avenue, for those new to the story, is named for John Algernon Domin, the Exalted Cyclops of the RI Ku Klux Klan in 1928. Domin was not just some rank and file member of the terrorist organization, he was a leader and spokesman and owned the property where rallies were held and crosses were burned. Under his leadership the Klan attempted to take over 3 armed militias of the National Guard, in expectation of a coming war between Protestants and Catholics.
You see, back then there weren’t so many black people living in Rhode Island, so the Klan vented its hatred on Catholics and immigrants (Not that it neglected the few black people it could find. The Klan was held responsible for “torching an African American school in Scituate, Rhode Island.“) At this point in history the Irish and the Italians and other immigrants were mostly Catholic and just like today, immigrants bear the brunt of the blame for whatever ills the society faces.
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— Today in racist Rhode Island history. Or, you know, current events.
