The UC Santa Barbara Undergraduate Journal of History

Through the early 1970s, Ventura County, California, witnessed an unprecedented rise in Ku Klux Klan activity. While earlier incarnations of the Klan predominantly targeted Mexican, male farmworkers, this latest iteration expanded their scope to target a growing population of people of color in the area. As their attacks and local presence increased, their actions became widely publicized with local newspapers rushing to print their stories. Reporters regularly worked with local Klan leaders in their publications, from including short statements to publishing entire interviews. Through the work of local and national newspapers, the group’s intentions and ideologies became well-documented and integrated into social discourse, leading to a distinct naturalization from the mainstream media. The Klan simultaneously received routine empowerment through the actions of local and federal institutions. Despite the Klan’s notorious reputation, the government legitimized them as an organization by granting them permits to put on public displays of hate and allowing them to hold mass gatherings. This paper examines these ways that the Klan gained power through an analysis of their treatment by the mainstream media throughout the late 20th century. It further juxtaposes their press coverage and institutional treatment to that of anti-racist groups in the area, revealing an intersection of Klan power. While there is a distinct emphasis on the Oxnard Klan Riot of 1978, a core event in California nativist history, this paper’s focus expands across numerous cities in Southern California to uncover patterns of societal integration.