Canfield alum: KKK picture ‘another reason’ for Black people to avoid Canfield
CANFIELD — By the time a 1979 yearbook picture of three Canfield High School students in Ku Klux Klan regalia was removed from Facebook this week, the post garnered more than 500 comments and again stirred up a community coming to grips with its reputation for racism.
The photo from the 1979 Topknotter was posted in a Canfield Alumni Facebook group. It appears without caption in a collage titled "Seniors," surrounded by photos of students and staff.
In the photo, two people wearing Klan robes and white hoods stand holding a wooden cross between them, each with a fist up. A third person in robes and a hood crouches between them beneath the cross.
An adult stands facing the camera, looking amused.
The post became the talk of the town after it made the rounds on social media, and comments exploded.
Mayor Richard Duffet saw it. He understands the implications. And he wasn't amused.
"So if the perception is that we're a racist community," Duffett said, "I want to change that."
'Not surprised'
In the hundreds of comments on the post, sentiments range from ambivalence to anger to pride.
Many wrote, "I'm not surprised."
One commenter noted: "It wasn't until I left Canfield that I realized how bad it really was. I hope we can eventually overcome our embarrassing history."
In the comments, some refer to the town as "Klanfield," pointing to the community's history as a locus for Ku Klux Klan activity.
Canfield's role in the local KKK is explored in William Jenkins' book "Steel Valley Klan."
He notes the local Klan chapter met "at its Kountry Klub field in Canfield" in the 1920s. Imperial wizard Hiram Evans notably made an appearance at the Canfield Fairgrounds in 1924.
Another commenter brought up the role real estate covenants played in keeping Canfield white.
"It was on the deed to my parents' house that it could not be sold to non-whites. It of course is not legal now. But that's the way it was and probably was in most deeds at the time," she wrote.
The town, as a result, has a reputation for being a place people of color avoid for fear of being pulled over by the police.
In June, during a debate on the Ohio Statehouse floor about Confederate flags at state fairs, state Rep. Erica Crawley, D-26th, remembered going to Canfield only to go to the fair.
As a Black child, her mother warned her of the presence of the Ku Klux Klan in Canfield.
"It's just something that we always knew," Crawley said. "You're not welcome in Canfield, so stay out of Canfield."
Melissa Dahman, who graduated from Canfield High School in 2018, knows the photo will cement that perception.
"We know people outside the Canfield community are going to see this post," Dahman said. "It's just another reason for minorities to not enter the city of Canfield."
Teaching anti-racism
While Dahman was home from college this summer, she participated in the Black Lives Matter protests in Canfield after the death of George Floyd, a Black man who was killed on Memorial Day by a Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on his neck for more than eight minutes.
As she chalked the sidewalk surrounding the town square, she was approached by a middle-age man, who asked what she was doing. She told him, and he proceeded to attack the Black Lives Matter movement.
This week Dahman described being shocked by the photo posted on Facebook, but the racist imagery in her community wasn't a surprise.
"Based on me attending [Canfield High School] I know that there are racial biases that tend to thrive within the faculty and staff," she said.
For Dahman, the post is just "another reason for us to take action."
Specifically, she'd like to see anti-racism promoted through implicit bias training and changes to the school curriculum, like the inclusion of more comprehensive Black history.
"That's the only way we're going to grow," she said. "It's important to understand that this is a flaw, and move forward on how to fix it so that we can become a more welcoming community, and until we do that, we're just going to be stuck in this cycle of dismissing and being defensive of our community."
Canfield Schools Superintendent Joe Knoll said in an email to Mahoning Matters the school district is addressing racial sensitivity through new programs, including trauma-informed care and social-emotional learning.
The pillars of trauma-informed care are safety; trustworthiness and transparency; peer support; collaboration and mutuality; empowerment, voice and choice; and cultural, historical and gender issues.
"A major part of being a [trauma-informed care] district is addressing the social-emotional needs of our students, which includes diversity, equity and inclusion," Knoll said.
Community pride
When the post started to circulate online, Duffett weighed in.
"To me, to label or insinuate that our city of Canfield is racist is a huge allegation. Now, do I think there may be folks that are, or were, considered racist in Canfield? Yes. But I can tell you I would, or should, surely know if there were racists actions, or even those type of meetings, occurring, within our city," he wrote on the post.
Others refused to call out their community.
One commenter wrote: "I'm very proud my entire family grew up in Canfield starting back in the early 1800s. I will never need to apologize for my hometown."
In a conversation with Mahoning Matters this week, Duffett said he was saddened to see the photo, and if it was meant to be a prank, "It's not funny."
"I'm the biggest cheerleader for Canfield that there is," he said. "If there are people that are acting like that — which I'm sure there could be, and I say 'could,' not that I know — I want to know about it."
He encouraged people to reach out to him if they witness or experience racism in the community and included his cellphone number in the post.
Duffett said making Canfield more welcoming is not just empty talk; he's working to create opportunities for more diversity in the community.
He's helped get four new mixed-use developments in the community. They'll include condos and single-family homes.
He said he'd like to see the city hire a minority police officer.
Ohio extremism
Some commenters asked why history had to be dredged up, why people can't let past be past and why folks can't focus on good in the community.
To those sentiments, 1979 Canfield graduate Carl Pfirman responded, "We just had people in the Capitol Building waving Confederate flags around. The topic is relevant nationally."
During the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, white supremacy imagery was everywhere, and Ohioans were in the mob.
On Monday, the FBI arrested a Warren man accused of participating in the riots.
Stephen Ayres, 38, was charged with obstruction of justice, unlawful entry into a restricted federal building and violent entry or disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
And the Capitol riot isn't the only evidence of right-wing extremism in Ohio.
Two of the men arrested for plotting to kidnap and kill Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer allegedly hatched the plan in Dublin, Ohio.
Race reckoning
Once comments on the post became hostile, moderators of the Facebook group took it down.
But removing the post "seems like white-washing history in a way," Pfirman said.
He was sickened by the photo, but "even sadder the conversation got deleted." The photo sparked important and topical discussion, he said. He hopes it prompts people to ask questions — about themselves and their community.
In the comments, a 2015 Canfield graduate summed up the importance of the exercise of unearthing something so shameful:
"To those upset by the unearthing of this photo: no one is trying to 'cause problems' or 'cancel' you. People are acknowledging that this behavior is an unfortunate part of Canfield's history that can't be swept under the rug. There needs to be honest conversation and dialogue about how our present has been shaped by the past — not just the 'good' past, but the bad past as well."
This story was originally published January 29, 2021 at 3:52 AM with the headline "Canfield alum: KKK picture ‘another reason’ for Black people to avoid Canfield."