Life — October 4, 1923 — page 12: what you’re looking at

What you’re looking at

# Historical Context Analysis This page satirizes the Ku Klux Klan's establishment of a college in Indiana. The article "O, K Kan U C?" mocks the Klan's attempt to control American education by purchasing a college, presenting this as another "forward step" in their movement for supremacy. The text argues that standardizing language to a "K-ness" alphabet represents intellectual suppression disguised as education. The bottom cartoon shows two figures lounging near train tracks as a car honks approaching them, with the caption "Let 'em honk—don't hurry—you know darn well they don't dare run over us." This appears to reference the Klan's perceived power and immunity from consequences, satirizing their sense of untouchable authority in American society.