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Ben Stapleton was an influential Denver mayor. He was also in the Ku Klux Klan. Now, his great-grandson is running for governor. The challenge: Convincing voters he can lead them into the future just as the state grapples with his family's past.https://nyti.ms/2OegzXd
I spoke with A LOT of people for this piece. While the South has long grappled with the legacy of the Confederacy, historian Patty Limerick explained that Colorado has been slower to examine its own scarred past.
Colorado’s reputation as the “the beautiful place of fresh starts,” she said, has made tragedy and prejudice easier to bury.
Some voters said they would like Walker Stapleton, the gubernatorial candidate, to address this past in a more direct way. Others said it would be unfair to expect him to do so.
Vince Bowen called on Stapleton to discuss uncomfortable aspects of his family’s history. “If we don’t confront it, we will continue to repeat the destructive and quite frankly un-American practices of the past.”
But Christina Campbell said this was not important to her. “There are so many more things to worry about than this guy’s name and his history."
Historian Patty Limerick put it like this: In her view, Stapleton has no obligation to discuss his family's Klan past.
“I have never thought that the sins of the father should be visited on the children, and I certainly don’t think they should be visited on the great-grandchildren.”
But governors can — if they choose — take on history. Gov. Hickenlooper became the first to issue an apology for the Sand Creek Massacre, an attack on hundreds of Cheyenne and Arapahoe people in 1864.
Should Stapleton decide to approach the Klan’s role in Colorado, Patty Limerick said, she is “eager and willing” to help.
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