The Klan Was On Deck For A Beating By This Negro Team

photo of the wichita monrovians baseball league
Via ksbaseballhof
Tremain Prioleau II
January 24, 2025

In 1925, the Wichita, Kansas, Ku Klux Klan was searching for a rebranding opportunity. It turned out that being violent racists wasn't that popular after all. So, what was the Klan’s bright idea? Challenging an all-Black baseball team to a game. Strike one.

The KKK assumed they’d have an easy win over the Wichita Monrovians. Strike two.  The Monrovians, a semi-pro team with their own downtown stadium, were happy to play along. They knew the Klan didn't stand a chance.  Beating these racists would put a smile on the face of every Black baseball fan in Kansas. But that wasn't all.

The Monrovians used baseball to improve the lives of Wichita’s Black people. They planned to donate some of the proceeds from the game to charities like the Phyllis Wheatley Children's Home. In contrast, all the Klan cared about was a cheesy photo-op of them beating a Black team.

The Monrovians stuck it to the Klan team, winning 10-8. Strike three. So much for white racial superiority and the Klan’s silly little photo-op.

This was more than a game for fans of the Wichita Monrovians. They relished the symbolic and literal defeat of Team Klan. Cheering on the Monrovians was an act of joyful resistance, one that came with the added bonus of humiliating white racists.

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