The Know Nothings were part of a nativist movement that originated in this country in 1844 and lasted until 1860. It started as a secret society and became known for its populist, xenophobic, anti-Catholic and anti-immigration tendencies.
The movement had a brief period as a major political party in the form of the American Party. By the way, supporters of the movement often believed in conspiracy theories and described themselves as defending traditional Protestant values.
Sound familiar?
The name Know Nothing came about because members of the society were advised to answer "I know nothing" when asked about the organization.
"In American politics, white nativism and racism tend to rise in conjunction with economic distress," Nicholas Lemann writes in The New Yorker. "Quite often, liberal economic reforms have been achieved at the price of compromises with politicians who were anything but liberal on race.
"The greatest triumph of liberalism in American history, the New Deal, entailed a bargain with the segregationist South in which the Jim Crow system remained firmly in place. In the 21st century, rising economic discontent among working-class whites has often caused them to lash out at people from other groups."
Albert Mohler, the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary at Louisville, told Lemann: "There's an anxiety. A world is being demolished before your eyes. It's an instinct that things aren't going as they should. The world is coming apart. Somebody has to say no."
Such anxiety opens the door for crass political opportunists. The Arkansas Legislature has always had what I refer to as the Know Nothing Caucus. I don't use that term because legislators necessarily share the beliefs of the original Know Nothings, but because they prefer to be publicity hounds on hot-button issues. That's much easier than doing the truly hard work of crafting an efficient state budget. When asked about budget issues, they typically know nothing.
There's no such formal organization, of course, but Arkansas Know Nothings are easy to spot at the state Capitol. When Arkansas was controlled by the Democratic Party, Arkansas Know Nothings tended to be Democrats, creating headaches for governors from their party. Now, with the GOP in control, Arkansas Know Nothings tend to be Republicans and regularly embarrass Republican governors.
The problem for Arkansas is that their numbers are growing in an era when so many people foolishly rely on social media as a news source. The Know Nothings had rather spout off about social issues that are settled at the national level as opposed to reading, studying and being effective legislators.
Many of them don't have full-time jobs. Their largest source of income tends to be the meager legislative salary.
Want to know why we have so many unnecessary interim committee hearings between legislative sessions? It's so legislators can collect per diems in order to supplement that salary. Any state Capitol observer will tell you privately about the members who walk in, sign a sheet in order to get paid and then don't even stay for hearings. It's an epidemic, and it's getting worse.
I wish I were more optimistic about the future of our legislative branch. But one result on Nov. 3 told me everything I need to know about where we're headed. That result was incumbent Democratic state Sen. Bruce Maloch's loss in south Arkansas to a Republican named Charles Beckham.
Maloch is one of the finest men I've ever known. During the five years I was president of Arkansas' Independent Colleges & Universities, he served on my board. Maloch is about the last of the old-style rural conservative Democrats. He's a banker in Magnolia, teaches Sunday school and runs a cattle ranch near Emerson. He emceed this year's Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
Maloch served in the Arkansas House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate in 2012. Republican Sen. Jim Hendren called out his own party this fall for the campaign it ran against Maloch. In a Sept. 24 tweet, Hendren wrote: "You know why people are sick of politics and politicians? Here's why. Dirty tricks like these dishonest mail pieces distorting the record of Bruce Maloch. Campaigns and politicians doing/saying whatever you have to in order to win."
In a later tweet, Hendren wrote: "Sen. Maloch is one of the most pro-life legislators I've served with. Don't take my word for it or a mail piece from some political hack's word for it. Arkansas Right To Life consistently supports him."
Beckham, Maloch's much younger Republican opponent, initially denied a story in the Arkansas Times that he had been kicked out of his Mississippi high school for wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit to a Halloween event two decades ago. Reporters at this newspaper did a little digging in Mississippi. They found court records confirming the story, and Beckham apologized.
Beckham, now 37, was dismissed during his senior year from the Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science. The Mississippi Board of Education upheld the dismissal. Alana Nichols, a Black student who was a junior when she saw Beckham in the KKK outfit, said she was "petrified."
"When I think about memories of high school, this is at the forefront, and that's unfortunate," Nichols said. "My initial thought was, 'What's going to happen? Am I going to die? Is there going to be a rally?'"
In the end, the race wasn't that close. When a conservative pillar of the community such as Maloch can't win against a candidate such as Beckham, it's obvious that Democrats aren't electable in this state outside of Little Rock, Fayetteville, Pine Bluff and maybe a few spots in the Delta with sizable Black populations. In such an atmosphere, the size of the Know Nothing Caucus is guaranteed to grow.
How do you identify Know Nothings?
You might look to those who oppose the permanent ban on commercial hog farming in the Buffalo River watershed since this shows that they'll march to the orders of the Arkansas Farm Bureau Federation before following the advice of a popular governor from their party.
You might also check the list of grandstanding lawmakers who in September filed a ridiculous lawsuit seeking to overturn the public health emergency declared by Gov. Asa Hutchinson due to the pandemic. After filing the lawsuit, these lawmakers held a rally in the finest Trumpian fashion on the steps of the Capitol and attacked talented employees of the state Department of Health.
When Republican Mike Huckabee was governor, he referred to such grandstanders as Shiite Republicans. The members of that group never accomplished much legislatively, but they sure liked to see their names in the paper.
In a fit of frustration at some of the more pious members of the group, Huckabee uttered the famous quote: "They drink a different sort of Jesus juice than I do." Huckabee, you'll remember, had been a Southern Baptist minister before entering politics.
In a state that's becoming increasingly Republican, business and civic leaders have work to do if Arkansas is to achieve its potential in the knowledge-based economy of the 21st century. They must realize that winning the Republican primary has now become tantamount to election in most of Arkansas.
They then must go out, recruit outstanding candidates to run as Republicans, and provide the resources needed to ensure that Know Nothings are defeated in the GOP primary. If that means knocking off incumbents who aren't doing their jobs, so be it.
As Maloch's defeat last month showed, waiting until November is too late.
It also means that Arkansans who want to see this state prosper must vote in the Republican primary and know about the candidates' qualifications. If we don't do those things, we're in for sad days in Arkansas.
--–––––v–––––--
Rex Nelson is a senior editor at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.