The University of Wisconsin held a virtual meeting with award-winning racial activist, former law enforcement officer and New York Times bestseller Ron Stallworth as part of the Wisconsin Union Directorate Distinguished Lecture Series on Nov. 2.
Stallworth was born in Chicago and raised in El Paso, Texas by his mother. He is best known for his infiltration of the Ku Klux Klan in 1978. Stallworth’s plan was to get top-secret information about the KKK and abort several of their missions.
As the first Black policeman at the Colorado Springs Police Department in 1979, Stallworth started as a cadet for the department at age 19. He said he loved the thrill of life and death situations his job put him in.
Stallworth said it was difficult for him in the police department at times because some of his coworkers came off as racist but remained self-assured.
“I understood exactly who I was. I was very confident in who I was, both as a Black man and as a police officer,” Stallworth said. “I balanced the two very well.”
Stallworth created his KKK investigation plan at the age of 25. He sought out three KKK cross-burnings in Colorado Springs.
“No Black child, no minority child, no child period in the city of Colorado Springs ever had to look out his window and see, on a high hill, a cross burning in the distance,” Stallworth said. “Never happened. And I’m extremely proud of that.”
Stallworth devotes his life’s success to the female role models in his life including his mom, his aunt and another unnamed woman he grew up with.
A biographical film about Stallworth and his work for the black community, “BlacKkKlansman,” was created by director Spike Lee. The multiple award-winning film depicts background information about Stallworth’s life story but is mostly centered around the KKK mission he completed.
Stallworth went on to write a bestselling novel entitled “Black Klansman” about his experiences as an undercover policeman within the KKK and what he learned during this period. He wrote many other books and is working on another, which will be coming out around March 2023.
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When asked if he thinks there’s a general sentiment of hope in social and racial politics today, Stallworth responded somewhat optimistically.
“Yes we have improved young lady, in my opinion, but we’ve got an awfully long way to go,” Stallworth said.
