It cannot show families warning loved ones that the rally might turn deadly.

It cannot show local officials calling for help because they feared bloodshed.

It cannot show the decades of Lumbee recognition politics that made an attack on community identity especially explosive.

It cannot show the legal proceedings that followed or the Klan leader’s failed promise to return with thousands of supporters.

That is why the image works best as a doorway rather than a conclusion.

The viewer should look at the smiles and ask what had to happen before those men could stand there laughing.

The answer is the entire history of Hayes Pond.

A Story About Who Gets To Define A Community

At the deepest level, the battle was about definition.

The Klan tried to define the Lumbee through racial insult and hierarchy.