A white resident could dislike the Klan’s methods while still supporting a racially unequal system.

History becomes inaccurate when every opponent of the Klan is automatically turned into a civil rights hero.

The local response was more complicated.

Many people wanted Cole gone because he threatened public order and because his campaign targeted neighbors they knew personally.

The Klan’s attempt to impose an outside racial crusade collided with local relationships that did not fit its categories neatly.

Robeson County was segregated, but it was also a place where white, Black, and Lumbee families had lived near one another for generations.

The Klan tried to reduce that complexity to a simple ideology.

The county resisted being reduced.

The Press Creates “The Battle Of Hayes Pond”

The confrontation acquired its famous name through news coverage.