Truth Without Reconciliation

Truth Without Reconciliation

July 2, 2026 · 39 min · Episode 5

About this episode

The episode explores the Klan hearings and the violence faced by Black citizens in postwar America.

As Black citizens exercised newly won rights in America, a vigilante backlash shook the South. In response, Congress summoned more than 500 witnesses to testify about the violence they had experienced. Historian Kidada Williams takes us back in time to those seven extraordinary months — what became known as the “Klan hearings”— when lawmakers mounted the only official effort in US history to publicly confront postwar racial terror.  See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

More episodes of Reconstruction: The Unfinished Promise

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Reconstruction: The Unfinished Promise podcast page.