Profiles in OC Pioneers Who Were Klan Members: Lucien Proud, La Habra Mayor/ School Trustee

Recently on my Facebook page, one of my amigas–a proud White woman–chimed on my status and repeated the tired truism that Anaheim was THE hotbed of white supremacy in Orange County. Sigh…while the Klan did control the city during the 1920s and gets all the attention in the history books, the Klan's reach and power was much more nefarious and all-encompassing in the cities north of Klanaheim: Fullerton, Brea, and La Habra, places where Klan members openly pursued anti-minority measures (as opposed to Anaheim, which didn't start official discrimination until after the Klan lost its power). It's that trio (and good ol' SanTana) that had the majority of the Klan's members in Orange County, and where their legacies is most felt, Klanaheim be damned. And it's about time the history books get righted, no?

We've already had two pioneer Klan Fullertonians on this list, so time to show La Habra some love. Lucien E. Proud, come on down!
]



The above plaque tells most of Proud's story–one of the city's first mayors, a school trustee, and an all-around involved man in the community. Of course, much more illuminating is what's not on the plaque–that La Habra was an officially segregated city during Proud's years in political office, one where Mexicans had to live in run-down citrus camps and where the children attended Mexican-only schools, the type of town where a big-league player like Jesse Flores would only be allowed to live in the gabacho part of town if he played ethnic politics.

Gustavo Arellano