RL Flashpoint, pt. 9
The 1930s have been a polarizing time for America and for the rest of the world. The hopelessness that followed the Great Depression left many seeking better fortunes within hatred and discrimination. The violent right-wing revolutions in Germany, France and Spain were far from being the only ones around the Globe, for the renewed nationalism took on many different faces in all corners of the world. Such was the case of the United States, where the ultraconservative Democratic ticket led by William Randolph Hearst stole the victory from the Republicans in 1932 with over ten points ahead of Herbert Hoover.
Thanks to Hearst's stringent two-worded policy of America First, which largely entailed strict isolationism from European affairs, specific attention was given to the continuation of the numerous US-propped puppet regimes in Latin America for their lands' exploitation by American fruit and metal companies. This kind of reactionary environment was not restricted to foreign affairs, though, as the Ku Klux Klan had received wind in its sails with Hearst's decision not to cover their crimes and lynchings in his newspapers (mostly out of party loyalty), and they would continue with renewed vigor all throughout the American South.
One of the most well-known victims of such behavior was Robert Carlyle Byrd. Born Cornelius Calvin Sale Jr., his mother would pass away from the Spanish flu after he was only ten months old, and in accordance to her last wishes, his father would let his aunt and uncle adopt him. Henceforth, he would be known as Robert Carlyle Byrd after his new family moved to the coal-mining region of southern West Virginia. Despite his early successes during his education (graduating his class as valedictorian at Mark Twain High School in Tams, WV), Byrd was smitten with Hearst's fiery speeches.
Not long after Hearst's decision to increase the number of US occupation troops stationed on Haiti, Byrd would join the local branch of the Ku Klux Klan and become one of its most ardent proponents. His open advocacy of lynchings and avoidance of due process in treating African-Americans accused of having done damage to White Americans endeared him to many within the Klan, especially its leaders, who had free rein to do however they pleased. After noticing the acceptance that he had felt as a member of the Klan, Byrd would begin to openly espouse his allegiance and recruit other men into the fold. So zealous were his opinions and stances that many of his opponents and enemies began to call him the Monk, but he took the derogatory title with stride.
After taking the nickname as his own, he even began wearing red robes discreetly, and his recruiting range soon expanded not only to West Virginia, but to Pennsylvania and New York as well. However, after his arrival to New York City, the sights would soon be upon him, though not from the well-entrenched establishment... Despite his arrest at the hands of James Gordon in early 1938, Byrd would soon be back on the streets, completely undeterred. That was, however, until he had encountered the evil Bat-Man that he had spoken of in so many of his earlier speeches, the vile representation of the rot in this country that he had worked so hard to beat down...
And died immediately. The coroner's report mentioned a couple dozen broken bones and internal bleeding as a result of his death at a fairly early age. The NYPD, however, had not had much work to do regarding the search for his murderer, for the same horrid Bat shape was branded onto the left side of his chest, right above his heart, an ever-present symbol and warning to all those who find themselves too daring to challenge the Bat-Man's reign of terror.