Ellie Kemper madness on Twitter

[Jalapeñomel]

Anyone following this? That she’s a 1999 KKK princess?

[morecoffeeplease]

I saw a tweet about it and I googled to make sure Ellie Kemper was who I thought it was. It’s wild and nuts and wtf.

[seeyalater52]

Holy shit.

[morecoffeeplease]

May 31, 2021 18:30:37 GMT -5 mofongo said:

Oh my! Has she said anything yet? WTF

She hasn’t said anything yet.

[circa1978]

It's unlikely most people out of St Louis have ever heard of the Veiled Prophet Ball and VP Fair so here you go:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veiled_Prophet_Ball

I've never attended the fair and have long thought it the entire thing seriously fucked up but I bet most people in STL don't give it a second thought. They changed the name from Veiled Prophet to VP and now it is Fair St Louis, I think.

[Jalapeñomel]

May 31, 2021 18:40:33 GMT -5 circa1978 said:

It's unlikely most people out of St Louis have ever heard of the Veiled Prophet Ball and VP Fair so here you go:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veiled_Prophet_Ball

I've never attended the fair and have long thought it the entire thing seriously fucked up but I bet most people in STL don't give it a second thought. They changed the name from Veiled Prophet to VP and now it is Fair St Louis, I think.

This is bizarre.

[sproctopus]

So I was just coming to comment-- the VP fair has a definite history of racism, but are there known ties to the KKK specifically or are these similarly named events?

[morecoffeeplease]

The pictures are wild. If you google there are articles that have pictures from 2019 and 2018.

It’s creepy AF

[circa1978]

I think St Louis's race and class issues - of which there are many - can most easily be classified as "really, really fucked up."

[sproctopus]

May 31, 2021 18:40:33 GMT -5 circa1978 said:

It's unlikely most people out of St Louis have ever heard of the Veiled Prophet Ball and VP Fair so here you go:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veiled_Prophet_Ball

I've never attended the fair and have long thought it the entire thing seriously fucked up but I bet most people in STL don't give it a second thought. They changed the name from Veiled Prophet to VP and now it is Fair St Louis, I think.

This was like...THE thing to do in the city for the 4th of July when I was a kid.

I just read more into the history of the VP Fair. I didn't even know what VP stood for until they changed the name in the 90s.

[circa1978]

May 31, 2021 18:48:05 GMT -5 sproctopus said:

So I was just coming to comment-- the VP fair has a definite history of racism, but are there known ties to the KKK specifically or are these similarly named events?

She was a VP Fair queen. That's a St Louis Post Dispatch clip and she's listed on the Wikipedia. The Riverfront Times did an article on the links to the KKK. The organization has always denied it but..I mean.

[sproctopus]

May 31, 2021 18:52:53 GMT -5 circa1978 said:

May 31, 2021 18:48:05 GMT -5 sproctopus said:

So I was just coming to comment-- the VP fair has a definite history of racism, but are there known ties to the KKK specifically or are these similarly named events?

She was a VP Fair queen. That's a St Louis Post Dispatch clip and she's listed on the Wikipedia. The Riverfront Times did an article on the links to the KKK. The organization has always denied it but..I mean.

I just found that article.

This is disgusting.

[TR]

May 31, 2021 18:48:05 GMT -5 sproctopus said:

So I was just coming to comment-- the VP fair has a definite history of racism, but are there known ties to the KKK specifically or are these similarly named events?

Yeah, I don’t see anything about the KKK in that article, are there other articles explaining the ties?

ETA: I see someone mentioned one by Riverfront Times.

[sproctopus]

May 31, 2021 18:50:46 GMT -5 circa1978 said:

I think St Louis's race and class issues - of which there are many - can most easily be classified as "really, really fucked up."

I've been in a fight with Arch Apparel for years trying to convince them that the "Where Did You Go To High School" (and preschool?!) shirts are classist at best and racist at worse and truly just absolutely both of those things.

[sproctopus]

May 31, 2021 18:54:26 GMT -5 TR said:

May 31, 2021 18:48:05 GMT -5 sproctopus said:

So I was just coming to comment-- the VP fair has a definite history of racism, but are there known ties to the KKK specifically or are these similarly named events?

Yeah, I don’t see anything about the KKK in that article, are there other articles explaining the ties?

ETA: I see someone mentioned one by Riverfront Times.

m.riverfronttimes.com/stlouis/behind-the-veil/Content?oid=2474168

[circa1978]

May 31, 2021 18:55:32 GMT -5 sproctopus said:

May 31, 2021 18:50:46 GMT -5 circa1978 said:

I think St Louis's race and class issues - of which there are many - can most easily be classified as "really, really fucked up."

I've been in a fight with Arch Apparel for years trying to convince them that the "Where Did You Go To High School" (and preschool?!) shirts are classist at best and racist at worse and truly just absolutely both of those things.

Yes. I will sign that petition.

I'll be interested in her response because a young woman, I would lay bets she had no idea of the connotation - which has always been denied - even as she participated in it and probably her parents had her do it. It's very built-in to the city's culture, particularly for a certain central west county, "elite" set. The only reason I know as much as I do about its history is I was a reporter with an interest in race/social justice and at one time planned to write a book about the modern rituals around "becoming a woman" from quinces to things like this. And then once you start reading about it, it's like wait - wut?

[sproctopus]

circa1978 We always went to the fair and fireworks and never the parade. I'm from North County and know very well about West County.

It seems very stupid to say I am shocked. It shouldn't be surprising to discover well-engrained celebrations of racism. But this is such a large part of the entire city's yearly celebration. This is sick.

[af1212]

This is Erin from The Office - correct?

[gretchenindisguise]

How did this develop into a story?

Were they reporting on the racist history of STL including the VP fair, which led to the discovery of Ellie Kemper as the “queen” of their debutante ball?

Or

Did she do something racist recently and they dug this up?

[morecoffeeplease]

May 31, 2021 22:50:30 GMT -5 gretchenindisguise said:

How did this develop into a story?

Were they reporting on the racist history of STL including the VP fair, which led to the discovery of Ellie Kemper as the “queen” of their debutante ball?

Or

Did she do something racist recently and they dug this up?

This is how I saw it unfold. It was shared by someone I follow but apparently her name has been clickable as a winner on the Wikipedia page about it and her Wikipedia page has always said it. So it’s been out there, just unknown to the masses.

[ssmjlm]

I thought this was already pretty well known. Her show had a ton of issues, despite being so popular and I swear this came out back then. Or maybe it was just the show itself. There was former MMM who was pretty defensive about the show.

[Deleted]

May 31, 2021 19:14:21 GMT -5 sproctopus said:

circa1978 We always went to the fair and fireworks and never the parade. I'm from North County and know very well about West County.

It seems very stupid to say I am shocked. It shouldn't be surprising to discover well-engrained celebrations of racism. But this is such a large part of the entire city's yearly celebration. This is sick.

I live right outside of West County and I have never heard of this... I am far enough away from the city though I've never attended these events.

This is crazy. So Ellie was in a real world cult just like her character, huh?

I do have to say, I am not surprised, knowing West County lol

[sproctopus]

Jun 1, 2021 6:26:31 GMT -5 @stevia said:

May 31, 2021 19:14:21 GMT -5 sproctopus said:

circa1978 We always went to the fair and fireworks and never the parade. I'm from North County and know very well about West County.

It seems very stupid to say I am shocked. It shouldn't be surprising to discover well-engrained celebrations of racism. But this is such a large part of the entire city's yearly celebration. This is sick.

I live right outside of West County and I have never heard of this... I am far enough away from the city though I've never attended these events.

This is crazy. So Ellie was in a real world cult just like her character, huh?

I do have to say, I am not surprised, knowing West County lol

Yeah, I did not know about the ball, other events tied to the fair/parade. But knowing that West County was populated nearly entirely out of white flight, it doesn't surprise me at all that it's "special" to them.

I asked my mom about it yesterday and she was like, "You didn't know?!" I was 9 when they changed the name and 18 when I left St. Louis. My response to her was, "You did?! And said nothing?"

[jackie011]

Legit question- are there balls of this type that aren’t steeped in racism and exclusion? I thought the entire point was to find a suitable wealthy man for your precious?

[Deleted]

Jun 1, 2021 7:19:04 GMT -5 jackie011 said:

Legit question- are there balls of this type that aren’t steeped in racism and exclusion? I thought the entire point was to find a suitable wealthy man for your precious?

Nope they're all the same.

I was reminded of the fictional Gilmore Girls debutante ball while reading this.

[circa1978]

I feel like I have to say that I was raised in West County and live there now. I chose it to be close to my parents when we moved back to STL and proximity to 40 for our commute. Most suburbs in STL and elsewhere are a result of white flight. It has issues but the suburb I live in is my hometown, just like anyone has a hometown, and my family has lived here for four generations. My zip code doesn't mandate that I or anyone participate/d in VP nonsense but I was aware of girls who were debutantes at the ball.

I didn't realize she was one of the bank Kempers.

ETA: I'm just wanted to be clear since I've never made a secret among STL posters of that and it felt hypocritical given the comments about the area not to admit I live here.

[Deleted]

Jun 1, 2021 7:36:56 GMT -5 circa1978 said:

I feel like I have to say that I was raised in West County and live there now. I chose it to be close to my parents when we moved back to STL and proximity to 40 for our commute. Most suburbs in STL and elsewhere are a result of white flight. It has issues but the suburb I live in is my hometown, just like anyone has a hometown, and my family has lived here for four generations. My zip code doesn't mandate that I or anyone participate/d in VP nonsense but I was aware of girls who were debutantes at the ball.

I didn't realize she was one of the bank Kempers.

ETA: I'm just wanted to be clear since I've never made a secret among STL posters of that and it felt hypocritical given the comments about the area not to admit I live here.

Ooh which one of the mansions near the commons do you live in? 😉

(Joking; that's my favorite place to drive cause I just stare at the mansions wondering who lives there)

[gretchenindisguise]

Jun 1, 2021 6:26:31 GMT -5 @stevia said:

May 31, 2021 19:14:21 GMT -5 sproctopus said:

circa1978 We always went to the fair and fireworks and never the parade. I'm from North County and know very well about West County.

It seems very stupid to say I am shocked. It shouldn't be surprising to discover well-engrained celebrations of racism. But this is such a large part of the entire city's yearly celebration. This is sick.

I live right outside of West County and I have never heard of this... I am far enough away from the city though I've never attended these events.

This is crazy. So Ellie was in a real world cult just like her character, huh?

I do have to say, I am not surprised, knowing West County lol

To the part of was Ellie in a cult - I think in as much as she was raised privileged, wealthy and white - yes.

I think she’s more akin to the other example in this thread - Rory Gilmore than she is to her character on her show though.

[jlt19]

Wow, I never knew anything about the ball (ESPECIALLY that it's an ongoing event)! I grew up in South County and attended the VP Fair, airshow and fireworks every year growing up, never the parade though. I remember when they changed it to Fair St. Louis, knowing it had something to do with Veiled Prophet being racist, but I guess I assumed (naively) that meant the organization wasn't still a thing. And that was in 1992. So, Ellie Kemper knew damn well what it was all about in 1999, however, after being in Hollywood, I would hope/assume she's denounced any of that kind of allegiance, though I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

circa1978, have you read that book? It sounds really interesting!

Do you remember when the KKK "adopted" part of 55 south, and it got renamed the Rosa Parks Hwy? I remember being so shocked that the KKK was anywhere near us, but again, I was naïve. I mean, I knew all about St. Louis' white flight and racism (both parents taught for STLPSD their entire careers and of course the "deseg" program), but always thought we weren't "Deliverance" territory.

I sure as hell learned my lesson when Normandy lost accreditation and their kids got to come out to our schools for a year or two. Holy shit, I was horrified and embarrassed to have moved out to the other side of the river.

[Deleted]

Jun 1, 2021 9:25:15 GMT -5 jlt19 said:

Wow, I never knew anything about the ball (ESPECIALLY that it's an ongoing event)! I grew up in South County and attended the VP Fair, airshow and fireworks every year growing up, never the parade though. I remember when they changed it to Fair St. Louis, knowing it had something to do with Veiled Prophet being racist, but I guess I assumed (naively) that meant the organization wasn't still a thing. And that was in 1992. So, Ellie Kemper knew damn well what it was all about in 1999, however, after being in Hollywood, I would hope/assume she's denounced any of that kind of allegiance, though I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

circa1978, have you read that book? It sounds really interesting!

Do you remember when the KKK "adopted" part of 55 south, and it got renamed the Rosa Parks Hwy? I remember being so shocked that the KKK was anywhere near us, but again, I was naïve. I mean, I knew all about St. Louis' white flight and racism (both parents taught for STLPSD their entire careers and of course the "deseg" program), but always thought we weren't "Deliverance" territory.

I sure as hell learned my lesson when Normandy lost accreditation and their kids got to come out to our schools for a year or two. Holy shit, I was horrified and embarrassed to have moved out to the other side of the river.

There is a KKK chapter in my county (or so I've been told, I've never had direct contact with them to be clear) and I am directly adjacent to STL Co so yes, they're very much all over this area.