Ku Klux Klan: A History
Naturally, today we are convinced -- and rightfully so -- that the Ku Klux Klan's politics and desires and goals are inherently evil. They are not in sync with the times, at the very least, and at the very most, they are a representation of all that is negative in racial relations. However, to understand the Klan's motivations, one must truly look at the group's origins and history.

While today's modern Klan groups are fighting for a goal that is a far cry from what the original Klan fought for, a better understanding of exactly what was going on during Reconstruction may reveal that just about any race of man today, if put in their shoes, would join such a group. They had a purpose, and they came out to fight for it. Once their job was done, they closed shop. The Klan today have no such…...

mla

Bibliography

Chalmers, David. (2004) How the KKK Helped the Civil Rights Movement. African-American Review: Winter, 2004.

Webb, Samuel. (2004). A Revisionist View of the KKK. Alabama Review: October, 2004.

www.KKK.com. KKK Web site. 2005.

Ku Klux Klan was founded by Nathan Bedford Forrest and five other educated, middle-class Confederate veterans on December 24, 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee (Ku pp). The name was constructed by combining the Greek word for circle with "clan" (Ku pp). The term Ku Klux Klan is used to refer to a number of past and present fraternal organizations within the United States that have advocated white supremacy (Ku pp).
The Klan's first incarnation was in 1866, and its main purpose was to resist Congressional Reconstruction by intimidating "carpetbaggers" and "scalawags" (Ku pp).

From the beginning the Klan adopted violent methods, and was involved in a wave of 1,300 lynchings of Republican voters in 1968 (Ku pp). By the early 1870's, the Klan had been destroyed by President Ulysses S. Grant under the 1871 Ku Klux Klan Act (Ku pp). However, in 1915, a second Ku Klux Klan was founded by illiam Joseph…...

mla

Work Cited

A Hundred Years of Terror. Retrieved August 18, 2005 from:

 http://www.iupui.edu/~aao/kkk.html 

Ku Klux Klan. Retrieved August 18, 2005 from:

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan

This single act, as shown by the documentation of the criminal justice system undeniably meets every single criteria for definition as an act of domestic terrorism as defined by section 2331 of Chapter 113b in the United States Code, which was quoted earlier. Of course this certainly isn't an isolated event. The court documents cited above themselves describe numerous acts of violence committed by Klan members throughout the 1960s and 1970s. The violent activities extended beyond these decades as well.

In 1993 members of the Invisible Empire, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan pelted civil rights activists with rocks and bottles during a brotherhood march in Forsyth County, Georgia. Throughout the 90s, Klan members had planned bombings and church burning specifically targeting those with black congregations. In April 1997, three Klan members were arrested in a plot to blow up a natural gas refinery near Fort Worth, Texas. Three more men…...

mla

References

Anti-Defamation Leage (2001). Hate on display: A visual database of extremist symbols, logos and tattoos: ZOG/JOG. Retrieved 19 August 2006 at  http://www.adl.org/hate_symbols/acronyms_zog.asp .

Anti-Defamation League (2001). The Ku Klux Klan. Retrieved 19 August 2006 at  http://www.adl.org/poisoning_web/kkk.asp .

Anti-Defamation League (2001). What is the Identity Church Movement. Retrieved 19 August 2006 at  http://www.adl.org/hate-patrol/churchmovement.asp .

Associated Press (1999). SC city labels KKK terrorist group. Retrived 19 August 2006 at  http://www.rickross.com/reference/kkk/kkk12.html .

]
The Klan was therefore able to identify different methods of infiltrating American politics and ideologies, crafting their program to suit different regions of the country. In areas with large numbers of Jews, the Klan could be rabidly anti-Semitic and gain membership via the propagation of Nazi values. In areas where moral decay in Christian communities was viewed as a primary problem, the Klan leaders presented their ideology as an agent of social morality.[footnoteef:11] When the Klan considered the advantages of taking its political platform and special interests to the mainstream, it joined the Democratic National Convention of 1924, and also the epublican National Convention that same year.[footnoteef:12] the Klan had become a full-scale mainstream political, social, and economic institution in the United States because it was as diverse as it was ideologically, even if not culturally or socio-economically. [11: DA Horowitz, "Social Morality and Personal evitalization: Oregon's Ku Klux Klan…...

mla

References

Alexander, CC, 'Kleagles and Cash: The Ku Klux Klan as a Business Organization," the Business History Review, Vol 39, No 3, p. 348-367.

Gitlin, M the Ku Klux Klan: A Guide to American Subculture, Santa Barbara, Greenwood, 2009.

Greenhaw, W Fighting the Devil in Dixie, Lawrence Hill, Chicago, 2011.

Griffin, LJ, Wilson, CR, Hargis, PG, Social Class. Vol 20 of the New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture, University of North Carolina Press, 2012.

That Duke's followers believed it was all that mattered. As always it was easy to believe that the failures of today were the result of interlopers and insidious conspiracies by inferior types. Duke was elected to the Louisiana state legislature in 1989. Though the campaign focused to a considerable extent on his Klan connections it ignored his wider philosophical associations and social and political connections. Duke was heavily involved with the American Nazi party. National Socialism represented possibly the ultimate expression of the Klan's principles of racial hatred, these poisonous ideas being brought to their natural apex in the goal of literally exterminating the supposedly inferior races. Following the methodology of Adolph Hitler, Duke began as a revolutionary but then turned to an appeal to "jobs and bread," thus linking his virulently racist campaign to the most fundamental human needs (Moore, 1992, pp. 94-95). Duke claimed to represent the…...

mla

References

Feldman, G. (1999). Politics, Society, and the Klan in Alabama, 1915-1949. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press.

Harcourt, E.J. (2005). Who Were the Pale Faces? New Perspectives on the Tennessee Ku Klux. Civil War History, 51(1), 23+.

McGee, B.R. (1998). Rehabilitating Emotion: The Troublesome Case of the Ku Klux Klan. Argumentation and Advocacy, 34(4), 173+.

Mecklin, J.M. (1963). The Ku Klux Klan a Study of the American Mind. New York: Russell & Russell.

The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) is also a domestic terrorist organization for the same reason, although it also maintains affiliations outside the U.S. (ELF, 2009). Like the AOG, the ELF preaches a message that would be perfectly legal if it were pursued strictly by nonviolent, legal means. Specifically, the ELF is dedicated to the economic sabotage of entities that, according to their definitions, are engaged in destroying the planet's environment and its biological organisms. The group was originally founded in England in 1992 and substantially modeled after the structure and organization of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) dedicated to the rescue of animals from laboratories and other institutions they believe are exploiting animals for profit.

More importantly, the ELF mirrors the decentralized, leaderless organizational structure of the ALF as a means of avoiding apprehension and infiltration by law enforcement. Specifically, both organizations consist of loose affiliations of otherwise unconnected independent organizations…...

mla

References

Australia.TO International Edition Local and World News (2009) "Defendants Sentenced to Prison in Earth Liberation Front (ELF) Action from 2000" Retrieved, March 24, 2009, at  http://www.australia.to/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6501:defendants-sentenced-to-prison-in-earth-liberation-front-elf-action-from-2000-&catid=87:crime 

Black Liberation Army. (1976). Message to the black movement. Self-Published.

Bostdorff, D.M. (2004). The Internet rhetoric of the Ku Klux Klan: A case study in Web Site community building run amok. Communication Studies, 55(2), 340+.

Editors. (2005). The American heritage new dictionary of cultural literacy, Third Edition. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Kenneth T. Jackson's book, The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915-1930, is an effective and valuable look at the second Klan movement. In the book, Jackson looks at the Klan's success in capturing political power in urban centers in the South and the North, and describes the Klan's actions in the political sphere. Jackson's book ultimately serves its purpose of describing the unique characteristics of the second Klan movement, and dispels many of the stereotypes of the Klan as a rural, Southern movement.
Essentially, the KKK was relatively successful in capturing political power in urban centers in the South and the North. Jackson notes that the Klan was only active in the southern cities of Mobile, Birmingham, Atlanta, and Montgomery prior to 1920, and that the Klan's movement into the north only became established in the north at a later date.

Despite the early success of the clan in the southern…...

mla

Works Cited

Jackson, Kenneth T. 1992. The Ku Klux Klan in the City, 1915-1930. Ivan R. Dee, Inc.

S. Those who had lived for generations in the U.S. were unsettled and wary as these changes occurred. Immigration soon became a social and political issue among the public, groups began to form based on beliefs held which were similar from group to group, and the prevalence of organizations experienced growth with the KKK being no exception to the rule. The KKK used phrases such as "America for Americans" (Ludwig, nd) Ludwig additionally states: "Anti-Catholic prejudice was alive and even rejuvenated in some quarters in the twentieth century. Protestant "fundamentalists" and other new Christian denominations revived anti-Catholicism as part of an insistence on "original," pre-Rome Christianity. Americans, goaded on by hate groups, feared that Catholics would pay allegiance to their "foreign King" (the Pope) rather than their new country (Pencak, 110). Although there was a strong argument for this, as much of the Italian immigrant population consisted of devout Catholics,…...

mla

Bibliography

Bustamante, David (2006) Through the Golden Door: Immigration to the United States. United States Consulate General in Milan, 12 Dec. 2006.

Kasherova, Mina (2003) Ku Klux Klan. September 2003. Online available at  http://www.acs.bg/Tolerance_museum/9_3/museum/Mina/Mina.doc .

Werner, Suzanne (2007) the Effects of the Fear Surrounding the Fall of the Victorian Age. Michigan State University Online available at  http://www.msu.edu/course/mc/112/1920s/Immigration/Suzannespage.html .

Ludwig, J (2007) American Exploits: 1920s Italian Immigrant Discrimination. Michigan State University. Online available at  http://www.msu.edu/course/mc/112/1920s/Immigration/Jamiespage.html

Klan politics are eerily being played out in modern conservative movements such as the Tea Party. While the Tea Party does not officially endorse the KKK, the two groups share many common objectives including the mistrust of new immigrants. Today's Klansmen are basically "unhappy about the social politics of America's post-industrial, pluralistic society" and they "feel left out."

The official stance of the KKK resembles much of conservative America in that the group claims to espouse "Christian morality" and "eschews violence."

The Klan's own Web site claims that the group is "ringing a Message of Hope and Deliverance to White Christian America! A Message of Love NOT Hate!"

ecause of this misleading message, the KKK has the potential to woo new recruits and influence public discourse: neither of which can be tolerated.

ibliography

Anti-Defamation League. "About the Ku Klux Klan." Retrieved online: http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/kkk/default.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=4&item=kkk

ullard, Sara. The Ku Klux Klan. Southern Poverty Law Center, 1996.

Chalmers, David M.…...

mla

Bibliography

Anti-Defamation League. "About the Ku Klux Klan." Retrieved online:  http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/kkk/default.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=4&item=kkk 

Bullard, Sara. The Ku Klux Klan. Southern Poverty Law Center, 1996.

Chalmers, David M. Hooded Americanism. Duke University Press, 2003.

Gitlin, Martin. The Ku Klux Klan: A Guide to an American Subculture. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2009

Pretention was key because the women knew that the men's focus stayed on preventing race mixing between blacks and whites. To distract the men from the issues that the WKKK were fighting for, they would cleverly get the men to focus on black men trying to flirt or what have you with them. This was just a ploy for them so that they could fully pursue their interests with little or no interference from the men.
Auxiliary or Organization

Clearly, the intent of the KKK was for the women to establish an auxiliary in order to support them. The women had other ideas. The men were used to further the women's cause unknowingly. "Klanswomen embraced the mixture of individualism and deference to authority that characterized the male Klan." (p. 36). The women did not and would not be a support group for the men. They did feel that other races were…...

mla

Bibliography

Blee, K.M. (2008). Women of the Klan: Racism and Gender in the 1920s (2 ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press.

Others, however, saw things differently.
Perhaps the clearest way to come to an understanding of the status of the WKK as either an independent or an auxiliary organization is to examine the central philosophies of the two groups. While the leadership of the WKKK by and large supported the racial and religious policies of the larger Ku Klux Klan -- i.e. A mistrust or outright hatred of blacks, Catholics, and Jews -- there were fears that even "Protestant men…were likely to be 'unyielding' in opposition to gender equality since they benefited directly from the current situation" (Blee 1991, pp. 76). Given this level of mistrust and irreconcilable difference, it seems unlikely that the most vocal, staunch, and long-standing members of the WKKK considered themselves a part of the same organization as the man they viewed as their oppressors. Though working in tandem with the Ku Klux Klan and using many…...

mla

Reference

Blee, K. (1991). Women of the Klan. Los Angeles: University of California Press.

There are also other aspects that could be included in the study of susceptibility factors, such as unemployment and criminality.
In conclusion, the main technique that the Klan uses to entice and retain members is the ideological component of their dogma and rhetoric. This is supported by factors such as the search for meaning among the youth and fear. The Klan uses fear of poverty, dispossession and other social factors to maintain a hold on their members. These aspects are strengthened and grounded in various religious perceptions and theories, which tend to justify and legitimize the actions of the Klan to existing members, as well as making the society more attractive to newcomers.

ibliography

Summary of the Panel Discussion on Cults. Retrieved November 12, 2008, at http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:zw-HeZTvIMJ:www.bcskeptics.info/re/11.02.pdf+What+persuasion+techniques+does+the+Ku+Klux+Klan+use+to+recruit+and+retain+members&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=za

Apocalypse: Definition of Key Terms. Retrieved November 13, 2008, at http://csuold.csuohio.edu/english/earl/nr0apoc1.html

evilaqua J. The FI, COINTELPRO-WHITE HATE and the Decline of Ku Klux Klan Organizations in Mississippi,…...

mla

Bibliography

Summary of the Panel Discussion on Cults. Retrieved November 12, 2008, at http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:zw-HeZTBvIMJ:www.bcskeptics.info/re/11.02.pdf+What+persuasion+techniques+does+the+Ku+Klux+Klan+use+to+recruit+and+retain+members&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=5&gl=za

Apocalypse: Definition of Key Terms. Retrieved November 13, 2008, at http://csuold.csuohio.edu/english/earl/nr0apoc1.html

Bevilaqua J. The FBI, COINTELPRO-WHITE HATE and the Decline of Ku Klux Klan Organizations in Mississippi, 1964-1971. Mississippi Historical Review. 2004. Retrieved November 13, 2008, at www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5006805072http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/lofiversion/index.php/t11464.html

Bostdorff, D.M. (2004). The Internet Rhetoric of the Ku Klux Klan: A Case Study in Web Site Community Building Run Amok. Communication Studies, 55(2), 340+. Retrieved November 13, 2008, from Questia database:   www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000318309http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5006805072 

The KKK recognizes that power is a necessary ingredient in attracting people to its cause. They empower the hierarchal administrators with certain authorities over the membership, their states, and creates the personal sense of power that individuals who might not be otherwise competent or confident in their own abilities to nonetheless have an authority over others.
That the regions wherein the KKK operates, those states listed in its charter, are divided amongst the hierarchy administratively, creating a sense of ownership over the states. Certainly it must be the hope of the hierarchal administrators that they will one day have an opportunity to assert their authority beyond the limits of the organization. In fact, the very essence of this doctrine, the charter by which the organization operates and its secret nature, suggest that there is the anticipation that the infrastructure of the United States will breakdown, and that the "empire" will…...

mla

Reference List

Fleming, Walter L. (ed), the Ku Klux Klan, 1905, p. 154ff.

hile " resurgence of support for the Klan was manifest in the surprising popularity in the early 1990s of David Duke in Louisiana, actual membership in Klan organizations is estimated to be in the low thousands (Unknown)." The "Ku Klux Klan still exists and holds power today. They are responsible for many attacks and killings of blacks, immigrants, Jews and Catholics (www.learntoquestion.com/vclass/seevak/groups/2001/sites/dees/back)."
Conclusion

hen the Ku Klux Klan was originally organized, and in the 1920s, it had a major influence on politics in the United States. However, over the years the political climate in the United States has changed and membership in the Klan has declined, diminishing the KKK's political power today.

orks Cited

Background: Ku Klux Klan. (accessed 03 May, 2005). www.learntoquestion.com/vclass/seevak/groups/2001/sites/dees/back...).

Klein, Anne. "Unmasking the Oregon Klansman: The Ku Klux Klan in Astoria 1921-1925." (accessed 03 May, 2005). ).

Lynching. (accessed 03 May, 2005). www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAlynching.htm).

Unknown. "Ku Klux Klan." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition.…...

mla

Works Cited

Background: Ku Klux Klan. (accessed 03 May, 2005). www.learntoquestion.com/vclass/seevak/groups/2001/sites/dees/back...).

Klein, Anne. "Unmasking the Oregon Klansman: The Ku Klux Klan in Astoria 1921-1925." (accessed 03 May, 2005). ).

Lynching. (accessed 03 May, 2005). www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAlynching.htm).

Unknown. "Ku Klux Klan." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. (2005): 24 February.

They were released only to be followed on the highway and shot dead.
Attorney General Robert Kennedy who was informed of the disappearance of the three men, arranged for Joseph Sullivan of the FBI to go to ississippi and investigate the situation together with FBI eridian-based agent John Proctor. Their findings would be splendidly presented in Court by John Doar, who prosecuted the federal case. Local officials were not sympathetic with the case and showed little interest in finding the ones responsible for the murders. Nevertheless, federal interest in the case was overwhelming, thus the investigation was impressive and finally led to the discovery of the killers.

The population of the country was reluctant to offering any kind of information regarding the killings; in fact, it was children who gave the investigators the most clues. The two agents used tactics such as the observation of the sheriff's behavior as he was…...

mla

Mississippi Burning." Spartacus Educational. http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAburning.htm

Mississippi Burning." AfricanAmericans.com.  http://www.africanamericans.com/CivilRightsSlaying.htm 

The Ku Klux Klan: A Hundred Years of Terror." Indiana University: Southern Poverty Law Center, 2000.  http://www.iupui.edu/~aao/kkk.html

Segregation:
After Reconstruction, Southern states began implementing Jim Crow laws that enforced racial segregation in public facilities, transportation, and housing. These laws mandated separate facilities for African Americans and whites, perpetuating the segregation and discrimination that had existed prior to the Civil War. African Americans were denied access to quality education, public services, and even the right to vote, leading to further disenfranchisement and marginalization.

Violence:
In addition to the legal discrimination of Jim Crow laws, African Americans faced widespread violence and intimidation from white supremacist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. Lynchings, bombings, and other forms of violence were used....