The Ku Klux Klan

The main purpose of the KKK

How it was formed/founded

The Ku Klux Klan (KKK), or simply "the Klan", is the name of three distinct past and present movements in the United States that have acted upon currents such as white power, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically expressed through terrorism aimed at groups or individuals whoever they opposed.

Revival of the Ku Klux Klan

The Ku Klux Klan, also known as, the KKK was founded in 1866 in almost every southern state by 1870. A group of veterans founded the first branch of the KKK as a social club in Pulaski, Tennessee. The first 2 words in the name of the organization's came from the Greek word "kyklos," meaning the word circle.

In 1915, white Protestant nativists organized a revival of the Ku Klux Klan near Atlanta, Georgia, inspired byy their romantic views of the Old South as well as Thomas Dixon’s 1905 book “The Clansman” and D.W. Griffith’s 1915 film “Birth of a Nation.” This second generation of the Klan was not only anti-black but also took a stand against Roman Catholics, Jews, foreigners and organized labor. It was fueled by growing hostility to the surge in immigration that America experienced in the early 20th century along with fears of communist revolution akin to the Bolshevik triumph in Russia in 1917.

Ku Klux Klan Violence in the South

1st Klan:

From 1867 onward, African-American participation in public life in the South became one of the most biggest views of Reconstruction, as blacks won election to southern state governments and even to the U.S. Congress. For its part, the Ku Klux Klan dedicated itself to an underground campaign of violence against Republican leaders and voters (both black and white) in an effort to reverse the policies of Reconstruction and restore white power in the South.

The first Ku Klux Klan flourished in the Southern United States in the late 1860s, then died out by the early 1870s. It sought to overthrow the Republican state governments in the South during the Reconstruction Era, especially by using violence against African American leaders. With numerous chapters across the South, it was put to an end around 1871, through federal enforcement. Members made their own, often colorful, costumes: robes, masks, and conical hats, designed to be terrifying, and to hide their identities.

The Ku Klux Klan and the end of Reconstruction

The organization’s membership crossed class lines, from small farmers and laborers to planters, lawyers, merchants, physicians and ministers. In the regions where most Klan activity took place, local law enforcement officials either belonged to the Klan or declined to take action against it, and even those who arrested accused Klansmen found it difficult to find witnesses willing to testify against them.

Second group:

The second group was founded in 1915, and flourished nationwide in the early and mid-1920s, particularly in urban areas of the Midwest and West. It opposed Catholics and Jews, especially newer immigrants, and stressed opposition to the Catholic Church.This second organisation adopted a standard white costume and used similar code words as the first Klan, while adding cross burnings and mass parades.

Third Group:

The third and current group of the KKK emerged after 1950, in the form of small, local, unconnected groups that use the KKK name. They focused on opposition to the Civil Rights Movement, often using violence and murder to suppress activists. It is classified as a hate group by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center. It is estimated to have between 5,000 and 8,000 members as of 2012.

Resistance:

There was also resistance to the Klan. In 1953, newspaper publishers W. Horace Carter (Tabor City, NC), who had campaigned for three years, and Willard Cole (Whiteville, NC) shared the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service saying "their successful campaign against the Ku Klux Klan, waged on their own doorstep at the risk of economic loss and personal danger, culminating in the conviction of over one hundred Klansmen and an end to terrorism in their communities."

Later Klans: 1950–1960's

The KKK's Emblem

The name "Ku Klux Klan" began to be used by several independent groups. Beginning in the 1950s, for instance, individual Klan groups in Birmingham, Alabama, began to resist social change and blacks' efforts to improve their lives by bombing houses in transitional neighborhoods. There were so many bombings in Birmingham of blacks' homes by Klan groups in the 1950s that the city's nickname was "Bombingham".

KKK pictures

KKK video

The Ku Klux Klan

BY: Javi Herreros

My opinion about the KKK

First of all, I think the KKK is crazy. They kill african-americans for no reason. If they think that african-americans are "different from us/ not equal" They are sick and they need to get their life together. Honestly, I truly believe that we were all made equally. We are humans, not "aliens" we were all made from a mom and dad. They wanted to produce us people! We are not mistaken! Treat others the way you want to be treated. Dont be racist, be nice!