The
Ku Klux Klan), commonly called the
KKK or the
Klan,
is an American white supremacist hate group, whose primary target is
African Americans The Klan has existed in three distinct eras at
different points in time during the history of the United States. Each
has advocated extremist reactionary positions such as white nationalism,
anti-immigration and—especially in later iterations—Nordicism and
anti-Catholicism. Historically, the First Klan used terrorism – both
physical assault and murder – against politically active blacks and
their allies in the South in the late 1860s, until it was suppressed
around 1872. All three movements have called for the "purification" of
American society and all are considered right-wing extremist
organizations. In each era, membership was secret and estimates of the
total were highly exaggerated by both friends and enemies.
The first Klan flourished in the Southern United States in the late
1860s during Reconstruction, then died out by the early 1870s. It sought
to overthrow the Republican state governments in the South, especially
by using violence against African-American leaders. Each chapter was
autonomous and highly secret as to membership and plans. Its numerous
chapters across the South were suppressed around 1871, through federal
law enforcement. Members made their own, often colorful, costumes:
robes, masks and conical hats, designed to be terrifying and to hide
their identities.
[The
second Klan started small in Georgia in 1915. It grew after 1920 and
flourished nationwide in the early and mid-1920s, including urban areas
of the Midwest and West. Taking inspiration from D. W. Griffith's 1915
silent film
The Birth of a Nation, which mythologized the
founding of the first Klan, it employed marketing techniques and a
popular fraternal organization structure. Rooted in local Protestant
communities, it sought to maintain white supremacy, often took a
pro-Prohibition stance, and it opposed Catholics and Jews, while also
stressing its opposition to the alleged political power of the Pope and
the Catholic Church. This second organization was funded by initiation
fees and selling its members a standard white costume. The chapters did
not have dues. It used K-words which were similar to those used by the
first Klan, while adding cross burnings and mass parades to intimidate
others. It rapidly declined in the later half of the 1920s.
