Background
The Ku Klux Klan, or KKK for short is a racist organization aimed at achieving white supremacy and racial segregation in America through violence. It was founded in 1866 by several Confederate Civil War veterans. The KKK has grown and collapsed several times throughout its history. When it was first founded the Ku Klux Klan focused mainly on opposing African Americans. The also opposed anyone who supported them and the federal government because they supported their rights. As times changed many more groups of people became enemies of the Klan such as Jewish people and different groups of immigrants.
Roots: The Red Scare
The Ku Klux Klan once again emerged for a couple of reasons, but the main one was the Red Scare. The Red Scare began after World War One and the Bolshevik Revolution. The Bolsheviks, who were communists who called for abolishment of capitalism world-wide. This caused an uproar in the United States and a communist party was formed. Bombs were mailed to many government officials and this caused a nationwide fear of communists and other radical political groups. In response to this the United States attorney general, Palmer searched for communists, socialists or anarchists. Many rights were violated during these searches and suspected foreigners were deported without a hearing. The searches didn’t change anything and the Red Scare ended. The result was U.S. citizens finding immigrants and other foreign born people suspicious. The KKK used the Red scare and the anti communism feelings associated with it as a justification to discriminate against minorities.
Discrimination
The Ku Klux Klan discriminated against many different groups of people in the 1920’s such as Catholics, Jews, and African Americans. The group also opposed unions to a certain extent. This era of the Ku Klux Klan was especially unique because of it’s increased and intense hostility towards these groups. They believed that Catholics were not good Americans because their allegiance truly belonged to the pope. On top of this the KKK believed that they were staying away from main stream America by creating their own schools. The Klan’s propaganda even stated that Catholics were trying to take over the American Government and turn the country over to Rome. The KKK’s discrimination against Jews was due to a couple reasons. The first being that their allegiance belonged to Palestine and the second being that they believed they controlled the international banks. Anti-Semitic ideas were even posted in newspapers such as Henry Ford’s, Dearborn independent. Out of the three groups listed above the African American’s debatably had the worst conditions and discrimination out of all of the groups of people. KKK members simply didn’t think that the African Americans didn’t deserve the rights that they received and were not equal to a white man. African Americans were often facing lynching, violence, destruction of homes and neighborhoods and threats.
Recruitment and Destruction
The Ku Klux Klan was now a large organization and by 1924 had 4.5 million members. A large part of their size was related to their recruiting methods. The Ku Klux Klan paid its members to recruit new members into the Klan. By the end of the 1920’s the KKK had become substantially weaker due to it’s criminal activity. An example of this is a powerful member of the KKK, D.C. Stephenson raping his secretary and allowing her to die after she attempted to kill herself. He received a life sentence in prison for this. Many situations similar to this one ultimately led to the decreasing of power of the Klan.
The KKK Today
The Ku Klux Klan is indeed still around but is much different than it was in the 1920’s. One of their members named April Chambers claims that there goals are not to be racist but rather to be around other white people and to exhibit their “white pride”. On the Ku Klux Klan website they claim that there is a race war against whites and the way to oppose it is not violently, but rather to build solidarity within white communities.
Sources
"Ku Klux Klan." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. <http://www.history.com/topics/ku-klux-klan>.
Burnett, Paul. "The Red Scare." The Red Scare. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. <http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/saccov/redscare.html>.
"Ku Klux Klan -- Extremism in America." Ku Klux Klan -- Extremism in America. Anti-Defamation League, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. <http://archive.adl.org/learn/ext_us/kkk/default.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism>.
Pendergraft, Rachel. "The Knights Party, USA." The Ku Klux Klan. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. <http://www.kkk.com/>.
Stewart, Alicia. "A Kinder, Gentler Ku Klux Klan? 'We Do Not Hate Anyone,' Imperial Wizard Says." In America RSS. CNN, 12 June 2012. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. <http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/12/a-kinder-gentler-ku-klux-klan-we-do-not-hate-anyone-imperial-wizard-says/>.
Danzer, Gerald A. The Americans. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2005. Print
Danzer, Gerald A. The Americans. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2005. Print
Burnett, Paul. "The Red Scare." The Red Scare. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. <http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/saccov/redscare.html>.
"Ku Klux Klan -- Extremism in America." Ku Klux Klan -- Extremism in America. Anti-Defamation League, n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. <http://archive.adl.org/learn/ext_us/kkk/default.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism>.
Pendergraft, Rachel. "The Knights Party, USA." The Ku Klux Klan. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. <http://www.kkk.com/>.
Stewart, Alicia. "A Kinder, Gentler Ku Klux Klan? 'We Do Not Hate Anyone,' Imperial Wizard Says." In America RSS. CNN, 12 June 2012. Web. 11 Feb. 2013. <http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2012/06/12/a-kinder-gentler-ku-klux-klan-we-do-not-hate-anyone-imperial-wizard-says/>.
Danzer, Gerald A. The Americans. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2005. Print
Danzer, Gerald A. The Americans. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2005. Print
This is Henry Ford’s Dearborn independent. It talks about how jews are a major problem in our country, and other anti-Semitic views that the KKK would support. This particular article is the one that started the seven year hate campaign against Jews by Henry Ford.
This is an interview with a former KKK member named John Clary. He describes a story of how an African American reverend opposed and ultimately defeated the Klan members. The story shows the hatred they had towards African Americans when John describes what he believes is a stereotype of an African American. The member’s even burn down his church but the Reverend continues to remain kind to the Klan members, ultimately getting them to leave him alone.