History Research Paper Final

Angelica Faylogna

May 16, 2012

History Research Paper

The Ku Klux Klan is defined as “a secret organization of White Protestant Americans, mainly in the South, who use violence against Blacks, Jews, and other minority groups.” (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Ku+Klux+Klan) It is one the of most popular controversies in America today. Presently the KKK is still a frowned upon group that upholds its trademark in history of being such an unaccepted belief. Of its past, present and maybe future intentions, it is but a matter of opinion to whether the KKK is entirely a negative organization or if their intentions mean well. Of its past history, the decision to whether or not the KKK had more of a bad impact than good on society is fairly right. Presently, the controversy within its organization is still a conflict. Its influences to society today plays a huge role in whether their message should be classified as terrorism in the near future.

Of the many significant events that have happened in it's past history, the KKK has become a well known organization that it is today mainly by it's leaders. The people that has made it possible for the KKK to even be able to kick start their movement with it's plans for the future. A good example would be a man named Robert Carlyle Byrd. He was a United States Senator fromWest Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, Byrd served as a U.S. Representative from 1953 until 1959 and as a U.S. Senator from 1959 to 2010. He was the longest-serving senator and the longest-serving member in the history of the United States Congress. In the early 1940s, Byrd recruited 150 of his friends and associates to create a new chapter of the Ku Klux Klan According to Byrd, at only 24 years old at the time, a Klan official told him, "You have a talent for leadership, Bob... The country needs young men like you in the leadership of the nation." as stated in a 2010 article discussing of his death at the age of 92. Flattered by his abilities being recognized jumped at the chance and had brought KKK up to a new level. Also to David Duke who is probably America's most famous unapologetic racist and anti-Semite, written in an official website of himself, called DavidDuke.com. "Our clear goal," he has said, "must be the advancement of the white race and separation of the white and black races. This goal must include freeing of the American media and government from subservient Jewish interests." He opposes integration, calls himself a "white nationalist", and his political perspectives are colored almost entirely by race.

The KKK had associated with three time periods in America.The first Klan was founded in 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee, by six veterans of the Confederate Army. They named it after the Greek word kuklos, which means “circle”. The name means "Circle of Brothers." The KKK wanted to restore white supremacy by threats and violence, including murder, against black Republicans. In 1870 and 1871, the federal government passed the Force Acts, which were used to prosecute Klan crimes. Prosecution of Klan crimes and enforcements of the Force Acts suppressed Klan activity. With the contribution of openly active paramilitary organizations such as the White League and the Red Shirt helped white Democrats to regain political power in all the Southern states by 1877 due to the injustice going on around the time.

In 1915, the second Klan was founded in Georgia. Its membership grew most rapidly in cities, and spread to the Midwest and West out of the South, preaching, "One Hundred Percent Americanism.” (http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/history/A0859145.html). It focused on the threat of the Catholic Church, using anti-Catholicism and nativism. During the mid-1920s, the organization claimed to include about 15% of the nation's eligible population, approximately 4–5 million men. Although by the criminal behavior of leaders, and external opposition brought about a collapse in membership, which had dropped to about 30,000 by 1930, stated for an article names “The Second Ku Klux Klan” in 2005 focusing mainly on the key points of the event. Some local groups took part in attacks on private houses and carried out other violent activities generally in the South. It finally faded away in the 1940s.

In the 1950s and 1960s the "Ku Klux Klan" name was used by many independent local groups opposing desegregation and the Civil Right Movement. Several members of KKK groups were convicted of murder in the deaths of civil rights workers and children in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham. In article labeled, “The Klan Rides Again” they say today, researchers estimate that there may be approximately 150 Klan chapels of 5,000 or more members nationwide. A large majority of sources consider the Klan to be a "subversive or terrorist organization". In 1999, the city council of Charleston, South Carolina passed a resolution declaring the Klan to be a terrorist organization. A similar effort was made in 2004 when a professor which name was unlisted due to preferring to stay incognito at the University of Louisville began a campaign to have the Klan declared a terrorist organization so it could be banned from campus. In April 1997, FBI agents arrested four members of the True Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Dallas for conspiracy to commit robbery and to blow up a natural gas processing plant.

Economically the KKK has from the 1920 and 1930 U.S. Censuses, as written in a 2007 article labeled, “The Everyday Economist”, we find that individuals who joined the Klan were better educated and more likely to hold professional jobs than the typical American. Surprisingly, they found few tangible social or political impacts of the Klan. There is little evidence that the Klan had an effect on black or foreign born residential mobility, or on lynching patterns. Historians have argued that the Klan was successful in getting candidates they favored elected through a process targeting a crowd and their ability in persuading into convincing those around them to also follow along. They had a natural talent to touch the hearts of a crowd and speaking to them in a way that was strongly believable. Statistical analysis, however, suggests that any direct impact of the Klan was likely to be small. Furthermore, those who were elected had little discernible effect on legislation passed most likely in the south, rather than a terrorist organization.

Politically, the purpose of the KKK soon developed into a paramilitary force used to oppose the Republican governments set up in the old Confederate States and used to stop Freedmen (ex-slaves) from voting, attempting to register to vote, and from trying to hold elective offices in the southern states. When the KKK became too violent, Nathan Bedford Forrest, who served as the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, a secret vigilante organization, ordered it disbanded, but the violent element in the KKK continued, until the government passed the Force Acts and the Klan was extinguished in 1872. In 1915, William Simmons founded the twentieth-century version of the KKK after viewing the film, Birth of a Nation, which glorified the history of the Klan. The new Klan was not only anti black, but anti Jewish, anti foreign, and anti-Catholic. “The Klan actually became a respected part of the Democratic Party and reached its peak of political power in the 1920s, when membership may have been as high as 4.5 million, including many prominent business and political leaders.” (http://marginalrevolution.com/marginalrevolution/2007/09/the-ku-klux-kla.html). The Klan declined in power when the Grand Dragon, was found guilty of second degree murder in the death of a young women whom he had taken to Chicago with him. In an attempt to lessen his sentence, Grand Dragon David Stephenson turned over evidence to the government revealing the corruption of the Klan, the names of politicians the Klan had bribed, and other illegal activities of the organization. In the 1960s, the KKK briefly rose again to try and opposed the Civil Rights movement. After numerous deaths and disappearance of civil rights workers in the South, and the burning of black churches, and the passage of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1965, the Klan fell apart. Today, there are small splinter groups of the KKK but no one large national organization.

The Ku Klux Klan was originally a social fraternity, organized by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, the first Grand Wizard of the Empire, in 1867. In the 1920s Klan is best described as “a social organization built through a wildly successful pyramid scheme fueled by an army of highly-incentivized sales agents selling hatred, religious intolerance, and fraternity in a time and place where there was tremendous demand.” (http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/kkk1.html). Many books have been published since involving the KKK. A couple are of authors who've has experienced the cruelty of its organization, some of inspired novels involving the KKK, and other that focus mainly on it's background and practices. The content of it is not always kid friendly although it does get a message out about the opinion everyone might have about it. A few of New York Times Best Sellers include, A Women of the Clan, which is about the racism and gender in the 1920s and an informational book called, Freakonomics, written between a collaboration of authors and journalists who focus on discussions involving issues such as the KKK. Also the media is used to promote a lot of opinions and protests about this issue. In a website that defends the beliefs of the KKK called the Knights Party, they actually encourage you to join their organization and also provide facts to exactly why they think their beliefs are harmless, they mention gathering dates and activities.

Of its beliefs, the KKK emphasizes how their beliefs are Christian based, stated in a few articles based on their practices, they show that they don't believe in abortion although they do say they are against interracial marriages. They preach white power or supremacy of the white race and are generally against African Americans, and of Jews, Muslims, Immigrants to America, Asians, Homosexuals, Catholics, as well as others. They view whites as the pure race and believe the world would be a better place if whites were still allowed to control things fully. In the early days of The Klan they began wearing the traditional white robes and hoods to both hide their identity and make their night rides more dramatic. The burning of the cross is an important practice of The Klan and has a deep meaning. It represents the light of the cross banishing the darkness and ignorance. The fire is to remind them them of the ability to burn or cleanse the land of evil and impurities, as The Klan says, it's meant to worship and empower Christ and his followers not show disrespect or hatred.

The KKK once again is a popular controversy still today as shown in many articles today. With it's organization presently quiet and hardly active in society today, it is still considered from a majority of citizens a frowned upon organization. It's beliefs although claim to be of harmless intentions, has left a trademark in society today as violent and dangerous. Not much people in their right minds would ever attempt to walk the streets in a white robe like the KKK's uniform, although believe it or not there are those who attend gathering just and common and casual in public facilities similar to a catholic or christian church. It's hard to believe people today are still full support of this organization, claiming it to be the more dominant group, superior to any other. In showing how there are those who are quick to point fingers and not everyone is as accepting to the differences we all have between each other.