The Ku Klux Klan is a white supremacist organization with a history of terrorism and violence against black Southerners, civil rights advocates, immigrants, Catholics, union members, and Jewish people. It has had three incarnations, with the first originating during the Civil War and the most recent being focused on promoting “white Christian values.” While its influence has declined, it still contributes to racism and anti-immigrant sentiments in the US.
The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is a highly secretive and well known white supremacist organization based in the American South. There have effectively been three separate incarnations of the KKK, the result of repeated efforts to limit the more radical activities of Klan members. The precise number of Ku Klux Klan members is unknown, largely because there are numerous branches of white supremacist organizations that claim KKK affiliations, but estimates from the 1990s hovered around 5,000 confirmed members.
The origins of the first incarnation of the Ku Klux Klan go back to the Civil War, when white Southerners began to worry about their status in an antebellum world. In response, a group of Civil War veterans formed the KKK with the express purpose of promoting white dominance in the South, using acts of terrorism and harassment against black Southerners to achieve their goals. In addition to harassing the black community, Klan members also threatened civil rights advocates, immigrants, Catholics, union members, and people of the Jewish faith.
In the 1870s, the Ku Klux Klan was classified as a terrorist organization, in part due to a backlash among Southerners who blamed the Klan for increasing violence in the South. The organization was suppressed and largely disbanded until 1915, when the film Birth of a Nation mobilized a new generation of white supremacists who developed a variety of tactics, including anonymous appearances in hoods and cloaks, to popularize the Klan. Increased immigration to the United States fueled the growth of the second version of the KKK, as many Americans feared the influence of immigration on traditional American values.
During World War II, the Ku Klux Klan dwindled again, only to be reinvigorated in the 1950s and 1960s by the civil rights movement. Klan members have conducted lynchings, bombings, and other terrorist activities in an effort to combat the rising tide of civil rights, and have been implicated in a variety of violent crimes including intimidation and harassment. The organization has also become far less socially acceptable due to outspoken criticism from religious leaders, government officials and prominent members of the community.
The KKK’s influence in the United States has declined dramatically since the mid-20th century, when many Klan members were quite open about their activities. Modern versions of the Ku Klux Klan usually focus on promoting so-called “white Christian values,” and some actively condemn the militant terrorism that has historically been associated with the organization. While the modern KKK isn’t staging cross-burnings and public lynchings, it could certainly be argued that it contributes to the perpetuation of racism in the United States, as well as anti-immigrant sentiments.
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