K.K.K.

(Ku Klux Klan)

by Tymur Bolsheshapov
What is KKK? ?

Ku Klux Klan, either of two distinct U.S. hate organizations that employed terror in
pursuit of their white supremacist agenda. One group was founded immediately
after the Civil War and lasted until the 1865. The other began in 1915 and has
continued to the present.

Two members of the Ku Klux

Klan, illustration from Harper's
Weekly, December 19, 1868

Three Ku Klux Klan members

arrested in Tishomingo County,
Mississippi, September 1871, for
the attempted murder of an entire
family
 Origins of the KKK
The 19th-century Klan was originally organized as a social club by Confederate
veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee, in 1866. They apparently derived the name from
the Greek word kyklos, from which comes the English “circle”; “Klan” was added
for the sake of alliteration and Ku Klux Klan emerged. The organization quickly
became a vehicle for Southern white underground resistance to Radical
Reconstruction. Klan members sought the restoration of white supremacy through
intimidation and violence aimed at the newly enfranchised Black freedmen. A
similar organization, the Knights of the White Camelia, began in Louisiana in 1867.

Nathan Bedford Forrest, Confederate General

and the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
Image courtesy of the Library of Congress.
 SYMBOLISM of the KKK
In modern times the symbol of the burning
cross has become almost solely
associated with the Ku Klux Klan and has
become one of the most potent hate
symbols in the United States.This days the
symbol of the burning cross is so
associated with racial intimidation.
*Burning crosses did not become
associated with the clan until Thomas
Dixon's The Clansman, and its film
adaptation, D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a
Nation

Triangular Klan symbol

Cross burning in
Lumberton, North
Carolina (1958)
The burning cross symbol have
long been used as a traditional
symbol by KKK groups, used
both in Klan rituals as well as in
attempts to intimidate and
terrorize victims of Klan groups.

Cross burning was introduced by

William J. Simmons, the founder
of the second Klan in 1915.
The KKK's white hoods and robes evolved
from early efforts to pose as ghosts or
"spectral" figures, drawing on then-
resonant symbols in folklore to play
"pranks" against African-Americans and
others. Such tricks quickly took on more
politically sinister overtones, as sheeted
Klansmen would commonly terrorize their
targets, using hoods and masks to disguise
their identities when carrying out acts of
violence under the cover of darkness.
 The first KKK was formed in 1866 and aimed to intimidate and oppress newly freed African Americans and their white allies during the
Reconstruction era. Members of the KKK wore white robes and hoods to conceal their identities while carrying out acts of violence and
terror against black individuals and Republican politicians. The KKK's activities led to the passage of the Enforcement Acts in 1870 and
1871, which aimed to combat Klan violence and protect civil rights.
A cartoon
The First KKK's influence waned in the late 19th century, but it experienced a revival in the early 20th century, which is known as the
threatening that
Second Ku Klux Klan. The Second KKK emerged in the 1910s and 1920s, primarily as a nativist and white supremacist organization that
targeted not only African Americans but also Catholics, Jews, immigrants, and other minority groups. It was a nationwide movement,
the KKK will
boasting millions of members at its peak. Unlike the original KKK, the Second KKK was less secretive and often held public rallies and lynch scalawags
marches. (left) and
carpetbaggers
Both the First and Second KKKs promoted racial hatred and discrimination, using violence, intimidation, and political influence to achieve
(right) on March
their goals. Eventually, the Second KKK's popularity declined due to scandals and internal strife, but its legacy of racism and bigotry
continued to influence American society for many years to come.
4, 1869, the day
President Grant
takes office.
AIMS, 1ST & 2 KLAN
In this 1926 cartoon,
the Ku Klux Klan
chases the Catholic
Church, personified by
St. Patrick, from the
shores of America.
Among the "snakes"
are various supposed
negative attributes of
the Church, including
superstition, the union
of church and state,
control of public
schools, and
intolerance.