The Ku Klux Klan

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The Ku Klux Klan

The Ku Klux Klan, better known as the KKK, was started

in Tennessee in 1866. The people who believed in "White

Pride" came together against the advancement of African

Americans, Jews, and other minorities. The KKK

members were very violent and used harsh actions to get

their point across, but their actions were supported by their

strong belief in their religion and the culture in which they

were brought up in. The Klan did as it believed, they did

what they thought was right and for their time period they

were just acting in the way their culture brought them up to

act. The name Ku Klux Klan comes from the Greek word

kuklos, meaning circle. The oldest symbol of unity is a

circle. The Klan represents itself as the "oldest American

White civil rights group." The KKK's history has been split

into five eras. Former Confederate General Nathan

Bedford Forrest founded the First Era in 1866. The Klan

was formed during the Reconstruction Era of United States

history. Klan members went on "night rides." On "night

rides" the KKK members dressed in white robes and went

to houses belonging to empowered blacks and instituted

fright into their hearts. They would threaten these blacks

with what would happen if they voted or took positions of

power. They often whipped, mutilated or even killed any

black that didn't comply with the KKK's ideas. The

Second Era of the KKK reigned from 1915-1925. This

Second Era of Klansmen came together against the blacks

that were trying to take a spot in the community with the

NAACP. The Klan provided middle-class whites with

stability. This era of the Klan came together against African

Americans, Catholics, Jews, Asians, immigrants, anyone

who had pre-and extra-marital escapades, and many other

minorities. This Klan era was the First Era to use

automobiles as part of the lynching. The Third Era was

started in May of 1954 when the Supreme Court ruled that

segregating of public schools by race was unconstitutional.

This generation of Klansmen at one point numbered

40,000. In 1857 as a result of the Montgomery Bus

boycott, a group of Klan members torched four African

American Churches. At one point a count was taken and

there had been over one hundred and fifty acts of racial and

anti-Semitic acts of violence in the south. The Third Era

mainly used their own forms of bombs to de...

... middle of paper ...

...at blacks and other minorities are receiving more

chances than whites are. They disagree strongly with

affirmative action and special treatment for minorities.

Today's KKK's purpose is to stop minorities from rising.

These minorities are getting more chances than whites do.

Since so many people believe this so strongly, just as they

did in 1866 when it all began, the KKK still exists. It's

members still strive to keep the white race on the top of the

hierarchy. People say that racism would decrease if the

American government didn't put as much emphasize on

skin color and ethnicity. In today's world if blacks weren't

given any advantages and made to work as hard as a white

would to make themselves prosperous then the Fifth Era of

the KKK would diminish because they would have nothing

to fight against. Through five eras of the KKK American

racism has come a long way, from slavery to

anti-affirmative action, the KKK has stood its ground and

did what they were brought up to do. Though sometimes

their acting may have been a bit extreme these whites were

brought up to fight for "white pride" and as any member of

a faith they fought for what they thought was right.

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