Ku Klux Klan

Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as the Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present far-right organizations in the United States, which have advocated extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration, historically expressed through terrorism. Since the mid-20th century, the KKK has also been anti-communist. The current manifestation is splintered into several chapters with no connections between each other; it is classified as a hate group by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center. It is estimated to have between 3,000 and 5,000 members as of 2012

The First Ku Klux Klan

The first Klan flourished in the Southern United States in the late 1860s, then died out by the early 1870s. Members adopted white costumes: robes, masks, and conical hats, designed to be outlandish and terrifying, and to hide their identities. As a secret vigilant group, the Klan targeted freemen and their allies; it sought to restore white supremacy by threats and violence, including murder, against black and white Republicans.

The Second Ku Klux Klan

The second KKK flourished nationwide in the early and mid 1920s, and adopted the same costumes and code words as the first Klan, while introducing cross burnings. It adopted a burning Latin cross as its symbol. No such crosses had been used by the first Klan, but the burning cross was used as a symbol of intimidation by the second Klan. The burning of the cross was also used by the second Klan as a symbol of Christian fellowship, and its lighting during meetings was steeped in Christian prayer, the singing of hymns, and other overtly religious symbolism. 

                         The Third Ku Klux Klan

The third KKK emerged after World War II and was associated with opposing the Civil Rights Movement and progress among minorities.

The "Ku Klux Klan" name was used by many independent local groups opposing the Civil Rights Movement and desegregation, especially in the 1950s and 1960s. Today, researchers estimate that there may be 150 Klan chapters with upwards of 5,000 members nationwide. A large majority of sources classify the Klan as a "subversive or terrorist organization".

The second and third incarnations of the Ku Klux Klan made frequent reference to the USA's "Anglo-Saxon" and "Celtic" blood, harking back to 19th-century nativism and claiming descent from the original 18th-century British colonial revolutionaries. The first and third incarnations of the Klan have well-established records of engaging in terrorism and political violence, though historians debate whether or not the tactic was supported by the second KKK.

Clothing

The Ku Klux Klan of the 1st era (ie, 1860's-1870's) did not have a certain color robe. However, in the 2nd year (1915-1939, which includes the HUGE wave of the Klan during the 20's), they all had White robes, with the exception of some officers. This was done for 2 reasons

1. The book 'The Clansman' (which was later made into the movie 'Birth Of A Nation', which helped fuel the Ku Klux Klan movement) spoke of Clansman (Klansman) who wore white robes, which of course were also a color of religious robes at the time, thus, linking them to heroism and Christianity. 

2. White is the color of purity and with the Klan being for '100% Americanism, womanhood, and racial purity', it was an obvious choice.

Cross burning

The Ku Klux Klan, the organization most closely associated with burning crosses, identifies itself as Christian and tries to squeeze under the protected speech of the First Amendment. 

The KKK has since the early 1866 taken some of the rituals of the Scottish clans who would set hillside crosses ablaze as symbols of defiance against military rivals or to rally troops when a battle was imminent, but cross-burning was not part of terror on  the Scottish clans and it was the KKK that took it further as a warning to those that dare interfere with a pure race of white supremists movement. 

They started to burn crosses when film makers put them in movies. This motivated the KKK.

Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

"Knights of the Ku Klux Klan" has been part of the title of at least ten organizations patterned on the original KKK. The most prominent of these was the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Inc., which was founded in November 1915 by William J. Simmons and disbanded in 1944 by James Colescott. At its peak this fraternal organisation had around three to five million members.

The Ku Klux Klan today

Today the group only exists in the form of a number of very isolated, scattered "supporters" that probably do not number more than a few thousand. In a 2002 report on "Extremism in America", the Jewish Anti-Defamation League wrote "Today, there is no such thing as the Ku Klux Klan. Fragmentation, decentralization and decline have continued unabated."

Some of the larger KKK organizations currently in operation include:

• Church of the American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
• Imperial Klans of America
• Knights of the White Kamelia

There is a vast number of smaller organizations.

As of 2005, there were an estimated 3,000 Klan members, divided among 158 chapters of a variety of splinter organizations, about two-thirds of which were in former Confederate states. The other third are primarily in the Midwest region.

Ku Klux Klan vocabulary

Membership in the Klan is secret, and the Klan, like many fraternal organizations, has signs members can use to recognize one another. A member may use the acronym AYAK (Are you a Klansman?) in conversation to surreptitiously identify himself to another potential member. The response AKIA (A Klansman I am) completes the greeting.

Throughout its varied history, the Klan has coined many words beginning with "KL" including:

Klabee	treasurers
Kleage	recuiter
Klecktoken	initiation fee
Kligrapp	secretary
Klonvocation	gathering
Kloran	ritual book
Kloreroe	delegate
Kludd	chaplain

Did you Know?

Which political event caused the begining of the Ku Klux Klan ?

 The KKK was formed by the Civil War general Nathan Bedford Forrest and other defeated Confederate soldiers and sympathisers. It was a reaction to losing the Civil War and the reconstruction period that followed as well as Constitutional amendments that guaranteed freedom to slaves.

What is the meaning of Ku Klux Klan?

The name probably came from the Greek word kuklos, meaning "circle."

Ku Klux Klan was an alliterative version of "clan," thus Ku Klux Klan suggested a circle, or band, of brothers.

Why are there still modern people joining the KKK?

It is allowed because the United States of America believe in freedom of speech.  Many people are racist and they raise their children to be the same.

Look this image: a member of the KKK is being  saved by black doctors and nurses.

Glossary:

Outlandish: strange and unusual.

Freemen: someone who is not a slave.

Sought: the past tense and past participle of seek.                                       

Steeped: impregnated.

Harking: to remember and talk about things that happened in the past.

First Amendment: a part of the Constitution of the United States which gives US citizens the right of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and freedom of assembly. Many cases concerning these rights have been taken to the Supreme Court.

Splinter organizations: a group of people that have separated from a political or religious organization because they have different ideas.

Desegregation: to end a system in which people of different races are kept separate.