Hate1866- Present

Britlea RakestrawCody Carroll

Jacob Burleson

A Long History OF Hatred

• The Ku Klux Klan, or KKK, was formed in 1865 after the Civil War, by a group of Ex-Confederate Soldiers, in Tennessee.

• The group was led by a man by the name of General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

• In 1869, the KKK began to flicker out as Forrest left the group.

• In 1871, the Congressional Legislation known as the “Klan Acts” outlawed the group.

Spreading Hate Throughout the Nation

• In August of 1925, approximately 30,000 Klansmen paraded the streets of the nation’s capital; unmasked and unarmed, carrying only an American Flag.

• The Klan was at the peak of popularity and included police officers, local politicians, congressman, and even governors among its four million members.

• Celebrating the Klan’s 60 years of founding, they proclaimed their message of hate to many different groups– a message that continues to stand today with some Americans.

The Rebirth Of the Klan• In 1915, D.W. Griffith’s movie “Birth of a Nation”

revived the Ku Klux Klan. The movie took place in an era with anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism, and anti-Immigration.

• The movie glorified the Reconstruction Era Klan as the savior of the white Protestants.

• The Klan soon returned to Protestant values.• In 1920, the Klan had reached around 4 million

members.• As the Klan grew in numbers, it grew in political

influence as well.• There were many prominent politicians to join this

group.• In some states, the Klan’s influence was so strong that

they could guarantee the outcome of the election.

D.W. Griffith’s The Birth of a New Nation

• The movie was a depiction of the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era.

• Griffith adapted the piece to be a propaganda piece for the Ku Klux Klan from a book entitled The Clansman by Thomas Dixon.

• D.W. Griffith, a Southerner and the son of a Confederate War cavalry officer who returned from the war a broken man, blamed Reconstructionists and Southern blacks for his own misfortunes.

• The film reflects a extreme Conservative point of view and blamed African Americans for all social, political, and economic problems since the Civil War.

Opposition for the Klan

• The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or the (NCAAP) was among the most active group against the Klan.

• Even thought the NCAAP held their convention in Atlanta, on purpose because that’s where the Klan’s headquarters was located.

• All of the Anti-Clan measures proved largely ineffective.

The End of a New Klan

• The Klan was plagued with scandals, corruption, and financial problems and began to self destruct in the late 1920’s.

• The group officially disbanded in 1944, but the message of hatred still remained in the hearts of most of the Klansmen.

Civil Rights and Civil Wrongs

• The United Klans of America (UKA) was the largest Ku Klux Klan organization in the United States. The UKA became popular in the late 1960’s and 1970’s.

• The burning cross was a symbol for the UKA that symbolized their Christian beliefs, but also meant violence and terror for everyone else.

Taking a Stand Against the Klan

• As soon as television started broadcasting the hate and violence of the KKK into homes in the U.S., most of the viewers were shocked as well as angered.

• President Eisenhower and Kennedy sent U.S. Marshals to southern states to enforce school integration, but the Government took very little action against the Klan. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, which outlawed public discrimination.

• When a disappearance of three social rights workers occurred in Mississippi the FBI became involved.

• By 1970, most of the Klan’s Imperial Wizards were imprisoned for civil rights violations.

The Contemporary Klan

• Today the KKK has 5,000 to 8,000 members.

- 2/3 of the people in the organization are from the Southern region of the United States.

• The KKK has substantially grown since 2008 when President Barack Obama was elected president of the USA.

• The Klan has expanded its recruitment efforts to white supremacist at the international level.

Current KKK Organizations

• Bayou Knights - Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and Louisiana• Church of the American Knights - Indiana• Imperial Klan’s of America (IKA) -Kentucky• Knights of the White Camellia - Louisiana• Alabama White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan -Alabama

HateInside the Ku Klux Klan