The+Ku+Klux+Klan

 **SONIA CHRIS UKAH

HISTORY OF THE KU KLUX KLAN** The Ku Klux Klan is a racist, anti-Semitic movement with a commitment to extreme violence to achieve its goals of racial segregation and white supremacy. Of all the types of right-wing hate groups that exist in the United States, the Klan remains the one with the greatest number of national and local organizations around the country.It is a secret terrorist organization that originated in the Southern states during the period of reconstruction following the American Civil War (1861-1865) and was reactivated on a wider geographic basis in the 20th century. Throughout this time period, immigration, fear of radicalism, and a revolution in morals and manners fanned anxiety in large parts of the country. Roman Catholics, Jews, African Americans, and foreigners were only the most obvious targets of the Klan's fear-mongering. Bootleggers and divorcees were also targets. The founders were Confederate Civil War veterans Captain John C. Lester, Major James R. Crowe, John D. Kennedy, Calvin Jones, Richard R. Reed, Frank O. McCord.Below is the ku klux Klan's symbol.

The original Klan was organized in Pulaski, Tennessee, during the winter of 1865 to 1866, by six former Confederate army officers who gave their society a name adapted from the Greek word kuklos(“circle”). Although the Ku Klux Klan began as a prankish social organization, its activities soon were directed against blacks.Their motto was to protect the rights of and further the interests of white Americans.They usually wore iconic white costumes consisting of robes, masks and conical hats, masks and use of cross burning were designed to intimidate the targets of their hatred and, to this day, strike fear in many African-Americans.Commonly known as the KKK,the group had a record of using terrorism, violence, and lynching to intimidate, murder, and oppress African Americans, Jews and other minorities and to intimidate and oppose Roman Catholics and labor unions.It had no membership rosters, no chapters, and no local officers. It was difficult for observers to judge its actual membership. It had created a sensation by the dramatic nature of its masked forays and because of its many murders.The Klan committed the most murders and violence in the South, which had a tradition of lawlessness.When they killed black political leaders, they also took heads of families, along with leaders of churches and community groups, because people had many roles.They usually shot into houses and burned them, sometimes with the occupants still inside. They drove successful black farmers off their land.They also worked to suppress black voting.When two black men attempted to vote in November 1920 in Ocoee,Florida,the Klan attacked the black community. In the ensuing violence, six black residents and two whites were killed, and twenty five black homes, two churches, and a fraternal lodge were destroyed. Klan groups also lynched and murdered Black soldiers returning from World War 1 while they were still in military uniforms.They also struggled for living space with blacks. The Klan warned Blacks that they must respect the rights of the white race "in whose country they are permitted to reside".The number of lynchings escalated, and from 1918 to 1927, 416 African Americans were killed, mostly in the South.In the second wave of the Great Migration, from 1940-1970 another five million blacks left the South for northern, mid western and western cities. Due to the buildup of its defense industries, California was a new destination for this migration, especially for those African Americans from Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. They refused to tolerate for any longer the miserable conditions and economic situation in the South. Below is a picture of a KKK member.

The Klan had major political influence in several states and was influential mostly in the center of the country. The Klan spread from the South into the Midwest and Northern states, and into Canada where there was a large movement against Catholic immigrants. At its peak, Klan membership exceeded four million and comprised 20% of the adult white male population in many broad geographic regions, and 40% in some areas. Most of the Klan's membership resided in Midwestern states.In some states, such as Alabama, the KKK worked for political and social reform.By 1925, the Klan was a political force in the state, as leaders like J Thomas Heflin David Bibb Graves and Hugo Black,manipulated the KKK membership against the power of Black Belt planters who had long dominated the state. All though they had all these influences,many groups and leaders, including prominent Protestant ministers such as Reinhold Niebuhr in Detroit, spoke out against the Klan.Below is a picture of KKK's induction of new members.
 * KKK'S POLITICAL INFLUENCE**

In the color of water,the KKK brought night mares into the lives of people in Suffolk.As blacks struggled in hope to overthrow and have their civil rights recognized,the KKK made it harder.The KKK frustrated nearly everyone at that time,this included the American Jews.Ruth recognized that the Ku Klux Klan, and the white population in general, fostered a tense, violence atmosphere. "I was sitting behind the counter of the store one afternoon and a car full of men wearing white sheets drove past.They had white hats covering their faces with two hats covering their faces,with two little holes cut out so they could see.They were driving those old black tin lizzietype cars,with two men in the open section up in front and two in the cab section behind.Car after Car of them drove by,so many it was like a parade.We came from behind the counter and stood outside the store to look at them",pg 58. This was the impression they always wanted to create.They loved it when they injected fear and worry in the hearts and minds of people,especially blacks,"I didn't know the Ku Klux Klan,but our black customers slipped out and dashed into their homes asa soon as they caught sight of them,usually,blacks kept out of sight and low key,very low key when the Klan showed up",pg 58.The Klan was usually fearless of authorities,because they felt they were backed up by the law since some of them held political offices."The Klan would ride up Main Street in broad daylight and no one did a thing about it. "It seemed to me like death was always around Suffolk whenever they appeared' pg 58.This was how Ruth felt whenever they were around,and this influenced her relationship,with the first person she loved.Ruth recounts her relationship with a black boy named Peter. Because of the racism of the South, Ruth and Peter had to meet secretly. The constant threat of violence came mostly from the Ku Klux Klan, although Ruth explains that most white Southerners shared the violently racist attitudes of the Ku Klux Klan.She had to hide or meet secretly with peter,because"Not just the Ku Klux Klan,but the regular white folks would have killed him.Half of them were probably the Klan anyway,so it was all the same",pg 111."I was always frightened,because I'd always heard the Klan comes at night to get you",pg 113. Another incidence of KKK was the killing of a boy."I remember one of our customers,Mrs Mayfield,they found her son out there,he wasn't more than seventeen or so.He had been killed and tied to wagon wheel and tossed into the water until he drowned or the crabs ate him",pg 111.This incidence injected more fear in Ruth.Below is a video showing how the KKK terrorized the lives of people. media type="youtube" key="GOhUfdL0ifM" height="344" width="425"
 * KU KLUX KLAN IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE BOOK**,//"The color of water"//

The KKK and the black power were movements in the early 30's,40's,50's,60's.Although both were trying to prove a point,which is the //superiority of both races//,they had different ways to show it.While the KKK was aggressive,the black power was calm and were not after the attention of the people. The memoir's (James) early life coincided with the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, and he encountered the symbols and rhetoric of black power.The black power's aim was,calling on blacks to stand up and resist the whites,but the KKK were just causing chaos amongst the people,with no justification of actions.The black movement(panther) exchanged greetings by hand shake and they were always rallying people as their own form of movement.While the KKK's movement was nightly based and wore masks so they won't be known,although some of them were still recognized by neighbors.Another way blacks protested was the use of music in demonstration.Below is a video showing how blacks made use of music instead of violence. media type="youtube" key="8gg0n8BDG-Y" height="344" width="425"
 * DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE KKK AND THE BLACK POWER(BLACK PANTHER)**