American Terrorism (Ku Klux Klan)

American terrorism; a history rooted and grown in the south

When one hears the word terrorism what is the first image that comes to mind? For many the word brings the image of what we’ve come to know as the typical Middle Eastern terrorist burned into our skulls from both social media and news outlets. But when you look at the actual definition of terrorism which is “the use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims”, (terrorism , n.d.) America has seen terrorism for a majority of our short time as a country, just in many different shapes sizes and hatreds. But where does it all stem from, and how could an organization so terrible and with a strong history of violence for an unjust reason still exist, the

Possibly one of the worst being the Ku Klux Klan. The goals of these groups would be to try to intimidate prominently black voters as well as southern republican leaders. (Ku Klux Klan, 2013) The KKK were known to have night rides as well as hangings, beatings, murders, tar and featherings, and public humiliation that quickly became like calling cards for the infamous gang, and were very effective at lowering the number of votes for republican leaders. The KKK was founded by confederate war generals and leaders. The group’s roots start in Tennessee, but quickly moved from there to Georgia, where later the group would meet its demise, but only for the first time however. With many political and community leaders such as police men, firemen, congress men, senators, and house representatives the group still has strong influence in our communities but where do all these ties rise from? And why don’t we see these men for the monsters they

(Ku Klux Klan, n.d.) Many of the activities of Klan’s men and the Klan are hidden under the guise of “white rights” making it easy for some to skip over the under tones of some of their more successful propaganda