Ku Klux Klan Hate Crimes

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As stated in the introduction, the most well-known hate crimes have been against people of the African-American community. The most successful terrorist group that have committed hate crimes against African- Americans in the United States has been the Ku Klux Klan. This group was created in 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee and is still have many factions throughout the United States. The Southern Poverty Law Center estimated that the Ku Klux Klan has between 5,000 and 8,000 members nationwide.1 Their power has been on its ability to inspire racist ideology. They are well known for lynching African-Americans, setting crosses on fire and chanting the phrase “White Power.” They would go out at night in hooded costumes and on horseback and terrorize African-Americans. Even though African Americans and any Caucasians who would help them have been their primary target, they have attacked Jews, immigrants, gays and lesbians, and Catholics. The Ku Klux Klan’s …show more content…

Ku Klux Clan Hate Crimes Some of the most notable hate crimes prior to the implementation of hate crime laws are as follows: 1921 Tulsa Race Riot. This was not an official Ku Klux Klan hate crime but Tulsa’s founder and Ku Klux Klan member W. Tate Brady participated in the riot as a night watchman.2 This began after an African American man who name was Dick Rowland was accused of raping a Caucasian woman by the name of Sarah Page. This led to officially 36 lives lost but other estimates have been as much as around 300 people losing their lives. The murder of Emmett Till in 1955 was because he was allegedly flirting or cat-calling with a Caucasian woman named Carolyn Bryant while visiting a local grocery store in Money, Mississippi. He was badly beaten before being fatally shot and thrown into the Tallahatchie River by two Caucasian men. This hate crime to the people of that time violated what believed was the negative conduct an African American male interacting with a Caucasian woman. He was only 14 years