The Ku Klux Klan, better known as the KKK, is a white supremacist group. The actions of its members prove the group to be a domestic terrorist organization. Its name comes from the Greek word “kuklos” meaning “circle”. The KKK was formed in opposition to former slaves being granted their freedom and ultimately, receiving their natural-born rights. Members of the KKK call themselves “the ghosts of the Confederacy”, further deepening the group’s ties to the racial and political extremism of the post-Civil War Era.
The first wave of the KKK began in 1865 in Pulaski, Tennessee – post-Civil War, and ended in 1870. At that point, the number of Klansmen was unknown. The second wave began in 1915 in Stone Mountain, Georgia, and ended in 1944. This period was characterized by lynchings and raids, and the KKK’s membership was an estimated 3 to 6 million. The third wave has lasted from 1946 to present day, with an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 members.
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Their logic for doing so is that the light from the flames supposedly “shows the way”, and also that it signifies their faith in Jesus. But truthfully, the KKK did not begin the cross-lighting ritual until after the film “The Birth of a Nation” was filmed and released. The cross-burning scene in the film was added for dramatic effect, but eventually led to Klansmen including the ritual in their repertoire. Before that point, there had not been any cases or rituals in which the burning of the cross was documented that did not date back to medieval times. The first reported cross-burning took place in Georgia in 1915. It was not until after the documented cross-burning took place that America began to seriously believe the Ku Klux Klan to be a racial terrorist