In today’s society, there are some serious misconceptions about who the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is and what they stand for. Many Americans do not have enough knowledge of the KKK’s background to form an accurate opinion on their platform. Nancy Maclean’s book, Behind the Mask of Chivalry, explains why the Ku Klux Klan rose in popularity during the 1920s. This rise in popularity resulted in the increase of racism and threatened a larger population than just the people targeted by the KKK. What caused them to hate certain people? Was it driven by fear, and, if so, fear of what? Maclean explains that the KKK’s racism towards Jews stemmed from a fear that the Jews had the power to control world affairs. The Klan believed whites should be ready for war against race with any color. MacLean illustrates what motivated people to join such a hateful group, and she also elaborates on what caused it to stay together for so long and eventually increasing to 5 million members. She describes the mindset of the Klan and how the outside world viewed them as a group. Maclean illustrates the workings of the Ku Klux Klan, and emphasizes what drove people to operate “behind the mask of chivalry.” If asked before reading this book, I would probably describe the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) as …show more content…
I would also recommend this to any history book-worms who seem to be very passionate for the scoop on the real story of past history, and feels like they do not know as much information about the subject as they feel they should. This book by MacLean not only explains the making of Ku Klux Klan, but why it was so popular for something that would be despised in todays world. Which in anyone’s right mind, we would all like to know why this was ever a lifestyle that so many as 5 million wanted to