The Ku Klux Klan

Since their establishment after the Civil War, in 1865, the Ku Klux Klan is known as one of the most famous hate groups in America. The white cloaked Knights use lynching, riots, and demonstrations, to spread their hate filled messages toward any ethnic or religious groups who are not white, nor Christians. But despite their actions, the Klan still promoted themselves as “100% American” to gain support from United States citizens. Although they promoted themselves as “100% American”, the knights of the Ku Klux Klan sought to deprecate the rights of those whose views differed from theirs, through violent actions.

The knights of the Ku Klux Klan promotes themselves as “100% American” through their message to the citizens of America. The Klan’s

One crime, for example, occurred after the end of the Civil War, when former slaves went to vote, and total of sixteen African Americans were elected to office. This election caused violent reactions in the southern states by several hate groups, including the Ku Klux Klan (records of rights.org). These violent outbreaks took a major toll on the lives of an African American. Because the government was scared to challenge the white supremacist groups, the black’s rights were not enforced, and they became, again, like slaves, who were mistreated, and had no say in their politics or the actions of the government. The actions of the hate groups not only effected an African American’s political power, but also their daily lives. In 1928, the knights of the Ku Klux Klan took five of their former members to court for operating falsely outside of the organization. The Klan’s hopes were to convict the former members of treason, but instead, the judge exposed many of the organization’s crimes. The exposed crimes included the kidnapping of a three year old who was never found, the beating of an African American man at a deadly riot, and the starting of the Carnegie riot by the Klan’s Imperial Wizard, because his request to have a demonstration was denied (prologue.blogs.archives.gov). This court case shows the ruthlessness of the Ku Klux Klan, and their violent determination to be supreme. Their actions directly affected an African American’s life, on a day to day basis. The Ku Klux Klan had strong effects on the lives of African Americans, and would not recognize their rights as citizens of the United