Historically, the Klan has been very good at exploiting any kind of community tensions, particularly ones based on race or religion, Bartley said. At that time in Canada, negative public sentiment already existed against Catholics and French-speaking Canadians, as well as against Black, Jewish, and Chinese people. Despite being a hate group, they sold themselves as a social organization, with a formal hierarchical and fraternal structure, and held meetings and rallies, and socialized in klaverns.
In just a year, the group became the largest and the fastest growing social organization in the country, according to Bartley. There were cross burnings all across southern Ontario, southern Alberta, in the Maritimes, and the primary targets were Black people, Catholics, Jews and the French.
In , there was an explosion at a Roman Catholic church in Barrie, Ont. In the s, some Klan members and leaders had moved towards fascism and Nazism, and some of the early members popped up again in fascist and Nazi-like organizations in Canada. By the end of the decade, however, the Klan was effectively dead as an organization in this country, according to Bartley.
After a couple of decades of dormancy, the Klan made yet another resurgence in the s and '70s, spurred on by the Black civil rights movement in the U. The author of Klansville, U.
David Cunningham. Credit: Rick Friedman. Before discussing the most pressing questions people tend to have about the KKK, let me add some background for basic context. The Ku Klux Klan was first formed in , through the efforts of a small band of Confederate veterans in Tennessee.
Quickly expanding from a localized membership, the KKK has become perhaps the most resonant representation of white supremacy and racial terror in the U. Part of the KKK's enduring draw is that it refers not to a single organization, but rather to a collection of groups bound by use of now-iconic racist symbols -- white hoods, flowing sheets, fiery crosses -- and a predilection for vigilante violence.
The Klan's following has tended to rise and fall in cycles often referred to as "waves. The Klan's second -- and largest -- wave peaked in the s, with KKK membership numbering in the millions. Following the second-wave Klan 's dissolution in the early s, self-identified KKK groups also built sizable followings during the s, in reaction to the rising Civil Rights Movement.
Various incarnations have continued to mobilize since -- often through blended affiliations with neo-Nazi, neo-Confederate, and Christian Identity organizations -- but in small numbers and without significant impact on mainstream politics. Beginning in , Jones took over the North Carolina leadership of the South's preeminent KKK organization, the United Klans of America, and by his "Carolina Klan" boasted more than 10, members across the state, more than the rest of the South combined.
Jones' story illuminates our understanding of the KKK's long history generally, and in particular provides a lens to consider the questions that follow. How big a threat is the KKK in the U. In an important sense, this may be the key question about the KKK and whether we should still worry, or care, about the Klan today.
Likely for that reason, literally every discussion I've had about the Klan -- whether in classrooms, community events, radio interviews, or cocktail parties -- comes around to some version of this concern. I typically respond, in short, that a greater number of KKK organizations exist today than at any other point in the group's long history, but that nearly all of these groups are small, marginal, and lacking in meaningful political or social influence.
I might add two caveats to that reassuring portrait, however. The first is that marginal, isolated extremist cells themselves can become breeding grounds for unpredictable violence. At the peak of his s influence, Bob Jones would often tell reporters that, if they were truly concerned about violence perpetrated by Klan members, their greatest fear should be that he would disband the KKK, leaving individual members to commit mayhem free from the structure imposed by the group.
As Jones' followers committed hundreds of terrorist acts authorized by KKK leadership, his claim was of course disingenuous, but it also contained a grain of truth: Jones and his fellow leaders did dissuade members -- many of whom combined rabid racism with unstable aggression -- from engaging in violence not approved by the KKK hierarchy.
In the absence of a broader organization with much to lose from a crack-down by authorities, racist violence can be much more difficult to prevent or police. While a few longstanding Klan groups still exist, they continue to fade away. Today, all three are mere shadows of their former selves. Despite their diminishing numbers, there are still approximately 3, Klan members nationwide, as well an additional but unknown number of associates and supporters.
Even with relatively small numbers, groups like the North Carolinabased Loyal White Knights LWK , perhaps the most active Klan group in the United States today, have a fairly expansive geographical reach.
In , with just members, they were able to draw attention to themselves in 15 different states mostly in the south and east , typically through fliering, which requires only a single participant. Complaints arose that this practice made Klan membership virtually meaningless. The salesmanship exhibited by Robb has sparked other controversies about money management, as well. These peoples were also highly critical of Robb's "kinder, gentler" approach and went on to found more confrontational Klan factions.
One of the splinters that emerged was a Michigan-based group that promptly hosted a more "traditional" Klan rally, hoods and all, in Lafayette, Ind. Ed Novak, an ex-lieutenant of Robb's, founded the Chicago-based Federation of Klans and took with him roughly one third of Robb's membership. Although weakened since the split, the KKKK has continued to stage rallies and other events, garnering the most media attention for its involvement in several "free speech" lawsuits.
And, that same year, it engaged in a failed attempt to underwrite St. Louis, Mo. Today, Robb's website continues to bill the Knights, somewhat disingenuously, as "the most active white rights organization in America" it clearly is not and still offers Klan membership and promotion!
Robb recently began calling his organization "The Knights Party" in an attempt to emphasize what he sees as the need for a softer, more political approach along the lines of David Duke's tactics.
In order, apparently, to finance political activity, the Knights website offers numerous wares for sale, such as handcrafted, glazed-ceramic statues of Klansmen.
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