1. The Ku Klux Klan
1865-Present

2. The beginning… Pulaski, Tennessee
Social club established by six confederate veterans
Members included: mayors, judges, sheriffs and criminals
Main targets of the KKK:
Political and Social leaders in Black community
Men, Women, Children, Aged, Crippled

3. The structure of the Klan
1867 they formally made rules and an organizational structure
General Nathan Bedford Forrest became “Grand Wizard”
Structure is divided into realms, dominions, provinces and dens led by Grand Dragons, Titans, Giants, and Cyclopes

5. Klan becomes Terrorist Organization
Burned churches and schools
Lynched teachers and educated blacks
Black landowners driven off property or murdered
Blacks whipped for:
Refusing to work for whites
Having intimate relationships with whites
Arguing with whites
Having jobs that whites wanted
For reading a newspaper or having a book in their home
For being black…

6. The KKK is gone… or so they thought
Congress passed Ku Klux Klan Act in 1871 (Civil Rights Act of 1871)
Reformed in 1915 thanks to “Birth of a Nation”
Targets became:
Roman Catholics
Jews
African Americans
Foreigners
Bootleggers
Divorcees

7. 1970’s to 2000’s
Believe Jews and liberals were attempting to outlaw their religious practices
Considered gays and other “deviants” were trying to force their ways on the mainstream
Angry at African Americans who receive welfare
Racism aimed at Hispanics