How Did The Ku Klux Klan Affect Society

The Ku Klux Klan, also known as the KKK, was thriving in its second generation during the 1920s. The Ku Klux Klan was reborn by William J. Simmons, with the intentions of creating a world with only one race. Simmons’ inspiration came from the film, “Birth of a Nation”. The Ku Klux Klan became more hateful and violent than ever, creating a sense of fear among not only African-Americans, but Jews, Catholics, and immigrants too.

Through research and evidence, it is clear that the historical interpretations of the origins of Klan and its establishment as an organization and its origins have changed over time. Starting in 1906, historians argued that the Klan was a benevolent, social organization, working as law-enforcers to help maintain a distinct social order between Southern whites and newly freed slaves. Completely ignoring the violence produced by the Klan, historians depicted the Klan as a positive, well-rounded organization. The second historical interpretation shone a new light on the Klan, exposing it for its violent and racially motivated actions. Historians argued that the Klan’s establishment was as a political organization that made a negative and lasting impression on all of U.S. history. The third and final interpretation argues that the Klan was established as a result of a struggling planter class. Historical interpretations during this time period describe the main goal of the Klan as wanting to answer to the desires and goals of the planters’ class. Because of this, historians during this era never saw the Klan as being an obstacle for newly freed slaves nor did they see the Klan having a negative effect on society. In conclusion, it is evident that historical interpretations develop and

The Ku Klux Klan had virtually disappeared for the last part of the 19th century, so the widespread and violent resurgence of the movement took many by surprise. In its earlier incarnation, it had been only

The Ku Klux Klan was a secret terrorist organization that was created by six well educated Confederate veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee in the December of 1865. Their main objective was to restore white supremacy through acts of violence such as murder, against both Black and White Republicans. The KKK had eventually spread to every southern state, and Klansmen would often terrorize republicans regardless of their race. Members of the KKK believed that African Americans were inferior to Whites and did not believe that Blacks deserved equal rights. Although the rebel groups were outlawed and made illegal, many of them remained in existence and appeared after the reconstruction had ended. This proved the Reconstruction to be ineffective as many Southerners were still fighting against the government and opposed them. In addition, African Americans were still deprived of their rights by these

The Ku Klux Klan used cruel methods in order to create social change in their favor. A very common method used was intimidation; members of the Klan would march through streets and burn crosses in order to get their message across. Klansmen would dress in white robes in order to terrorize innocent citizens who were mainly of African-American descent. Although violent acts such as lynchings and kidnappings were common actions by KKK members, they would also recruit members that have political power. The Klan would encourage blacks to not vote with the intention of keeping their people in power. On the whole, the methods that the KKK used to create social change were cruel and should not be taken lightly.

Some of their most deadly violence consisted of: The 1964 freedom summer killing, the 1965 murder of civil rights activist Viola Liuzzo, and the 1981 lynching of Michael Donald. Other events in our history also caused surges in this groups activity. One researcher working for History.com spoke of how, “The civil rights movement of the 1960’s also saw a surge of Ku Klux Klan activity, including bombings of black schools and churches and violence against black and white activists in the south.” The Ku Klux Klan is a relevant part in our history, and it has pushed us to move forth in this search for equality, but The Klan still exists and have avoided punishment in all of their previous and current actions. They deserve significant

Frustrated confederate soldiers made their way back home after losing the war that they had been fighting for four years. These men formed vigilante groups, attacking black people. While soldiers did this, wealthier men who had avoided fighting in the war formed agricultural and police clubs for the same purpose; both groups soon took shape and evolved into one large group, known as the Ku Klux Klan and Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest became the first leader, known as the Grand Wizard. The name Ku Klux Klan is derived from the Greek word, Kyklos, meaning circle. The Ku Klux Klan, often shortened to the KKK, was founded in Tennessee in 1866 and grew to be one of the most feared terrorist groups in the United States, before dying off in 1869, but later being revived in 1915 (History.com Staff). The Ku Klux Klan negatively impacted the Reconstruction period through terror, intimidating Republican voters, and killing Republican officials.

Institutional is more far reaching than individual racism that only shows exists within contact between people. Institutional racism would be the discriminatory practices that the housing market has against people of color, like red-lining (Aguirre & Turner, 2009). Or institutional racism could be the military or government not allowing people of color or specifically Blacks from joining or punish them because of their natural hair, or they were wearing braids or other cultural styles. The major theme or characteristic here with institutional racism is that it can affect other spheres of society and does not just pertain to a few individuals. For instance, because of the racism within the housing market, now people of color will likely either live in a undesirable neighborhood,

“The first incarnation of the KKK formed just after the Civil War, using terrorist violence as a means of maintaining white supremacy, but its influence "waxed and waned," as Gordon puts it, over the decades that followed” (Waxman 2). The Ku Klux Klan, aka KKK, is a white supremacist group who has done many cruel things to African Americans. Throughout many years, the KKK has grown power over politics, the news, and television as ways to try and exterminate African Americans. The KKK is a group that think the white people have the power over the African Americans, and that African Americans should not be treated as fair. Overall, the Ku Klux Klan impacted society through violence, white supremacy, and the nationwide attention the group was

Eight months after the Civil War, in the south the government was weak and there were no jobs available. On Christmas Eve of 1866, six confederate veterans started a social hate group in Pulaski, Tennessee. The six confederate veterans were John Lester, James Crowe, John Kennedy, Calvin Jones, Richard Reed, and Frank McCord. The group started off as just wanting to have fun and keep themselves entertained. The six founders were well educated and came from wealthy families. From their Greek knowledge, they use the word kyklos meaning circle and then added the word Klan. The Ku Klux Klan was then born. Nathan Bedford Forrest was the first leader of the Klan. He was known as the “Grand Wizard.”

Topic: In 1866, the Ku Klux Klan was founded by many former confederate veterans in retaliation to their current Republican Party’s Reconstruction-era policies aimed at establishing political and economic equality for blacks. The Reconstruction era sparked by President Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation clearly defined that the days of white superiority were in dissolution. Through a willful ignorance and an insecurity of what might postlude the civil rights movement, the KKK rose, using terror in pursuit of their white supremacist agenda. Nathan Bedford Forrest, a former Lieutenant general in the Civil war, became the KKK's first Grand Wizard. Now with a steady leader the klan became a persistent political party aimed at dismantling the increasingly

Cultural or “new” racism according to Marger (2009, p.23) “emphasises individual and group shortcomings rather than a social system that, through subtle discrimination prevents minority groups from attaining the economic and social parity with the dominant group”. While similar in many aspects to classical racism, cultural racism differs in that biological inferiority or superiority are not discussed. Institutional racism on the other hand refers to the “covert effects of complex social structures” (Hollinsworth, 2006 p.47). In other words, political and social institutions, not necessarily intentional, discriminates and applies implicit biasness against groups of people, either directly or

In class, we defined race as a social grouping of a diverse set of people into categories, usually by skin color (or other physical or visible markers) stereotypes, shared experience of oppression and or privilege. We also defined racism as a system of advantage and or disadvantage based on race and supported by individual, institutional and cultural structures that create and sustain benefits for a dominant group that influences decisions, institutions and cultural norms around race. In learning about the true definition of race and racism, and through the discussions had in class, I learned that racism is a system of forces that effectively keep people of color in a permanent second class citizenship status. It is systemic in that it can

Institutional racism on the other hand is far broader in context and more complex. It refers to the ways in which racism has infiltrated into social institutions which govern, discriminate and oppress various groups within that society based on their race (McConnochie et al, 1988). These institutions within our societies, such as schools and healthcare services, use racism in a systematic manner which favours one group over all the others. Although racism as a notion is the same for both individual and institutional purposes, the consequences of the two are vastly different. Sociologists have argued that in the recent years racism has shifted from excluding groups on a biological basis, to more of a cultural basis of difference (Giddens, 2001; Van Krieken et al, 2010).

What are the 2 kinds of systemic racism? Describe them in detail and provide an example of each.