How Did The Ku Klux Klan Affect Society

In order to achieve their goal of re-establishing white supremacy. Founded in 1866 by former confederate veterans, the Ku Klux Klan would be established as the most powerful terrorist organization of its time. Aimed at dismantling the possible overthrow of white supremacists in the United States by the increasingly powerful African-American community. The KKK would target black southerners and any white persons who would help them. Nathan Bedford Forrest would become the primary leader during this era titled the “Grand Wizard” he would push the organization's agenda throughout the United

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.

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.

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 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

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.

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.”

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,

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

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

The KKK would undermine blacks, even successful men were attacked. After WW1 KKK also became hostile towards Jews, Catholics, anyone who was foreign to them. ‘In March 15, 1925 a 29 year old White woman, kidnapped from her home, was filled with liquor against her will and repeatedly raped in a railroad car on its way to Chicago. Her name was Madge Oberholtzer, a school teacher in charge of Indiana’s literacy program. Her assailant damaged her body so brutally that when she was seen by professionals it appeared that she had been bitten by a pack of wolves. The lone attacker actually bit her nipples off and her genitalia were terribly damaged. On examination the attending physician noted that just the infection from these injuries could have been fatal. In time the teacher died. The assailant was found guilty of second degree murder and labeled a destroyer of virtue and womanhood.” The man who did this was David Stevenson, also known as the Grand Dragon of the Klan. There were many other brutal attacks and murders throughout history of the Klan, still killings occurring today. Even though this group is so violent and racist, “the KKK feel that what they do is God’s will and follows the word of Christ. By interpreting the Bible so that it parallels with their agenda of hate and racial discrimination the Klan sees itself as a group of good, moral, and responsible Christian American citizens.” (Michael

Sadly, the Klan rarely used threats to aid what they wanted to go, because they thought violence was better than threats in aiding their ways. The KKK also did terrorist like things, from the murder of innocents, bombing, and other things. The first and second Klans would murder blacks, white Republicans, and innocent people who opposed

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

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).

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