Information Asymmetry In The Ku Klux Klan

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

Intimidation Tactics of the Ku Klux KlanTopic: Intimidation tactics of the Ku Klux KlanQuestion: What tactics would the Ku Klux Klan use to intimidate African Americans in the US?Thesis: The KKK would impose fear in African Americans by using violent and symbolic methods to intimidate them.Since the start of the Ku Klux Klan in 1865, members have used violent means to intimidate African Americans and other groups of ethically “unclean” people. The KKK would impose fear in African Americans by using violent and symbolic methods to intimidate them. Although these tactics worked for sometime, it ultimately led to their downfall.Immediately after the 13th Amendment was passed, which officially ended slavery in the U.S., many Civil War veterans, who had fought for the Confederate side, despised the idea of blacks living among them equally. This led to them to create the Klan, as a way to control the black population in the South. One way they did this was by carrying out attacks in order to intimidate them. These attacks were usually carried out in rural areas, during nighttime, which led to the members being nicknamed “nightriders.” The Klan would travel to the victim’s house, knock down their doors, whip them, and aim loaded guns at them.1 During these encounters, many women were even sexually abused or raped. Other methods used were hateful, racist rhetoric being shouted at blacks, along with ceremonial cross burnings and public lynchings to remind people of the KKK’s strong

In chapter 2 of Freakonomics the main argument is that the absence of information can be used for personal gain. The main example used to display this tactic is when the KKK is compared to real estate agents. Although the crafty practice of real estate agents is in no way similar to the horrors of the KKK, they have a distinct similarity when it comes to the hoarding of information. The majority of the chapter focuses on the history of the KKK and Stetson Kennedy’s effort to stop it through the infiltration and exposure via radio of the Klan. Since the Klan was dependant on their violent—despite not being extremely violent—reputation, the disclosure of the information they had withheld from the public rendered them powerless. The narrators

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 most notorious organization was the Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux Klan was organized in Pulaski Tennessee, in 1866 to intimidate former slaves who voted and apprehended political offices during Reconstruction. The Ku Klux Klan history came all about with the situation in the South following the harsh Civil War. The Southern States were in distraught and the defeated white people were humiliated and felt like they had to get revenge and gain their power back. The goal of the original Ku Klux Klan was to fight against the Reconstruction policies of the radical Republican Congress and to maintain "white supremacy. The Klan was led by merchants, planters, and Democratic politicians. They considered themselves as the most respectable citizens

The Ku Klux Klan had three eras, an era ends when the Ku Klux Klan movement dies out or they loss the need for it. Each era may have its own intentions or what their main goal is, but white supremacy is still their goal just trying to accomplish it in different ways, while also opposing thing that may go against their moral code, like gay marriage. The Ku Klux Klan is an origination focused on having white supremacy, it has existed for many years and has had three eras, it is most known for its act violent acts of terrorism.

A year into the Klan, leaders wanted to create a hierarchical organization. As a result, in 1867, Klan’s from all over the South gathered in Tennessee and gave former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest full control of the Klan (The History Channel, 2005). Later interviewed by a Charleston newspaper, Forrest boasted that the member count exceeded 40,000 men in Tennessee alone and over 550,000 in all the Southern states (The Charleston, 1868). Never achieving organization, local chapters continued to go about their business, settling things in a way they deemed fit, this, in turn, would be one of the reasons for the decline of the Klan.

There are three distinct historical interpretations of the Klan as an organization. The first historical interpretations argue that the Klan was established as an organization answering to a society in need of help with maintaining social order and law. Historians within this interpretation emphasize the playfulness and theatrical nature of the Klan which is unique to this particular historical perspective. This era of interpretation focuses very little on the violence that the Klan inflicted on Southern society, often completely eliminating its violent accounts from their historical works. The second historical interpretations argue that the Klan was established as a racially motivated political organization. Historians argued that because of the Klan’s origins as a racially motivated organization, the Klan would go on to establish political dominance and control over much of Southern society. The third and final historical interpretation argues that the Ku Klux Klan was established as a result to a struggling plantation system. Within this historical era of interpretation, Michael W. Fitzgerald describes the Klan as a non-violent enforcer that was created to control petty theft and labor riots. The establishment of the Klan as a political organization with race

The goal of this investigation is to delve into the question of: to what extent was the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan during the 1920s a reflection of societal change? In order to assess this question from multiple perspectives on the topic, research is needed to further look into the Klan’s motives both prior to their revival as well as after. Events in the 1870s, when the Klan ended, as well as events in the 1920s, when the klan was reborn, will be considered in this investigation in order to make connections between the KKK and why their revival in the 1920s reflected societal change. Among these events include the end of Reconstruction, the Progressive Era, increase of immigration to the United States, as well as the “red scare” of communism.

Generally, secret or hard-to-find information differentiates a group or institution in charge of it from those without access or knowledge. It attributes to the group an informational advantage which is carried out in terms of intimidation or (implicit) trust. Should the knowledge become public, this information asymmetry is abrogated and the group’s power diminishes. For example, the Ku Klux Klan in the US rose to power thanks to a self-created mythos and inside facts and rituals, but lost most of its appeal and influence once Stetson Kennedy published a large part of their secret information.

Out of the three Klan’s, the one that he believes was the most mainstream was the Klan of the 1920s. One point that Shawn Lay makes is that at the peak of the Klan’s popularity if had acquired over four million members across the United States which he believed to be to high of a number to not be considered mainstream. He explains that even during the time in our country where we had widespread illiteracy there were very few people that haven’t heard of the Klan. He also makes several points that Americans would agree that no other organization except for the Klan could present such dark forces, racism and religious bigotry in the United States. Another good point that Shawn Lay makes is that many people agreed with the Klan’s views during WWI and it had the possibility to be considered a major influence during this time period. In the late 1920s the Klan’s social and political influence started to decline. One reason for this decline was because of a Klan Leader in Indiana named David C. Stephenson who was put on trial for murder. One of the last points that Lay makes is that even after the time period that the Klan had spread across the United States and became very popularly, it is still considered a historical enigma.

Both articles The Golden Era of Indiana (1900-1941) and Rank-and-File Radicalism within the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s shared some similar information about the Ku Klux Klan. Both articles talked about the Ku Klux Klan membership, Ku Klux Klan activity in Indiana, and anti-Catholicism. The article The Golden Era of Indiana (1900-1941) gave brief information about how the Ku Klux Klan was growing and gaining power again in Indiana, due to a film that was released throughout the nation that was based on evidence of the Ku Klux Klan. “With Birth of a Nation providing free recruiting advertisement for the Klan, membership soared” (Lutholtz). The article also discussed all the violent activities the klan was committing in Indiana. “The Klan’s tools of intimidation included lynching, shooting, stabbing and whipping” (Lutholtz). The Ku Klux Klan members believed they were saving America which is why they would commit the crimes they did. “America now had to be ‘protected’ from the Germans and others: Catholics, Jews,

Blanche Bruce, Robert DeLarge, Jefferson Long, Joseph Rainey, Benjamin Turner, and Josiah Walls are names of 6 of the 17 African Americans elected into the United States Congress. This rise in freedom led many Africans to believe that they could start new lives, but that wasn’t the case. The plan to free the naturalized colored people and give them immunities failed due to states passing the black codes which limited colored peoples’ immunities. The Ku Klux Klan wreaked havoc as they would torture and kill many colored people. The colored people were once again being discriminated and not given their immunities.

The Ku Klux Klan was known as the biggest hate group in American History, and they are responsible for thousands of innocent blacks’ deaths. The Ku Klux Klan made it very hard for the blacks, Catholics, Jews, immigrants, and homosexuals to live a normal life. The Klan made them live in fear.

The public felt incapable in contradiction of them since they had no power over them. Stetson Kennedy broke into the secrets of the Klan by interviewing and sympathizing with the leaders of the clan which he had some contacts which helped him act as if he was in the same side of the problem. In his novel his code name was John Brown .This work would have been easier if Kennedy would of have internet he would of “blogged his brains out” (Levitt Dubner 60). "Hatred and Profits: Getting Under the Hood of the Ku Klux Klan."” In this paper, they analyze the 1920s Klan, those who joined it, and the social and political impact that it had. They utilize a wide range of newly discovered data sources including information from Klan membership rolls, applications, robe-order forms, an internal audit of the Klan by Ernst and Ernst, and a census that the Klan conducted after an internal scandal”. This is the same that Kenney accomplished. Brown was capable to divulge that the Klan’s man used to append a Kl to many words at the beginning. The secret hand shake was a left/handed, limp wristed fish wiggle. When someone wanted to communicate with a Klan member he would ask for a Mr. Ayak (are you a Klansman) and he would hope for a response like Yes and I know a Mr. Akai (a Klansman am I).The incentive marked by the Klan which was lynching was not so used as it is thought it just made the Colored