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KK And The Anti-Lynching Movement

Decent Essays

KKK and the Anti-lynching Movement Lynching is a mob action where a person is killed by a mob through beating, torture, shooting or hanging. Lynching was common in the US from 1880’s to 1960’s, with a peak in 1920’s. The most lynched people were African-American men though other people were lynched in other occasions. The main reason for lynching was the perceived breaking of social norms. Whites lynched black men to enforce white supremacy. At this time, there was a popular belief that black people were inferior. Whites would kill black people and take away their property since they believed that black people did not deserve a high social status in the society. Most of lynching incidents happened in the Southern States. Only a few happened …show more content…

This movement, the KKK, was formed in order to correct social injustices in the country. Although the movement was illegal, some states would use them to push their agenda. KKK would appear then disappear after some time. In 1920’s KKK had presence nationally, and it was growing fast. This movement was mostly violent. It would ‘solve’ any problem by instilling fear through public killing of perpetrators. Since it was a large movement with a lot of followers, KKK would certainly achieve whatever they wanted through violence. These movements were distinct and would be formed on a need basis. The first movement was involved in lynching African-Americans, while later movements had other …show more content…

Although he might not have been inducted into the KKK as claimed by some reports, there is evidence to show that KKK had influenced his speech, by promising support for Harding’s presidency. When he got into office, President Harding made efforts to pass laws to stop lynching. These laws were never passed. Nevertheless, his efforts bore fruits as the number of people lynched dropped significantly. It is strongly believed that KKK influenced Harding even when he was president. This political atmosphere was important since anti-lynching movements were able to drive their

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