In March 2015, the federal government launched an investigation into a possible lynching
in rural Mississippi.
The event instigated new scrutiny towards hate crimes and the Ku Klux Klan.
So what is the Ku Klux Klan?
Well, it’s an American hate group, also known as the KKK, that generally promotes
the supremacy of the Christian Caucasian ethnicity.
They operate primarily in the Southern region, and are infamous for using extreme torture
and violence to oppress other races, especially African Americans.
The group was founded in 1866, at the close of the American Civil War, and the early days
of the Southern Reconstruction.
During this time, African American slaves became legally free.
But many ex-slaveholders sought to maintain pre-Civil War conditions, and intimidate African
Americans into submission.
From this time until around the civil rights era in the 1950s, racist “Jim Crow” laws
were enforced exclusively by KKK vigilantes.
And any person who tried to upset the status quo could be tortured and killed.
Ku Klux Klan members originally were distinguished only by cross-like insignias and hoods or
masks covering their faces.
But in the early 20th century, KKK uniforms evolved into a standardized white costume
with a peaked hood.
This, and the burning cross, remain the two archetypal symbols for the group today.
During the 1920s, the group experienced a peak popularity of more than 4 million members,
after the release of the pro-KKK film, “The Birth of a Nation”.
However, the Great Depression in the 1930s depleted their ranks, as did an IRS tax dispute
in the 1940s.
Although there was a brief resurgence in popularity during the 1950s, generally the KKK’s influence
recently has been on the decline.
As of 2015, the group claims a total membership of 4 to 6 thousand.
They live mostly in Southern states, especially Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas.
Today, some chapters of the KKK claim that they are not a hate group, but rather a non-violent
“Christian organization” that disagrees with the way America is changing politically.
One Klan leader in Montana is even claiming that his chapter is “all-inclusive”, and
open to recruiting non-white members.
Still other Klan groups have increased their ranks by joining forces with Neo-Nazi groups,
and holding rallies to express racist and anti-immigration views.
Despite their attempts at rebranding, the core foundation of the Ku Klux Klan remains
white supremacy.
And as their membership dwindles, there is little hope for the KKK to ever return to
their former numbers.
Experts at the Southern Poverty Law Center who track US hate groups, have claimed the
KKK is having its “last gasp” as an influential organization in America.
Since the end of World War 2, and even ‘til today, Germany has enforced an incredibly
strong policy against anything related to Nazism.
To learn about what some of these laws look like, check out our video here.
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