The Ku Klux Klan: American Terrorists - Research Paper Example

The Ku Klux Klan: American Terrorists Today, the term ‘terrorism’ brings to mind actions such as airline hijackings, suicide bombings, mailing booby-trapped packages and attacks on buildings. Islamic fundamentalists have rightly been blamed for high-profile terrorist actions worldwide during the past decade. This circumstance has fostered bias and institutionalized racial profiling amongst the Muslim population in the U.S. However, terrorism is not an invention of religious zealots in the Middle East nor is al Qaeda the greatest foreign perpetrator of terrorism against the U.S. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is responsible for the longest reign of terror in American history. While Americans condemn contemporary terrorists, they should remember that the KKK committed hundreds of acts of domestic terrorism with little public resistance or outcry over a hundred year period. Though severely diminished, the KKK exists today and is experiencing resurgence. Politicians often state that terrorism must be defeated yet fanatical, religious terrorist cells have been allowed to operate within America’s own borders, aided by the endorsement and cooperation of selected politicians, Christian ministers and police officials. The Ku Klux Klan fits the definition of a terrorist organization. It is the American version of Hamas, the Khmer Rouge, Hezbollah, Irish Republican Army (IRA), Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), al Qaeda, etc. All use violence and/or threats to further their political or ideological agenda. KKK members are openly racist Caucasians who advocate and commit extreme acts of violence against persons of different races motivated by a collective desire for a segregated society. They believe the ‘white race’ (often characterized as the Aryan race) superior to all others and should not intermix either socially or genetically with non-white persons. Essentially, and bluntly, ‘white supremacist’ considers anyone who doesn’t look like they do to be a lesser degree of human than ‘whites,’ somewhat closer to an animal. This, let’s say, irrational point of view absolves members of this self-proclaimed Christian organization from guilt because cruelty to an animal is a much smaller sin in their mind. Their sense of right and wrong, questionable at best to begin with, is appeased due to this flawed reasoning. The KKK is but one of the right wing white supremacy groups in the U.S. but it is the most well known, is more organized with local and national chapters and has a higher membership than any other similar type hate group. The estimated 5000 total current Klan members are divided into about 100 chapters nationwide. Klan terrorist activities subsided to a great extent following the 1960’s civil rights era and the organization seemed to be doomed to extinction. However, interest in the KKK has recently experienced a resurgence emanating from the national attention given to the illegal immigration issue. In the last few years, the Klan has made every effort to incite Americans to resist what they deem as ‘assaults’ on Christian values such as gay marriage and crime but particularly has focused on immigration. “The Ku Klux Klan, which just a few years ago seemed static or even moribund… experienced a surprising and troubling resurgence…due to the successful exploitation of hot-button issues including immigration, gay marriage and urban crime” (ADL). The KKK began in Pulaski, Tennessee as a social group formed by veterans of the Confederate Army in 1866. The newly created organization held public parades through several towns but was generally laughed at and loudly jeered by onlookers. It wasn’t long before this ‘social group’ started using whips and guns to emphasize its ideological viewpoint. Though a few local politicians denounced the Klan’s violent activities, they were the minority. What made the KKK strong and enduring during the late 1860’s was the significant number of political and police officials, ministers, newspaper editors, and ex-Confederate soldiers who hid beneath the white hooded robes of the Klan on night raids but appeared as respectable citizens during the day. By 1868, the Klan was becoming infamous for lynching (hanging), flogging, mutilations and general mayhem perpetrated on blacks and white sympathizers to the newly freed slave’s condition in the racist society of the South. The KKK, in essence, went underground by the beginning of 1870 because of pressure applied by several city officials and state legislatures across both the North and South who passed strict laws against the Klan. Martial law was declared in a few counties that were dominated by the Klan while law officials aggressively pursued high-ranking members. Soon after, the federal government took steps to reign-in the now clandestine Klan’s reign of terror. Following hearings regarding the Klan’s activities, the U.S. Congress passed tough laws patterned from anti-Klan statues enacted in North Carolina. “Under the new federal law, Southerners lost their jurisdiction over the crimes of assault, robbery and murder and the president was authorized to declare martial law. Night riding and the wearing of masks were expressly prohibited” (“A Hundred Years” 2001). Few of the hundreds of Klan members arrested spent more than a day or so in jail. The laws passed during reconstruction designed to end terrorism in the South against blacks by the Klan may have slowed such activities and curbed Klan recruitment but hardly destroyed this terrorist organization. Following the Civil War, the Union took control of Southern government and passed numerous laws that gave rights to freed slaves. During the mid-1870’s, Southerners were had re-infiltrated positions of power and soon reached a majority in state governments. Understandably, Southern legislators easily won seats in local, county and state positions. Northerners and their ideological viewpoint were hardly welcomed in the war-ravaged South. The Southern majority quickly reversed many laws of the previous legislation particularly those pertaining to civil rights for blacks. Racism and suppression again became lawful in the South thus eliminating the rationale for the KKK to exist. The organization was formed by disgruntled Confederate soldiers and Southern sympathizers in an effort to preserve the Southern way-of-life and in opposition to Northern rule. A significant element of the white Southerners way-of-life included openly accepting and even embracing bigotry. The South again ruled itself and passed oppressive ‘Jim Crow’ type segregation laws, such as it was illegal for a black man to speak to a white woman in public in many parts of the South. “The result was a system of segregation which was the law of the land for more than 80 years. This system was called ‘separate but equal,’ which was half true, everything was separate, but nothing was equal” (“A Hundred Years” 2001). These laws stayed on the books until the 1950’s. With white segregationists controlling much of the legal system in the South, including judges, the reasoning for the recently formed Klan’s existence diminished significantly but it didn’t follow the logical conclusion of fading into historical oblivion. Though interest and membership did steadily decrease during the latter half of the 1800’s, small groups of Klansmen continued to terrorize the black population in the South. “Klan terror had proven very effective at keeping black voters away from the polls. Some black officeholders were hanged and many more were brutally beaten” (“A Hundred Years” 2001). The all but forgotten organization, at least by the whites, experienced a re-emergence during the turn of the Twentieth Century. The first great wave of immigration during the late 1880’s brought 23 million Europeans to America in a relatively short period of time. This sparked a panic among many Americans who perceived the foreigners as an invading force of sorts and feared disastrous consequences. Immigrants were generally unwelcome. They spoke a different language, practiced different customs and lived in their own communities resembling ‘shanty-towns,’ separate from mainstream society. They also accepted factory and farm jobs at lower rates. Fears ran rampant that the standard of living would greatly decrease along with the jobs. Fear of those different than whites was fertile ground for the Klan. During this wave of immigration, the Klan gained in membership and again became generally accepted instead of vilified by the white population. “The American Protective Association, organized in 1887, reflected the attitude of many Americans who believed that the nation was being swamped by alien people.  This organization a secret, oath-bound group was especially strong in the mid-west where the Ku Klux Klan would later draw much of its strength” (“A Hundred Years” 2001). By the 1890’s, the majority of Southerners were in favor of strict segregation laws. More of these type laws came from this period than any other decade. The motive was to subjugate blacks, keeping them economically, politically and socially impotent. This period also saw an escalation of violence against blacks. Lynching’s committed on blacks by angry mobs of white men were commonplace. Blacks were routinely murdered without trial. An accusation of misdeed was all that was required. “In the last decades of the nineteenth century, the lynching of Black people in the Southern and border states became an institutionalized method used by whites to terrorize Blacks and maintain white supremacy” (Gibson, 1979). During this period of rampant legalized mayhem, not surprisingly, mass numbers of blacks migrated north. By 1921, the Klan’s ranks swelled to about 100,000 as the assault, killings and intimidation continued throughout mainly southern states. Terror tactics included tarring and feathering and whipping blacks along with branding KKK into the foreheads of blacks, Jews and anyone else who openly opposed Klan activities. Practically all southern police officials, judges, ministers and politicians were white and many were either secretly members of the still illegal Klan organization or simply ignored the brutality occurring openly in their jurisdiction. Records show that few Klan members were arrested and fewer still were convicted of any crimes. Instances of violence by the Klan expanded during the 1920’s. Many towns throughout the south and surrounding regions had a strong Klan influence. Victims seemingly included all who weren’t Klan members, usually “blacks, Jews, Catholics, Mexicans and various immigrants, but sometimes they were white, Protestant, and female. Klansmen attacked people they considered ‘immoral’ or ‘traitors’ to the white race” (“A Hundred Years” 2001). The 1920’s were the infamous decade for Klan violence and no one outside this terrorist organization was immune. A divorced Alabaman mother was whipped by the Klan because she remarried as was a Georgia woman who was accused of failing to attend church. While receiving her 60 lashings, the woman’s teenage son tried to stop it. He was given the same treatment. Both women were white and the Klan leaders responsible for these atrocities were Christian ministers. Klan terrorism was not limited to former Confederate states. For example, Klansmen in Oklahoma whipped a white girl because they caught her riding in a car with two black men. Tulsa, Oklahoma was the scene of the worst race riot of American history in 1921. Klansmen destroyed the black business district downtown then continued through the day burning the houses of black families in the area along with killing and torturing blacks at random. Klan members in California whipped and tortured women who they deemed unfit for society such as those who fought for equality. “In a period when many women were fighting for the vote, for a place in the job market and for personal and cultural freedom, the Klan claimed to stand for ‘pure womanhood’ and frequently attacked women who sought independence” (“A Hundred Years” 2001). From its inception, the KKK has engaged in terrorist activities. Though most incidents went unreported, the accounts of terrorism that are known paint a dark picture of the not-too-distant past. The mid-1870’s through the 1950’s were the height of Klan terrorism, the years prior to and since that time contain many more examples. In 1866, the Klan clashed with black protestors in New Orleans, Memphis and other southern cities. 34 blacks were killed in New Orleans. In 1868, Klan members killed Congressman James Hinds for his anti-Klan stance and in 1869 broke into the house and wounded the son of George Houston, an activist for black voting rights. Houston and his family were forced to leave the country. This incident was never investigated. Later that year, Klansmen took four black men from jail in North Carolina, killed them and the sheriff, a black sympathizer. In 1870, Klansmen stabbed North Carolina Senator John Stephens to death. In 1871, Elias Hill, an ex-slave, teacher and minister was dragged from this home and beaten by Klansmen. A few days later, they came back, accused him of falsified crimes then beat him unconscious before going next door, whipped the men residing there and raped the women. The Klansmen then burned both houses. Another incident in Augusta, Georgia epitomized the regular habits of this terrorist organization. In 1874, Klansmen trashed local black businesses, stabbed a black man and beat another for no reason. During this town-wide assault, they removed a black man from his prison cell and repeatedly shot him while referring to it as ‘target practice.’ The 1988 movie Mississippi Burning depicted the real-life events of 1964 when Klansman James Ford Seale kidnapped two black teens, killed them then dumped their bodies into the Mississippi River. This action initiated widespread violence by blacks that last the entire summer. Seale was finally convicted of the crime just last year. (Pilkington, 2007) Another infamous case, the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing, killed four black girls. Klan Member was found not guilty in 1963 but convicted of murder in 1977 of given life in prison. (Randall, 2001) The Ku Klux Klan is an American embarrassment. At a time when terrorism is believed by most Americans to be one of the country’s greatest enemies, The Klan marches in the streets. This, of course, is protected by the First Amendment and should not be disallowed but as we spend billion to fight terrorists abroad, one of the world’s oldest terrorist organizations proudly waves the American flag during its demonstrations. Works Cited “A Hundred Years of Terror” Southern Poverty Law Center Montgomery, AL (2001). Accessed March 27, 2011, http://vlib.iue.it/history/USA/ERAS/klukluxklan.html “About the Ku Klux Klan” Anti-Defamation League (2008). Accessed March 27, 2011, http://www.adl.org/learn/ext_us/kkk/default.asp?LEARN_Cat=Extremism&LEARN_SubCat=Extremism_in_America&xpicked=4&item=kkk Gibson, Robert A. “The Negro Holocaust: Lynching and Race Riots in the United States, 1880-1950” Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute (1979). Accessed March 27, 2011, http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1979/2/79.02.04.x.html “Ku Klux Klan Rebounds With New Focus on Immigration, ADL Reports” Anti-Defamation League (February 6, 2007). Accessed March 27, 2011, http://www.adl.org/PresRele/Extremism_72/4973_72.htm Pilkington, Ed. “Ex-KKK man guilty of 1964 murder of black teenagers” Martin Frost Mediations (2007). Accessed March 27, 2011, http://www.martinfrost.ws/htmlfiles/june2007/kkkman_guilty.html Randall, Kate. “Former Klansman convicted in deadly 1963 bombing of Birmingham, Alabama church” World Socialist Web Site (May 5, 2001). Accessed March 27, 2011, http://www.wsws.org/articles/2001/may2001/birm-m05.shtml Read More