ting was again at Judge Thomas M. Jones’ law office and was attended by the same six men. During this meeting the group decided the club’s need for a name. After many hours of deliberating, they decided on the name derived from the Greek work kuklos, meaning circle Ku Klux (Knights of the KKK, p. 2). The group later added “Klan” to the work to make the phrase complete (The Klan, p. 3).At this time, the group decided what to call the different ranks of the members, starting with the leader, the Grand Cyclops, all the way down to the ghouls, or members of no rank. When the men had finished organizing, they were overjoyed about their new group, and they decided to show everyone their new creation. The members wrapped themselves and their horses in a sheet and rode through the small town and terrified everyone, especially the Negroes (Invisible Empire, p. 12). No doubt, this is the harmless little club that later would be taken to extremes by its members. Admittedly, the Ku Klux Klan did become out of control in later years, but when it was first created it had no specific meaning; it was a way to simply have fun.After the members saw the effect the group’s appearance had on people, they began to use the results to their advantage. Because the Klan resembled ghosts, many of the citizens of Pulaski believed them to be dead soldiers of the Confederate Army when they saw them riding on their horses through the small town (Knights of the KKK, p. 3). While the Negroes were busy avoiding the Ku Klux Klan, its main purpose changed. The Ku Klux Klan began aiming its violent actions toward Negroes, Jews, Oriental, and various other members of society that did not belong to the white race. Although violence was already occurring against non-whites before the organization of the Ku Klux Klan. The Klan just used this fact as a way to keep their “enemies” under control (Hooded Americanism, p. 8). No...
