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Back to Subjects - Social Issues

KKK1

KKK1 Despite the civil rights amendments being passed over 40 years ago, racism continues to thrive in America. A good example of this is the southern-based organization called the Ku Klux Klan. Is the KKK a serious threat to our society or is it just another group made out to scare people? Started after the civil war by six confederate Army Generals (Wade, 33). The KKK was originally made to scare black people so they wouldn’t push for equal rights. When the KKK began to loose the battle it switched from scare to kill. The KKK continued to swell picking up angry white men and women who had any kind of grudges against blacks. Because of the ratification of the 13th amendment, ending slavery in the south, the KKK emerged with a cause that has yet to be put to rest…the rise of white power. Although slavery was abolished, racism was not. Because the government had started recognizing African Americans as more than just slaves, the Klan decided they would have to take matters into their own hands. They felt extremely betrayed by the U.S. government. Once claimed, "The KKK movement provided for the people of the south the leadership and rallying point to begin their arduous struggle to regain their lost dignity and indeed, the values of Western Civilization." They began their protest by lynching, tar and feathering, whipping, beating, and killing African Americans in the south. Because Blacks had been given rights, the Klan felt it was their duty to prevent the former slaves from using them. For years, the harassment from the KKK was successful. Until the civil rights movement of the 60's, it seemed as if the Ku Klux Klan had achieved their goal. The Klan rose again, even stronger than before with hundreds more people joining their “movement”. The Klan doesn't use the same tactics as they did years and years ago. Realizing they would get more attention using intelligent words as opposed to violence, the Klan changed their image. Although they continue to burn crosses in front of Black's homes and churches, their reasoning behind it sounds harmless. The KKK says, “The fiery cross is used as a Klan symbol representing the ideals of Christian Civilization. In no way does it represents the desecration of the cross, for it actually represents the 'lighting of the cross', that is, the truth and the light of our sacred doctrine: the blazing spirit of Western Christian Civilization.” Now, the KKK holds peaceful protests in front of civil rights organization buildings, the White House, and so on. Because of their peaceful and more educated sounding approach, the Klan gets more positive attention from unintelligent southerners. As once said, “the Ku Klux Klan is not merely a 'social association', but a dynamic, crusading white movement of world-historical perspective seeking the establishment of White Christian Political Self Determination.” Throughout history, the Ku Klux Klan has attempted to prevent the equality of America. They will continue to flourish by persuading more uneducated Americans to join them. It is true that racism still exists in the United States, but there will always be men and women of every color fighting against groups like the Ku Klux Klan. The Ku Klux Klan is nothing but a racist, ignorant, and bigoted hate group, and will never amount to more than just that. We can’t deny the fact that the aim of the KKK was to destroy any chance of African-Americans gaining political, social, or economic equality, and their methods were terror and violence. The Klan burned, whipped, tortured, mutilated, beat, and/or shot anyone, African-American or white, Northern or Southern, male or female, who stood between them and their goal of white supremacy and African-American subjugation. Most Klan members are use to committing serious crimes and many of the crimes are horrifically brutal in nature. Like political terror elsewhere, the "night rides" of the Klan were not only intended to silence their victims, but to inspire terror in anyone who opposed the Klan’s agenda. Torture and mutilation prior to murder were common, and family members were often forced to watch the proceedings. The victims of these crimes were not generally the "lawless Negroes" that Klansmen, past and present, claim. While it is certain that some of the victims were in fact criminals, the vast majority were not. They were educators who threatened to raise the freed slaves out of ignorance, white Union League members with pro-Northern sentiments, African-American militia men who hoped to defend themselves and their families, and former slaves who prospered economically through hard work and skill. Even those who merely failed to show the "respect" that whites demanded were beaten, whipped, even killed (Wade, 48-50). I am very familiar with African-Americans and the way the way the act. When I was younger, I saw the KKK as a group that was just out to give a scare to everyone, but now that I am grown up I see them as a very serious problem. They have caused many headaches to black communities as well as white communities. You have seen various Klan members on popular talk shows such as The Jerry Springer Show and The Howard Stern Show. Just by listening to them, you can sense that they feel as if they are superior to everyone around them. Most of the more serious KKK groups are located in the southern part of the country. I think they are down south because of the fact that they are all rednecks that lived in the mountains their whole life. My one brother knows a man that was once affiliated with the Klan but he decided to get out of it because it was getting far too serious for him. I was unable to interview that individual due to his relocating of jobs. My brother did in fact ask him why he decided to leave the Klan though. He told me that when the man first joined it, he was joining it for the sole purpose joining it. He had a few instances with black individuals that made him feel hat towards them. But after a few years of belonging to the group, he said that it was getting too serious for him. Too serious in that the group began to take out their actions against blacks by going to their house in the middle of the night and burning the cross or the flag. He finally came to his senses and left the group and has since spread the true facts about the Klan to other young individuals. What once was thought as just being a simple prejudice group has long came to be a very serious problem in our society today. I don’t know if the Klan will ever change their view towards the different ethnic groups, but if everyone including the white race continues to speak out against the Klan, then maybe this very serious hate group will for once be put to rest. Bibliography:

Word Count: 1161