Loss in the Civil War

They were a hate group of supremacists that wanted to make themselves known and heard. Today we see the KKK continuing to found themselves into areas around the United States still holding true to their goals and missions. The Ku Klux Klan wanted the white race and the Protestant faith to be the most supreme race and faith in the entire world.

The Klan started in the United States primarily in the South in the 1920’s after the Civil War. It started out as people in multiple different groups with the same intentions but went about it in different ways. Before it became an organized group with leaderships and governments there was just disorganized chaos with brutal, violent attacks. They fought within each group about power, money, religions, but mainly about the immigration and reconstruction that was happening all around. (Chow) They held massive public rallies to try and intimidate the groups they were targeting. Boycotting places and having protests to scare away their targets. During that time frame there were so many things changing in society and groups that were also growing and the KKK was not accepting of any of those changes especially after the loss in the Civil War.

To the KKK you were anti-American if you were black, Japanese, Jewish, Mormons, and most importantly Catholic. Catholicism was growing. As Chow mentions in her article, the KKK believed the Catholics had intentions to start controlling politics and the police. Also during this time there were post suffrage groups that also wanted to have a voice so many joined the KKK. They had the same motivation that the Klan already had publicized and believed it would help strengthen their political stances and rights. Since the KKK did not interpret any favoritism towards gender they welcomed women to join their group. It was a way for them to say they value women, children and their family’s life and family values; those of course that are white-Protestant. (Blee)

Unfortunately, to this day there is still white supremacy in the United States. The group still holds true to their beliefs and values but go about it a little differently than in years before. Especially today with our technology, attacks and harassment on social media outlets are just another way the Klan can make their group recognized. There are pages out there that naïve, adolescences could find and easily get influenced into joining. The Klan still has a message or point they want to get out to as many audiences as possible and today’s society unfortunately makes all of that more accessible.

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