The Ku Klux Klan as a Terrorist Organization in the United States

The Ku Klux Klan as a Terrorist Organization in the United States

Mark Howey

Metropolitan State College

The Ku Klux Klan as a Terrorist Organization in the United States

        There is something innate in the human being that has the need to congregate in groups for various reasons; perhaps this stems from the cavemen who gathered in groups for safety.  Whatever the reason may be, that need has continued through history into modern times.  Today, humans gather for companionship, common interests, and beliefs in common agendas.  Most of these groups are relatively harmless, however, there are those groups whose sole mission is to spread hate by whatever means they deem necessary including terrorist activity.  One of these groups is the Ku Klux Klan.

        The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines domestic terrorism as:  (18 U.S.C. § 2331 defines "international terrorism" and "domestic terrorism" for purposes of Chapter 113B of the Code, entitled "Terrorism”)

"Domestic terrorism" means activities with the following three characteristics:

>Involve acts dangerous to human life that violate federal or state law;

>Appear intended (i) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or (iii) to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination. or kidnapping; and

>Occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the U.S. (Federal Bureau of Investigations, 2013).

By definition, the Klan and its activities could be the poster children for domestic terrorism.

The Klan is one of the oldest terrorist organizations in the United States.  It all started in 1865 when six (6) former Confederate officers organized a “club” in Pulaski, Tennessee.  What started out as innocent fun by riding through town after dark in disguises ended up becoming the beginnings of a successful campaign to intimidate Afro-Americans, members of the Republican Party, and anyone else who pressed the agenda that the blacks were free following the Civil War and that they should have the same rights as any white man.  When the group realized the fear and power their nightly trips wielded it led to a meeting in 1867 to codify rules and get some organization to the way things were being run (Ku Klux Klan -- Extremism in America, 2013).

        It was at this meeting that a former Confederate General by the name of Nathan Forrest was elected as the head of the organization.  It was also at this meeting that the almost Dungeons and Dragons type names of the leaders and sects came into being.  The organization was divided into realms, dominions, provinces and dens which were led by Grand Dragons, Titans, Giants, and Cyclopes (Ku Klux Klan -- Extremism in America, 2013).

        [pic 1]General Nathan Forrest the first Grand Wizard of the Klan (Ku Klux Klan -- Extremism in America, 2013).

         By 1869 the organization was disbanded because of internal conflicts and lack of control by the den leaders.  The Enforcement Acts passed in 1870 and 1871 also aided in the decline of Klan membership.  In 1915, a movie entitled “Birth of a Nation” inspired a man named William Simmons to start the Klan again.  This was also a time of a lot of immigration of people who were Catholic or Jewish and who did not speak English.  Simmons hired people to create posters and other propaganda promoting the eminent loss of White American Freedom by these newcomers.

[pic 2]

Poster advertising the movie that inspired a resurrection of the Klan movement (Ku Klux Klan -- Extremism in America, 2013).

         The Klan remained strong with thousands of members in numerous states up until the Great Depression where, once again, the Klan kind of fell apart.  World War Two (2) kept Klan activity to a minimum until the 50’s and 60’s when the Civil Rights Movement came along.  This movement revived the Klans original position that the black man was out to take over the country and in the name of God, they must be stopped.  By the 1970’s, the Federal Bureau of Investigations had created a special force unit to monitor Klan activity.  This led many of the Klan dens to go underground in attempt to stay out of the Federal government’s sight and off their radar.  Today, there are an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 members in forty-one (41) states across the nation and in Canada (Ku Klux Klan, 2009).  Actual membership numbers are hard to pinpoint due to the clandestine nature of the Klan.

[pic 3]

The threat of the Klan and its ideals has always been the same.  They use religion as a reason to discriminate against Blacks, Jews, Catholics, homosexuals, and members of the Republican Party who promote an “unclean agenda hell-bent on taking control away from the white race”.  These ideals are exemplified by their motto:  “14 Words”, a slogan that reads- “We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children” and in the following quotes from Klans members across the nation: