Essay On The Ku Klux Kl Acting Out Of Hate

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The Ku Klux Klan: Acting Out of Hate in Secrecy The Ku Klux Klan is classified as a hate group who in their three summits in history forced blacks and other ethnic groups to live in fear that they did not deserve. The Ku Klux Klan is an extreme racist group founded in 1866 in Pulaski, Tennessee by six former Confederate veterans. The first two words in the name come from the Greek word “kyklos” meaning “circle.” The KKK used to be known as just the Klan or the Hooded Order. The group was formed due to the white Southern resistance to the Republican Party’s newly established policies for the economic equality for blacks; main beliefs of the group included white supremacy, white nationalism, and anti-immigration. The KKK met at a convention, the “Invisible Empire of the South,” in 1867. The first appointed leader in charge of the Klan was Nathan Bedford Forrest (a former Confederate soldier, slave trader, and plantation owner). By the time 1870 rolled around, the beliefs of the men were spread to almost every Southern state. The first wave of the Ku Klux Klan was the founders. This band of brothers lasted from 1866 to 1874. Their goal was to restore the white supremacy by using violence and threats, including murder against blacks, which later spread to including other racial groups. They took on the look of all white with masks and robes to complete their look and hide their identities when “attacking,” usually at night. Some of the members in the Klan claimed to be the ghosts of the Confederate solders to frighten superstitious blacks. At the end of 1867, there were one hundred ninety-seven murders and five hundred forty-eight cases reported of assaults. In April 1868, 1,222 Republican votes were casted but by the ... ... middle of paper ... ...ecific group of people in a population. It has shown to be prevalent through times of social or economic tension and has mainly been used to express practices of discrimination. They were not legal but were widely spread and commonly used. They mostly occurred against black men in the South of the United States, with its peak being in the early 1890’s. An institute had recorded that there had been three thousand four hundred forty-six blacks and one thousand two hundred ninety-seven whites lynched between 1882 and 1968. Records say that the Ku Klux Klan was responsible for most, but not all, of the lynchings of black men and other racial groups during this time period of 86 years. The Congress introduced over two hundred anti-lynching bills during this time. The Republican Party promised to pass such a law and a bill was signed against lynching in January 1922.

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