Before watching the documentary of the Ku Klux Klan, I had
limited knowledge of the organization. I knew the organization hated African
Americans and were against integration. What I did not know though was that the
group also discriminated against Jew and Catholics. I assumed that if they were
not black, than the group was ok with any person. I also did not know that the
group was originally established after the civil war to scare and intimidate
the freed slaves. Based on the information from given from the documentary, they wore the white sheets over their head to represent dead
confederate soldiers who rose from the dead.
According to the documentary, the K.K.K was not a violent organization until they saw African Americans become doctors, lawyers, and
run for political positions. The whites that wanted to join the K.K.K. were
poor and had nothing going for them in their lives. Rich whites looked down on
them, so the possibility of blacks moving up in society was just unacceptable
to these racist whites. I was born and raised in Raleigh, North Carolina, so
when I found out that the Gran Dragon of the K.K.K, Bob Jones , was from
Salisbury, North Carolina, I was stunned. He was one of the most successful Klan leaders that lead a chapter of 10,000 members. The Klan organization was
at it’s high with four million members nationwide in the early 1960’s.
As timed passed, U.S. individuals began to see the hate
and racism of the Klan and how much of a threat they were to society. The F.B.I
eventually got involved and began to take down different Klan organizations around the country. President Lydon B. Johnson even gave the Klan a warning
telling their members to quite while they can before they face the consequences. Today there
are still some racist Klan members in small towns, however America is more race
conscientious, so the Klan will never rise in numbers like it did in the past.
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