Reply #41: The KKK DID die down after the 1800s ended and DID NOT

[Clark2008]

become a resurgent force again until the 1930s. That's a fact.

It was about jobs - but, yes, it was about racism. I didn't mean to gloss over that fact, but their excuse was the jobs - in the 1930s, leastwise. I was speaking, specifically, to it's becoming a larger force again in the 1930s, not to its existance in the whole of history to keep black in their place. That is true.

And, I'm FROM Tennessee, the birthplace of the KKK. I know it's history. And I encourage you to look, specifically, to the time frame I was referencing - not the history of the organization as a whole. I'm certainly not defending the KKK - I was speaking, again specifically, to when they became a purely racist organization, not their general, overall, history.

P.S. I also don't dispute that the KKK wasn't maleviolent against black people between 1865 and the 1930s, but their numbers dwindled until the Great Depression - that was my point. They didn't become a larger, and unfortunately, more popular, force until then.


Here found this for you:

In 1915, William J. Simmons founded a totally new group using the same name and costumes. It did not grow until the early 1920s; it then had a huge nationwide boom in membership. By 1924, it was in retreat and, by 1928, had dwindled to less than 5% of its original membership. This second Klan fought to maintain the dominance of moralistic white Protestants over "sinners"--especially bootleggers, adulterers, Blacks, Catholics, and Jews. The second KKK operated openly, and at its peak, in the 1920s, claimed millions of members in the South and Midwest. Many politicians at all levels of government were members, and, at its height, opponents claimed that it had secretly influenced some state governments, including Oregon and Indiana. Multiple scandals involving sex, murder and violence destroyed its reputation, and by 1928 only scattered remants remained in isolated pockets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ku_Klux_Klan

Please read the whole of the entry. There are a few things there I dispute (it doesn't speak nearly enough about the violent aspect), but, overall, it's more of an academic piece instead of one born from a political point of view.