MASARYK UNIVERSITY IN BRNO FACULTY OF EDUCATION
Department of English Language and Literature
A Comparison of the Ideology of the Ku Klux Klan in Civil Rights Era and in Present Days
Bachelor Thesis
Brno 2009
Supervisor: Written by: Michael George, M.A. Klára Kováčová
Acknowledgments
I would like to express my thanks to Michael George, M.A. who kindly helped with my research and brought in many useful comments as the supervisor of this bachelor thesis. I also thank him for providing many materials for my research.
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Declaration
I declare that I wrote up this bachelor thesis on my own and used only the sources listed in the bibliography.
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Klára Kováčová
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1. INTRODUCTION ...... 6 2. HISTORY OF THE KU KLUX KLAN ...... 7 2.1 CREATION AND THE 1ST ERA OF KU KLUX KLAN ...... 7 2.2 NEW KLAN AND 2ND PERIOD ...... 8 2.3 CIVIL RIGHT MOVEMENT AND 3RD ERA OF KKK ...... 10 2.4 FORTH ERA OF KU KLUX KLAN ...... 11 2.5 KU KLUX KLAN NOW 5TH ERA ...... 12 2.6 SYMBOLS OF KU KLUX KLAN ...... 13 3. KU KLUX KLAN IN 50’S AND 60’S ...... 14 3.1 THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT ...... 14 3.2 A PERSONALITY OF A KLANSMAN ...... 19 3.3 KU KLUX KLAN OF 50’ S AND 60’ IN GENERAL ...... 22 3.4 THE CASES OF VIOLENCE ...... 23 3.4.1. Emmett Till ...... 23 3.4.2. The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing ...... 25 3.4.3 Viola Liuzzo ...... 26 4. THE KU KLUX KLAN IN PRESENT DAYS ...... 29 4.1 THE KLAN PRESENTING ITSELF ...... 29 4.2 THE KU KLUX KLAN PRESENTED BY CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS ...... 32 4.3 THE CASES OF VIOLENCE OF TODAY ’S KLAN ...... 36 5. CONCLUSION ...... 39 6. RESUME ...... 40 7. BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 41 7.1 PRINTED MATERIALS ...... 41 7.2 ONLINE SOURCES ...... 41
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1. Introduction This thesis is dealing with the history and activities of the most known and biggest racist organization in the United States the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist organization believing in the superiority of the white race. The Klan fight against Blacks, immigrants, homosexuals and all other races and nationalities. The members of the Klan call themselves Christians and are convinced that Jesus Christ died for a white nation. The Klan was established after the Civil War and since then, it still exist, in some periods of the time more active and in some periods less. The first chapter briefly introduces the history of the Klan, since its creation in 1865. In the second chapter, the activity of the Klan during the Civil Rights Movement in USA in 50s and 60s is described. This period is very important part for US history and especially for African Americans who were fighting for their equality and the right be treated the same way as whites. America is the land of freedom and equality, where everyone has the right for the “pursuit of happiness”. Therefore the position of African Americans in that time was very surprising in the light of the basic American values. It is very important to focus on this topic, not only on the Civil Rights Movement activity but also on the Ku Klux Klan and the enemy of the Movement and the equality in general. The third chapter describes the Klan working and functioning now. There are two points of view on this topic. The first, as the Klan is presenting itself on its web sites (where focused on the explanation and reasons of Klan’s beliefs) and the second where there are the opinions of various organizations fighting against racism and supporting Black equality. I presented both attitudes to give the reader the opportunity to decide. In conclusion, I compare the general characteristic and activities of the Klan in both periods of time, the Civil Right Movements and now. I put similarities and differences to see the development of thinking the members of the Klan and the situation in the States in general.
6 2. History of the Ku Klux Klan Jessica McElrath, African American History expert and author of many books about Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy, declares that: “The Ku Klux Klan is a secret white supremacist organization that has sprung up in different times in American history.” 1 It is possible to divide the activities of the Ku Klux Klan into 5 Periods. The original Ku Klux Klan was established during the Reconstruction period. The second rise of the KKK came in 1915 and lasted until the end of the Second World War. In the 60‘s, during the Civil Rights Movement, the Ku Klux Klan appeared again and in the 80 ’s , the Klan took some neo Nazi and skinheads’ ideas and fought against African Americans, Jews and immigrants. The fifth period of the KKK lasts from the 80’s until nowadays.
2.1 Creation and the 1 st era of Ku Klux Klan After the Civil War in USA (1861 – 1865), former slaves were free and they could settle or move north but southern inhabitants did not agree with the abolition of slavery and were afraid of moving African Americans north and loss of cheap manpower. On 24 th December 1865 former Confederate Army Veterans and slave owners met in the house of Thomas M. Jones in Pulaski, Tennessee and decided to establish a secret organization fighting for the rights of white inhabitants and against the Black socialization. The founders were Captain John C. Lester, Captain John B. Kennedy, Frank O. McCord, Calvin E. Jones, Richard R. Reed, and James R. Crowe. 2 “The Ku Klux Klan derived from the Greek word Kuklos, meaning a circle with no beginning or end. The Klan came from the Scottish word Clan referring to a family or a likened group of believers. They added KU to make the name ‘flow on the tongue’ when pronounced.” 3 J. R. Crowe suggested that the word should be changed a bit to make it more secret and private. It was also agreed that the abbreviation KKK will be used. The
1 McElrath, Jessica. "Ku Klux Klan". African American History. 24th February 2009
2 "Ku Klux Klan History". Imperial Klans of America. 24th February 2009
3 Ibid.
7 members had to take an oath not to reveal anything about the Klan, even the names of other members. Although the Ku Klux Klan was officially established in December 1865, it did not start its attacks until May 1866. Nathaniel Bedford Forrest was elected the first leader (Grand Wizard) in that time and the Ku Klux Klan went in touch with the Knights of White Camellia, a racist organization with the same beliefs as KKK and they became one group. Their attacks were very brutal and cruel. “Members dressed up in hoods and robes made of bed sheets, riding at night on horseback to "scare" local folks, especially freed slaves. Slaves thought of them as "Ghosts" of Confederate War dead.” 4 They hunt former slaves and used on them various ways of torturing (lynching, castration, shooting, hanging, whipping, ripping of pregnant women, quartering by horses and burning). Violence of the Klan became so unbearable that President Ulysses S. Grant was forced by the government to send army troops to the south and in the year 1871 Force Bill legally forbid the activities of the Ku Klux Klan. Many members of KKK were sent to prison and finally, the power of violence was weakened. Some of the members, who were not in prison, did not want to give up and admit that “the golden age” of the Klan is over, so they continued in violent crimes, murdering and stealing. After few months Forrest saw that original beliefs of the Ku Klux Klan are not followed and he let the Ku Klux Klan officially disband.
2.2 New Klan and 2 nd period In the year 1915, in Stone Mountains, Georgia, a Methodist Preacher William J. Simmons organized a new Klan. It focused its activity against not just Blacks but Jews, Roman Catholics and immigrants. KKK spread very quickly and had over two million members in 20’s. As a recruiting tool, the film The Birth of Nation by D. W. Griffith was used. Another important thing in the history of the Ku Klux Klan happened in the year 1915. Local government of Georgia legalized KKK in that state and proclaimed it a patriotic organization. But Georgia was not the only place, where KKK had a big influence, as many members in other southern regions joined political parties or
4 Ibid.
8 lot of government members sympathized with the Klan and did not punish it for crimes. Later, a women branch of the Ku Klux Klan was established. The Women of the Ku Klux Klan (WKKK) was founded in the fall of 1921, and was officially chartered in 1923. As Maurine Elgersman Lee, a faculty scholar says in Griot, magazine of University in Maine:
“The WKKK headquarters were established in Little Rock,
Arkansas. Using the platform of 100% American women, those eligible for WKKK membership had to be female, white, Anglo, American born, gentile citizens who were at least 18 years of age and who had no loyalty to foreign governments or sects.” 5
The leader of WKKK was Elizabeth Tyler, she declared WKKK for an independent organization, at the same level as the Ku Klux Klan, with the same rights and options that cooperated with KKK and followed their rules and rituals. During the World Wars, mostly mothers afraid of their sons fighting in the battles became members of WKKK. They were focused on enemies of USA, which were African Americans, Jews, Roman Catholics and immigrants. “WKKK women have been characterized as a ‘poison squad of whispering women’ who spread gossip about Jews, Catholics, and Blacks, with economic and political results that were “enormously and disastrously successful.” 6 During both World Wars, the Klan organized protests against American soldiers fighting in Europe. It proclaimed that Americans are not interested in foreigners and that they do not want to send their soldiers to die in strange countries. After this War, the Klan lost its influence but as the Second World War came, it became strong again. After the Second World War, USA was weakened and people did not have work and money. That was one of the reasons, why many people entered the Ku Klux Klan they wanted to get some money, because each member, who wanted to join the Ku Klux Klan, had to pay a fee. This money was given to a local leadership and
5 Elgersman Lee, Maureen. "A Place in Time: Women of the Ku Klux Klan (WKKK)". The Griot, Preserving African American History in Maine Summer 2003: 6Ibid.
9 to leaders and other distinguished members. As new members were concentrated more on money and not on the former priorities of KKK as lynching and killing African Americans. The Klan started to have problem inside of the organization, such as financial scandals and more and more brutal crimes. A lot of members left the Klan and it slowly lost its influence. 7
2.3 Civil Right Movement and 3 rd era of KKK In 1950’s African Americans started to fight for their rights and against the segregation. They had separate schools, restaurants, cinemas and libraries until this time. The case of Rosa Parks, a mid aged Black woman who refused to give up her seat in a bus for a white man, was among the first. This was illegal and she was arrested. Her act led to the rise of the movement fighting for equal rights of whites and Blacks and African Americans initiated protests and demonstrations. Their leader was Martin Luther King Jr., Baptist pastor, who insisted on non violent ways of protest and persuaded people that this is the only right way. The Ku Klux Klan could not let these attempts of African Americans without an answer and new Grand Wizard, Robert Shelton revived old traditions. The ways of torturing and killing were especially cruel. The most known case of violence caused by the Ku Klux Klan is bomb attack on Birmingham, Alabama Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in 1963. The fact that Ku Klux Klan had support from government although secretly, was shown in the case of bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, where four young girls were killed and twenty three people were hurt. As one online educational source about history of Ku Klux Klan features:
“A witness identified Robert Chambliss, a member of the Ku Klux Klan, as the man who placed the bomb under the steps of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. He was arrested and charged with murder and possessing a box of 122 sticks of dynamite without a permit. On 8th October, 1963, Chambliss was found not guilty of murder and
7 Mareš, Miroslav. "Ku Klux Klan a pravicový extremismus V ČR". Středoevropské Politické Studie. 14th March 2009
10 received a hundred dollar fine and a six month jail sentence for having the dynamite.” 8
But Civil Right Movement had a strong motivation to fight further. They slowly achieved the desegregation in schools, restaurants and some other public facilities. But some of the white inhabitants were not willing to accept it. In the process of time, the leaders of Ku Klux Klan became more and more powerless as African American movements were more and more successful. The Ku Klux Klan and its fight became senseless and its attacks slowly stopped.
2.4 Forth Era of Ku Klux Klan At the beginning of 1980’s Ku Klux Klan was no more one organization. It has split up into several groups, which were connected with neo Nazi American parties and joined their beliefs. They still protested against African Americans, Jews, Catholics, who sympathized with Blacks and immigrants. David Duke, a new leader brought a new picture about Ku Klux Klan into media. As official Ku Klux Klan web sources say:
“As forced desegregation programs give way to “Affirmative Action” and the advancement of minorities over whites, David Duke emerges from Louisiana to create a new and positive image for the Klan. He presents the argument of equal rights for whites that the Ku Klux are an organization to promote the interests, ideals and culture of white native Americans. The media is livid, and does everything in its power to destroy this image of respectability, repeating its shibboleth that the Ku Klux is nothing but bigots and terrorists.” 9
David Duke is a very important person in history of the Ku Klux Klan and US racism at all. According to the Jewish Anti Defamation League online source: “Shortly after graduating in 1974, Duke covered his swastika with a Klan robe and
8Simkin, John. Spartacus Educational. 25th February 2009
11 founded the Louisiana based Knights of the Ku Klux Klan.” 10 The Knights of Ku Klux Klan is a pro white supremacist organization, founded on the ground of the original Ku Klux Klan and taking some nazi ideas.
2.5 Ku Klux Klan now 5th era In these days, Ku Klux Klan is not only one organization but it is separated into many smaller groups functioning over whole USA. There are also some wings of KKK in Europe. This is the list of the most important groups of Ku Klux Klan: Alabama White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan American Knights of the Ku Klux Klan Confederate Knights of the Ku Klux Klan Imperial Knights of America International Association of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan Invisible Empire National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan Knights of the Ku Klux Klan Knights of the White Kamelia Knight Riders of the Ku Klux Klan National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan U.S. Klans, KKK Inc. United Confederate Knights of the Ku Klux Klan United White Klans White Camellia Knights of the Ku Klux Klan These groups are acting mostly in the South of USA, fighting against African Americans, Jews and in some regions also against immigrants from Mexico and South America. “During the 1990's, as in the 1980's, many Klan groups got into legal trouble and lost precedent setting lawsuits. Other Klans were plagued by poor leadership, infighting, and general incompetence. The KKK had lost all of it is one time power, money, and influence.” 11
10 "Extremism in America David Duke". The Anti Defamation League. 28th February 2009
12 2.6 Symbols of Ku Klux Klan Although the Ku Klux Klan is not only one organization any more, all of them use the same symbols. The best known one is “the blood drop”. According to the Ku Klux Klan and their explanation and interpretation of the Bible, this drop is blood of Jesus Christ, who died for white Aryan race. Another important symbol that KKK uses, is the cross wheel. It is supposed to advert to the original word, the name the Ku Klux Klan is made of, Kuklos, which means the circle. The cross wheel also confirm the unity and motion of Ku Klux Klan.
13 3. Ku Klux Klan in 50’s and 60’s
3.1 The Civil Rights Movement In the southern states, the segregation of all public facilities was normal and common thing. African Americans had separated schools, restaurants and public transport. White inhabitants did not consider them equal fellow citizens and did not want to live together with them. African Americans tried to protest several times but only with smaller success. There were several organizations associating African Americans, who tried to discus and solve the problem of the segregation, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). Later, in 60’s SCLC Southern Christian Leadership Conference was found and Martin Luther King Jr. was a head of it. In the year 1955, everything changed and African Americans found a new way of requesting the equality in front of the law. It began on 1 st December 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama when a Black woman, Rosa Parks, sitting in the bus after a long day in the work, refused to give up her seat for a white man, which was illegal and she was arrested. Harvard Sitkoff says in his Struggle for Black Equality that
“The Black Panther publicist Eldridge Cleaver would later write about that moment: “Somewhere in the universe, a gear in the machinery had shifted.” At the next stop, Court Square, where slaves had once been auctioned, the driver summoned the police to arrest Rosa Parks for violating the municipal ordinance mandating segregation on publicly owned vehicles. Martin Luther King, Jr. would describe this as the moment when Parks had been “tracked down” by the Zeitgeist the spirit of the times….” 12
The leaders of all associations, fighting for the rights of African Americans, realized that this is the right moment to start calling for the equality. As a main
12 Sitkoff, Harvard. The Struggle for Black Equality. 1981. Canada. HarperCollins Canada Ltd. 1993. 38
14 speaker and representative, Martin Luther King Jr. was chosen. He came with an idea of a non violent fight. “We are impatient for justice but we will protest with love. There will be no violence on our part.” 13 With this decision and courage, the Montgomery Bus Boycott began. Each Black citizen of Montgomery refused to use public transport when commuting to work or school. Some of them walked, some offered their cars to be used to car pools. At first, white inhabitants did not take it seriously but after a while, they realized that the incomes from public transport are much lower than usual and that they need African Americans to use their busses again. Harvard Sitkoff describes in his book this period as a policy of harassment. Whites started to threaten Blacks, the, leaders of boycott lost their jobs and they were arrested for imaginary crimes that never happened. The mayor and other members of the local government joined secretly pro white organizations, e. g. White Citizens Council, and when there was any protest organized by Civil Rights Movement, the members of Ku Klux Klan were asked to come and attack the participants. The situation of Black citizens became harder and harder. The government and pro white organizations were against them and made all the protests more complicated. Some of African Americans stopped fighting and protesting and traveled by busses again. But it was only a few of them. Martin Luther King Jr. was encouraging them and still reminded them of the non violent way of protest. And then, after a long and tiring fight, after 381 days of Montgomery Bus Boycott, on 21 st December 1956, the buses were officially integrated. Black and white citizens traveled together in one bus. But this was only the beginning of a long and difficult journey of African Americans in their struggle for equality. Their fight did not end up with desegregation of busses. They asked for integrated universities, restaurants and other public facilities. 14 University students played an important role in the Civil Rights Movement. They founded organizations fighting against racial segregation, e.g. Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, Students for a Democratic Society, etc. Being aware of the ideas spread by Martin Luther King Jr. about non violent protest, students came up with a new way of fight for the desegregation of restaurants. On January 31, 1960 in Greensboro, North Carolina, four Black students went into a
13 Ibid. 45 14 Ibid. 37 52
15 lunch counter and asked to be served. They refused to leave until they got served. In next few days, more and more students did the same. The owners of restaurants called the police, students were arrested but they did not stop coming into restaurants every day. Soon, all newspapers wrote about it and students not only in Greensboro but all over the south of USA began with these protest activities. They called it “sit ins” and they had a big support from Martin Luther King Jr. and other organizations fighting against the segregation. 15 Other university students took the events in Greensboro as an inspiration and so other sit ins took place in Nashville, Tallahassee, Portsmouth (Virginia), Petersburg, Hampton, Newport, Arlington, Knoxville, Memphis, Oak Ridge, etc. 16 On the contrary to big enthusiasm of African Americans, white inhabitants behaved very adversely to it. The owners of restaurants and lunch counters and waitress refused to serve Black students and they often called the police and let them arrested. Later white extremists started with violent actions against African Americans. “Violence began. White hecklers pushed lighted cigarettes against the backs of girls sitting at the counter. They beat and kicked ‘nigger lovers’. They threw French fried potatoes and gum at the demonstrators. They spat on them and blew cigar smoke in their faces.” 17 When the police was called to violent crimes caused by whites, the Blacks were always arrested. Many of African Americans were arrested on the basis of fictional crimes. The most of the public officials secretly supported pro white organizations. Policemen, politicians in local governments and other members of executive did not punish the members of extremist racist groups, when committing crimes against African Americans. But nothing could make Civil Rights Movement to stop their activities. According to Sitkoff: “When asked to explain their motives, sit ins participants answered in about as many ways as their number. They stated that their inspiration came from parents engaged in the struggle for racial
15 McElrath, Jessica. "Lunch Counter Sit Ins". African American History. 15th March 2009
16 justice or from teacher who dwelled on the long and noble tradition of Negro protest, or even from whites, who urged the necessity to demonstrate against Jim Crow. Sometimes they stressed personal experiences.” 18
Another part of the sit ins was that the students would be dressed up in their best Sunday clothing. James J. Kilpatrick, the editor of the Richmond News Leader and a vehement segregationist, noted that this created an interesting contrast with the whites who came to harass them: “Here were the colored students, in coats, white shirts, ties, and one of them was reading Goethe and one was taking notes from a biology text. [The students often brought schoolbooks with them to sit ins so they could study.] And here, on the sidewalk outside was a gang of white boys come to heckle, a ragtail rabble, slack jawed, Black jacketed, grinning fit to kill, and some of them, God save the mark, were waving the proud and honored flag of the Southern States in the last war fought by gentlemen. Eheu! It gives one pause.“19
The “sit ins” were not the only actions and activities, Black students organized. There were also “watch ins” in cinemas, “read ins” in libraries and even “kneel ins” in segregated churches. 20 Few years later, in the year 1961, James Farmer, came with an idea of Freedom Rides. Few African Americans went by bus to another city or state and during the journey; they entered public facilities for whites and tested them. But white extremists attacked the busses and hurt and killed many Blacks. The police should have gone with the busses to protect them from attacks. But usually, as the bus was suppose to enter some city or village, police left and bus was brutally attacked by mobs of white people belonging to racist organizations. In one case, mobs assailed the bus and forced the Blacks to hide in the church that they surrounded and threw stones and bottles inside.
18 Ibid. 73 19 Cozzens, Lisa. "Sit Ins". African American History! 14th March 2009
17 Freedom Riders were attacked so often and brutally that even president Kennedy asked police to stop it. But police had actually no interests in stopping them, because they supported them, so he asked Freedom Riders to stop. But they refused to do so, too. They asked desegregated railroads, airport facilities and interstate public transport. In the year 1962, they got it for interstate buses and other ways of transport were officially integrated. 21
A fight for desegregation of schools and education was one of the most complicated ones. African Americans had their separated schools but they were not as good and advanced as schools for white children. In the year 1954, Oliver Brown in Topeka, Kansas, asked NAACP for help for his daughter Linda. She was a third grader and every morning; she had to walk to school over a mile, although an elementary school for white children was very close to her home. Her father wanted her to visit that school but until that time, it was not possible because of the segregation. Until this time a motto “separate but equal” was followed. But in this case, Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Supreme Court decided to recall it. It proclaimed that the separation of schools predetermines children to see the worlds of African Americans and whites as two worlds that cannot exist together. On the other hand, the representatives of the school for white children said that separated schools prepare children for future living and it makes them to get used to the future separation. And according to “separate but equal”, there is no reason for them to feel inferior. Many parents, not only in Topeka, joined Brown and asked better and desegregated education for their children. Finally, the Supreme Court decided that “separate but equal” idea will be followed no more and abolished the segregation of schools. Black children could visit schools that were earlier only for white children. But the process of desegregation was not that easy as expected. White inhabitants did not want to segregate and they did not want to let their children be at one school with Black children. They had to face vexation, mockery and were beaten a lot. The process of integration went slowly but almost in all countries, the schools were finally desegregated. 22
21 Sitkoff, Harvard. The Struggle for Black Equality. 1981. Canada. HarperCollins Canada Ltd. 1993. 90 97. 22 Brown vs. Board of Education. April 11, 2004 Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research. http://brownvboard.org/summary/ 14 th March 2009
18 But in Little Rock in Arkansas, people were not wiling to share schools with African Americans. In the year 1957, after the Supreme Court decision, nine of Black students decided to sign up for studying at Central High School in Little Rock that was only for white students before. But on the first school day, governor Orval Faubus called the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the nine students from entering the school. They were not able to come into the building, although they tried every day. Mobs of white inhabitants clustered at school every day and did not let the students to pass. After two weeks, President Eisenhower was forced to send an army troop to Little Rock to protect the students from attacks. This was the first time in the history, when army force must have been used to set up the law. The “Little Rock Nine”, as the students were called by media, visited the school for a year until Faubus let all the schools shut down to slow down the process of integration. The year after only two of them returned to school back. 23 The cases of Little Rock and Brown vs. Board of Education were the most important events in integration of schools. The process was long, slow and difficult but Civil Rights Movement did not give up. They fought in a non violent way and had strong motivation and desire. It was very difficult to stay calm, avoid the violence and still insist on their rights. Long after Civil Rights Movement, there were and still are problem with segregation. Racist groups are active until nowadays but nevertheless, from the historical point of view, they reached a great success.
3.2 A Personality of a Klansman As C. P. Ellis, former member of KKK avows in his interview, he joined Ku Klux Klan, because he was in a need of belonging somewhere. He had no education, worked hard every day but he did not earn enough money to afford his family a dignified life. They were very poor, never had enough money for living and he felt
Brown vs. Board of Education. Jun 29, 1998. African American History. http://www.watson.org/~lisa/Blackhistory/early civilrights/brown.html 14th March 2009 23 National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior, Little Rock Central High School. National Historic Site Arkansas. Little Rock Central High School . National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior. Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, Little Rock Central High School. Philander Smith College and the 1957 Crisis. National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior. Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, Little Rock Central High School. The Little Rock Nine
19 responsible for it. His situation seemed to be hopeless and as he said that he did not have a motivation to get up in the morning and go to work. Later he started to ask himself, how is it possible, when someone works 50 hours a week and still does not have enough money for food? How can the government or even the country let something similar happened? Soon, he felt he needs to blame someone. He could not blame the country, because he could not see it as a living thing, so his anger and hatred turned against African Americans. The Blacks, who took a possibility to work away from whites and who, according to him, did not have even the smallest right to live in the same country as whites. Ellis mentioned that he needed to be a part of something and he wanted to share his opinion and beliefs with someone. And joining the Ku Klux Klan was the easiest way how to express himself. In 50’s and 60’s, Ku Klux Klan was on its peak, for it fought very strongly against the Civil Rights Movement. C. P. Ellis soon became a very important person in the hierarchy of the Klan. His life had an order again, a sense and a reason. He put all his desperation and the feeling of uselessness into the fight against the integration of African Americans. 24 Ellis felt very important for the society, because the local government secretly supported the Klan, which was invited every time, when there was a demonstration or some kind of protest against the segregation. As he said, until he joined the Ku Klux Klan, he was no one. But since then, he had many friends among the executives of the city and he felt respected. As he was older and has functioned in the Klan for very long time, his opinions changed slowly and he visited a few of the meetings of African Americans, where the desegregation was discussed. At first, he laughed at them and joined a meeting primarily to expose them. But he slowly changed his mind and started to work with them and cooperate. He admitted that he hated Black people and it was very difficult for him to even talk to them. 25 According to James Vander Zadnen, in “Klan Revival”, the most of members of KKK were workers with almost no or low education. But in the hierarchy of the Klan, it was not important, what a man makes in his real life. According to the handbook of the U.S. Klans, everyone was invited to join the Klan. The only important thing was what he believed in.
24 Terkel, Studs. American dreams Lost and found. New York: Pantheon Books, 1980. 142 144 25 ibid 144 154
20 “We invite all men who can qualify to become citizens of the Invisible Empire, to approach the portal of our beneficent domain, join us in our noble work of extending its boundaries, and in disseminating the gospel of Klankraft, there by encouraging, conserving, protecting and making vital the fraternal relationship in the practice of an honorable clannishness; to share with us the sacred duty of protecting womanhood; to maintain forever the God given supremacy of the White Race; to commemorate the holy and chivalric achievement of our fathers; to safe guard the sacred rights, privileges and institutions of our civil government; to bless mankind and to keep eternally a blaze the sacred fire of a fervent devotion to a pure Americanism.” 26
As the membership list was not available, the members were safe, because no one could tell their names. A feeling of anonymity allowed members to act in very brutal way without the fear of punishment. It gave them a feeling of anonymity, so they could act in a very brutal way without the fear to be punished. But later, from some sources and research, names and the positions of members in the hierarchy of the Klan were published:
“They fall into four occupational groups: (1) skilled workers (e.g., garage mechanics, machinists, carpenters, and stonemasons); (2) marginal, small businessmen (e.g., small building trade con tractors and proprietors of food markets, grills, and gasoline stations); (3) marginal white collar workers (e.g., grocery store clerks, service station attendants, police men, and salesmen); and (4) transportation workers (primarily truck drivers) and unskilled and semiskilled workers in the textile, construction, automotive, aircraft, coal, and steel industries” 27
26 Vander Zanden, James. "The Klan Revival". The American Journal of Sociology March, 1960: 458. 27 ibid
21 The members of the Klan found their identity in the group of people with same opinion and beliefs by pointing out the differences between whites and Black people and emphasizing the qualities and exceptionality of the white race. They also got their self confidence by identifying themselves with something beyond, with some greater truth that overhangs them The Invisible Empire. It gave them their status, so they could know who they are and they could take the new identity, as Vander Zanden describes in his article: “The Ku Klux Klan is the only white Christian Protestant 100 per cent American organization in America today. . . . Klansmen are the cleanest and most perfect people on earth.” 28 They put themselves into the position of protectors of the real and true American identity and its real values and proclaimed that they have to protect themselves against the enemies, which were mainly African Americans and their Civil Rights Movement in that time. They proclaimed that they followed Bible and Christianity but usually they took one or more sentences from the Bible and changed its meaning.
3.3 Ku Klux Klan of 50’s and 60’ in general As said before, the Ku Klux Klan of this period fought mainly against the integration of African Americans. The strongest and the most influential group was UKA United Klans of America. It was based in Tuscaloosa in Alabama and headed by Robert Shelton, who was later in 60’s sentenced to prison for several crimes connected with activities of the Klan, e. g. he did not want to provide the list of members of UKA. 29 The UKA most numbered and active part was in North Carolina. It is said that in the year 1965, it had about 12 000 members. Everyone could join UKA or any other fraction of KKK, they just had to pay 10$ as an initiation fee and 15$ for a robe was enough. After that, a man could join so called street walks, night walks and all other activities. A street walks took place in the daytime, when robed and helmeted members walked down the street of the town spreading fear and panic around and proclaimed themselves as the “security
28 Vander Zanden, James. "The Klan Revival". The American Journal of Sociology March, 1960: 460. 29 "The Ku Klux Klan: Legacy of Hate". Antidefemation League. 17th March 2009
22 guard”. At night, they usually picked a house of some African American; they took a big wooden cross and set it on fire in front of the victim’s house. The victims knew that they came for them. Klan members usually took their victims and drove them out of the city. Then, they tortured them, lynched them in a very cruel way. At the end, they let them slowly died or they hanged them or drowned them. 30 Very important factor of the expansion of the Klan in this time was that this organization was not illegal. Many of the representatives in the local government supported the activities of the Klan, although secretly, because they were afraid of losing their positions. C. P. Ellis also describes in his interview that he was often asked to come and express Klan’s opinions, when there was some meeting of African Americans. 31 It can be also seen in the case of bombing of the Sixteen Street Baptist Church, where four children were killed and many people were hurt. A member of the Ku Klux Klan, who committed that crime, was not found guilty for killing someone, only for keeping explosive. The reason, why the court was not looking for truth, is obvious. The jury consisted of white men, who had no interest in supporting the integration of African Americans. The same happened in the case of a murder of Emmet Till. Two white men were accused of killing 14 years old boy but they were found not guilty, because of lack of the evidence. In fact, it was quite clear that they killed him but the jury sympathized with them and because of that they set them free. 32 The justice was not fair in the cases concerning Black citizens. This is one of the reasons, why process of the integration went so slowly. Later, some cases were reopened and the truth showed itself.
3.4 The Cases of Violence
3.4.1. Emmett Till Emmett Till was a 14 years old boy, who lived with his mother in Chicago. His father did not live with them and his mother Mamie Till Mobley was very busy
30 Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission, "What brought us to November 3, 1979?“ North Carolina resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission Final Report: 100 104. 25 th May 2006.
23 at work. Emmett went to school and moreover, he took care about a house. He cleaned, cooked and did the laundry. In the summer of 1955, he went to visit his family to Jackson, Mississippi. His mother was concerned and worried, because of the killing and lynching of African Americans in the South and in that time Mississippi was the most racist state of all United States. Something like this has not been happening in Chicago but she finally allowed Emmett to go. 33 He was there for few days and on 24th August he entered a store to buy some candy. As he was leaving, it is said that he either whistled or said “bye baby” at the white woman, who sold candy to him. It is still unclear what exactly happened as he was leaving. Carolyn Bryant, a wife of the store owner, told about it her husband Roy Bryant. Nothing happened for few days. But on 29 th August, Emmett disappeared. He was missing for three days and after that time, his body was found in the Tallahatchie River. He could not have been recognized, because his body was totally mutilated. Finally, he was identified by the ring of his father, he wore on his finger. 34 Emmett’s body was sent to Chicago, as his mother asked and she decided for an open casket funeral and let his body to be displayed for 5 days. “Mamie wanted the world to know what had happened to her son. His right eye was missing, his nose was broken, and there was a hole in the side of his head. Fifty thousand people attended the funeral.”35 Roy Bryant and J. W. Milam were taken into custody and were accused of torturing and killing Emmett Till. They denied that they had done it and at the end of the lawsuit they were proclaimed not guilty. The jury, which consisted of only white members, decided that there were not enough evidences to be sure that the body was really Emmett’s. His face was so mutilated that according to the jury, it was not possible to identify him. It even did not take long time to jury to decide. “Your ancestors will turn over in their grave, and I'm sure every last Anglo Saxon one of you has the courage to free these men.”36 said the lawyer of Bryant and Milam, because murders of African Americans were not even considered as a
33 Anderson, Devery. "Interview with Mamie Till Mobley December 3, 1996 Conducted by Devery S. Anderson". Emmett Till Murder. com. 22nd March 2009
24 heinous crime. Emmett’s mother did not sty until the end of the court, because, as she said later in the interview, she knew before, what will be the result. According to Dr. Patrick Chura, a teacher of American Literature at St. Louis University, Emmett Till had a speech defect, which was caused by the polio disease he went through as a child. It means that it is highly possible that he did not whistle at the woman in purpose but it was a result of the speech defect. 37 In the year 1956, Barnett and Milam agreed to be interviewed by the Look Magazine and in that interview; they confessed the murder of Emmett. They got 4.000 dollars for it but although they confessed they were never charged with that crime after it. Killing an African American in the south was not a big deal in that time and it is very interesting that i.e. in Mississippi, where Emmett Till was killed, during Jim Crow Era, until the middle of 60’s no white person was ever sentenced to prison for killing a Black person. 38 Barnett and Milam both died on cancer in 90’s. According to Emmett’s mother, who became a teacher and an important person in the fight for the rights of African Americans, they both died alone and unhappy and she considered it a God’s punishment. Many books and movies were made about Emmett Till’s case to remind the injustice of 50’s and 60’s in the South. 39
3.4.2. The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham was a meeting place for Civil Rights leaders. Martin Luther King Jr. held a speech there many times. But on 15 th September 1963, a bomb was put near to the church and as it exploded, it killed four little girls, Denise McNair (age 11), Addie Mae Collins (age 14), Carole Robertson (age 14) and Cynthia Wesley (age 14), who attended Sunday school. Other 23 people were hurt by the blast. The funeral of three of the girls (the fourth family gave priority to a private small funeral) was visited by 8.000 people, not only Blacks but also whites and Martin Luther King Jr. gave the eulogy. That Church was
37 Chura, Patrick. ""Prolepsis and Anachronism: Emmet Till and the Historicity of To Kill a Mockingbird". Southern Literary Journal 32 spring 2000: 4 5.
38 Rogers, Dexter. "Emmet Till: A story America must not forget". Dexter's Vantage Point!. 22nd March 2009
25 very important place for a life and activities of Civil Rights Movement and the bomb attack soon became a very important matter. 40 Robert Chambliss, a member of the Ku Klux Klan, was arrested and charged with murder and possessing dynamite. As it was usual in that time, he was found not guilty of murder, he was sentenced to six months of jail and 100 dollars fine for keeping dynamite. 41 Later, FBI reopened the case and three other members had been found to be responsible for the bomb attack. These were former Klan members, Thomas Blanton Jr., Bobby Frank Cherry and Herman Frank Cash. The police discovered new evidence, it did not have before and it was a record as Blanton told his wife about the Ku Klux Klan meeting, where the attack was planning. 42 The attack in the Sixteen Baptist Church was one of the most cruel and violent crime of the Ku Klux Klan in the period of Civil Rights Movement. Many people were hurt and the funeral of four girls was very important event visited not only by Africa Americans but also by whites.
3.4.3 Viola Liuzzo Viola Liuzzo was born on 11 th April 1925; she was married twice and had five children. She grew up in a poor family in the south and although she was white, she experienced desegregation every day. She worked as a medical lab technician and was a member of NAACP. She was also active in local reforms in education and economic justice. On 5 th March 1965, she took part in the Selma Montgomery March, which demanded voting right for African Americans. As her husband said: “It was everybody’s business she had to go!” 43 The march was interrupted by the police once but people continued until they reached Montgomery. After the demonstration,
40 "Sixteenth Street Baptist Church". We shall overcome Historical Places of the Civil Rights Movement. 23rd March 2009
42 McElrath, Jessica . "The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing". African American History. 23rd March
26 Viola offered to drive the participants back and a young Black man, Leroy Moton, was a co driver. On their way, they met a car, where four KKK members were sitting. As they saw a white woman, sitting in the car with Black people, they started to follow their car. After a while, as they were driving alongside Viola’s car, Collie Wilkins, 21 years old Ku Klux Klan member put his arm out of the window and fired his gun. Viola was dead immediately. Moton was not hurt, so he could control the car and stop it safely. 44 The four Ku Klux Klan members (Collie Wilkins, Gary Rowe, William Eaton and Eugene Thomas were arrested. As it turned later, Rowe was an FBI agent and he testified against the other three attackers. In spite of the testimony, they were not found guilty. But President Johnson instructed his officials to investigate the restriction of personal and civil rights of Viola and finally, the three of the KKK members were sentenced to ten years imprisonment for violating Viola’s civil rights. As it was found later, there were some rumours about Viola spreading in the public. It was said that she was a member of Communist party etc. Later, it was declared that these are lies. 45 After her death, President Johnson called to her husband to make him sure that hi will do his best to catch the attackers. Although he was very engaged in investigation, the attackers were set free. Jim, Viola’s husband said about her death: "My wife died for a sacred battle, the rights of humanity. She had one concern and only one in mind. She took a quote from Abraham Lincoln that all men are created equal and that's the way she believed." 46 Viola’s very close friend was Sarah Evans, an African American woman, also active in NAACP. She said about Viola that: "Viola Liuzzo lived a life that combined the care of her family and her home with a concern for the world around her. This involvement with her times was not always understood by her friends; nor was it appreciated by those around her." 47 On 29 th March, there was a great memorial service in Detroit, where 1500 people were participated. Rosa Parks was one of them. Next say, Viola’s funeral
44 . Simkin, John Spartacus Educational. 20th March 2009 http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAkkk.htm . 20th March 2009 45 Ibid. 46 Giannino, Joanne. „Viola Liuzzo". Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography. 20th March 2009
27 took place, attended by 750 people, counted also Martin Luther King Jr. and it was also televised. 48 The murder of Viola Liuzzo made Civil Rights Movement even stronger but it was not, what the members of the Ku Klux Klan meant. Although the KKK members were not sent to prison for their crimes and this organization had a lot of members fighting against integration, the Civil Rights Movement was more and more successful.
48 ibid
28 4. The Ku Klux Klan in present days
4.1 The Klan presenting itself The official sources, web sites and other publications produced by the Klan itself try to change the image of KKK and they proclaim that the information given by media (television, newspaper, internet, etc.) is false. Furthermore they protest that they are the victim of those who want the Klan to look like a racist organization which hates African Americans, immigrants, homosexuals, Catholics and all people, who do not have a pure white origin. As Free Knights of Ku Klux Klan, one fraction of the original Ku Klux Klan say, they absolutely follow the idea of Christianity and honor and worship the Holy Cross as a symbol of sacrifice and services. They proclaimed themselves as the protectors of the true values, which Jesus died for. It naturally means white people and white race. “So by the Fire of the Cross of Calvary we cleanse and purify our virtues by burning out our vices with the Fire of His Word.”49 Another organization that developed from the original Ku Klux Klan, the White Camellia Knights, proclaims that it is a Christian organization, because the most important value for them is love. 50 But it is love only for the white race and its culture, as it is shown on the introduction to the official web page of similar organization, Imperial Klans of America:
If you disagree with our beliefs then this site is not for you. Our site is for our own likeminded people and not meant to be read by anyone but the white race. Not only is all of our material for our own people, it is never intended to threaten others in any way, shape or form. 51
It means that modern Ku Klux Klan says it takes its ideas, values and beliefs from the Bible and Christianity. About the media and Hollywood describing them as
49 "Why we light the Cross". Free Knights of Ku Klux Klan. 31st March 2009
51 Disclaimer". Imperial Klans of America national Headquarters. 31st March 2009
29 racist and intolerant groups, they say that they are only defending their beliefs, they are fighting for white Christian beliefs and they call themselves sufferers. 52 They also believe that “the sole purpose of the Klan is to serve and save the country.” 53 But on the contrary to this, one leader of a local part of KKK from one small town on the South (the exact place is not published) declared that Catholics and Jews together are the greatest evil. That Jews kidnap young girls and sell them as white slaves. 54 That could mean that they use Christian faith in the way which suits them. Free Knights of the Ku Klux Klan emphasize some points, how media influence and create a picture and conception about them. Members usually have their own explanation to show that they do not hate other people, other races and other cultures but they just like and revere their own race. This is, according to Free Knights explanation, a false picture, media created: 1. Klan hates Black people members of the Klan deny this statement and declare that they are just proud of their race and culture and are not afraid of showing it. They admit that everyone can do that and everyone has his rights to show his belonging to a particular race or culture. 2. Klan hates Catholics According to the Klan, this is not true, because they are also Catholics and have the same ideals. Although Klan understand it a little different, it proclaims that all Catholics should live together in harmony. 3. Klan members are criminals Klan asserts that it respects law, government and President and media spread this slander to keep new and probable members away. And new members have to take an oath, when joining KKK that they will not commit any crimes. 4. A member can not leave the Klan after joining it it is also a lie according to the Klan explanation. They respect each member as an individual and do not force him to anything. Everyone has the right to do everything, he wants including leaving Klan. 5. Klan is a cult as said before, each member is handled as an individual person and headquarter does not force anyone to do
52 Ibid. 53 Bohn, Frank. "The Ku Klux Klan Interpreted". The American Journal of Sociology Jan. 1925: 389. 54 Ibid. 388.
30 anything. It is just a gathering of white men and women with same beliefs and ideals. 55
The Klan denies being a criminal organization, it avows that it disapproves criminal and terrorist behavior protects law and support government and President. According to KKK criminals should be banished. They blame media for creating such a picture and propaganda and ruining their reputation. 56 As the Klan believes, Constitution and Bill of Rights was written by white people for white people and integration with other races leads to destruction of pure white race. If people mix races and support interracial marriages, white race is going to extinct and it is against God. On the official web site of White Camelia Knights, there are posted some extracts out of context and Klan understands it as pointing out the superiority of the white race. “Here in America, because of the acceptance of some of our people to intermarry with non whites we see a future in which Whites will be a minority.”57 A certain member declares about the racial mixing in the interview for an American Journal of Sociology: “When a mixture of races occurred, Providence intervenes. The children of mixed parentage, after a number of generations, were born sterile.” 58 It is an attitude of KKK to mixing races. They also disapprove homosexuality as something abnormal and evil in order to protect healthy race, white American culture and Christian values from the evil. A White Camelia Knights alleges:
“Homosexuality is a perversion of nature and a filthy, diseased and perverted lifestyle. Homosexuals cannot reproduce, so it is only logical that they recruit others into their perverted lifestyle. One of the ways in which they do this is in shopping malls and other public gathering locations. Police officers will tell you that homosexual predators will hang out in shopping malls and similar type locations
55 „Things the liberal media told you that just aren't true!". Free Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. 31st March 2009
56 ". Imperial Klans of America national Headquarters. 31st March 2009
31 looking for young teenagers that are in a partying mood and supply the finances for the party to get close to the youth. They hang around youth centers and music concerts and one of the newest and sickest ways of recruiting is now through adoption. When two men or two women adopt a child it only stands to reason that the child will be raised as a homosexual or lesbian. Homosexuals will deny these allegations of perverted recruitment but they have been proven to be true time and time again. This perverted practice of adoption is all too clear, common sense tells us that when a man or woman raises a child, they raise that child to the standard both moral and sexual that their lifestyle mirrors.”59
As decided above, the Klan tries to create a picture of Christian organization, protecting God’s law and true and only values of America. It proclaims that it does not feel hostility or hatred to any other race or culture. It just wants to protect the origin of the white race and have the right to worship it. Klan uses various quotes from the Bible and other religious texts to prove its statements. They only acknowledge the rights to the white race because they believe that God gave them superior position.
4.2 The Ku Klux Klan presented by Civil Rights Organizations Contrary to the official sources of the Ku Klux Klan, the organizations defending equality among races and nationalities and civil rights organizations present the Klan in a slightly different way. The Klan is pictured as a racist group of people, who spread hate in the whole society and hide themselves behind the mask of protectors of white heritage and Christianity. As the president of SPLC (Southern Poverty Law Center), Richard Cohen, says about the Klan members: “They promote violence and intimidation and call for the death of racial and ethnic minorities, homosexuals and so called “race traitors”. 60 According to a website that associates the most of the civil rights organizations, hate crimes and crimes of racial violence are “intended not only to
59 "Nature's Law". White Camelia Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. 1st April 2009
32 injure individuals but to intimidate the entire group of people.” 61 Especially “hate crimes against African Americans impact upon the entire society not only for the hurt they cause but for the history they recall, and perpetuate.” 62 This source as well as Anti Defamation Jewish League emphasize that Klan is still attacking Black churches, which are the most important places of Black community and for most of African Americans it is the centre of cultural and political events. There are published many cases of burning and destroying churches:
“In 1983, while Sunday services were underway, a group of whites shot out the church's windows. 63 Coming back later in the day, they scrawled "KKK" on the door, destroyed the piano, smashed the crucifix, tore up the Bibles, scattered beer cans on the pews, and even defecated on the sacrament cloth. Over the next 12 years more than 200 people were arrested for acts of vandalism against the church. Then, on August 15, 1995, the church was burned down. And, in May, 1996, three white teenagers were arrested and charged with burning down the church. St. John Baptist Church was one of at least 73 African American churches that suffered suspicious fires or acts of desecration since January 1, 1995. …For instance, in January, 1994, two members of the Fourth Reich Skinheads were sentenced to prison terms for plotting an attack on the historic First African Methodist Episcopal Church in South Central Los Angeles. The racist skinheads had hoped that the attack, which was averted by their arrest, would trigger a race war.”64
“In a July 1998 court judgment, the Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, its South Carolina state leader Horace King, and several
61 "Cause for Concern: Hate Crimes in America". Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund.. 6th April 2009
33 other Klansmen were held responsible for their roles in a conspiracy to burn down a Black church”65
As announced before, the Ku Klux Klan presents itself as a Christian organization. But on the other hand, the Anti Defamation League proclaims that the Klan is not following the right beliefs and it changes it to suit their needs. It says that:
“Also common to many Klan Web sites is advocacy of "Identity," a pseudo theology that claims to be a form of Christianity but is in reality a hateful mixture of anti Semitism, racism, and homophobia. Identity holds that Jews are the offspring of Satan; that Blacks and other racial minorities are inferior; and that white Anglo Saxons are the "true Israelites." 66
Klan usually picks up a quote from the text of Bible and explains it in a different way than it is its real meaning in the context. It is also emphasized the influence and the significance of the internet. Because of the rise of various websites and other online sources of information about the white supremacist organizations, the Klan gets more members:
“Up until last month, the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan Realm of Florida were very small," writes Brian K. Bass of his Klan group. "But now we have a website up, and our numbers are growing dramatically. We picked up 6 new members in just the last two weeks, and have other applications under consideration. I feel that this is due to the website." 67
The League warns that media is a dangerous instrument of influencing people, especially internet that is not controlled.
65 "The Ku Klux Klan: Burning Crosses in Cyberspace". The Anti Defamation League. 6th April 2009
34 As some sources show, the Klan is loosing its power and influence now. 68 But on the contrary, it is also said that as the civilization is getting into the economic crisis, it is very probable that it will rise again and will be powerful. It is also a very significant event in the history of the United States that the first African American, Barack Obama, became the president. It is believed that the Klan can not leave this without some kind of protest. 69 As established above, ordinary Klan member was an uneducated man from working class, who tried to find some way of expressing his opinion. Now, it did not change very much. As Mark Potok, director of the Intelligence Project at the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama says: “They are a fairly low rent bunch of people, many of whom use their local organizations as a way of raising money for themselves,” 70 The Klan is still joined by people from middle and working class, who are losing their jobs and homes to foreclosure and find themselves in the poverty. As they feel it is not their mistake; they are looking for the scapegoat and for revenge. They choose mostly immigrants from Central and South America as their target and blame them for taking jobs and opportunities to work from them. But they fight also against Blacks, Jews and homosexuals. As experts observe, the Klan is definitely not losing its power. It seems, it is not active nowbut the world political and social situation is developing in a way that gives the Klan the opportunity to express itself again. As Mark Potok predicts: “Things are certain to get worse,”… The ingredients are all there: a dire economy that is certain to get worse; high levels of immigration; the white majority that is soon to turn into a minority and a Black man in the White House.” 71 But there are some theories that the Klan is drawing the support from the history. It still reminds the public the powerful Invisible Empire; it used to be before and in fact is not such a menace in these days. It is not that threatening as it used to be. The original Ku Klux Klan and other groups founded on its beliefs might be not such a danger but it is true that the Klan is connected and cooperates with neo nazi organizations, which are very active now. It is also common that former Klan
68 Ibid. 69 Doyle, Leonard. "America unmasked: The images that reveal the Ku Klux Klan is alive and kicking in 2009". The Independent 21 February 2009
35 members found their nazi groups as it is known in the case of Tom Metzger in California and Bill Riccio in Alabama. They both turned into neo nazi leaders and cooperate with other racist groups and the Klan too. 72 To sum up, media and civil rights organizations describe the Klan as a racist and terrorist organization. It is the common picture dominating among public in out society. When the Klan members commit a crime, there is always emphasized the suffering of the victim in media and the cruelty of the crime. The Klan is considered criminal and terrorist organization in present days.
4.3 The Cases of Violence of Today’s Klan Cynthia Lynch, 43 years old from Tulsa, Oklahoma had never left her home state, until she decided to travel to Louisiana to join the Ku Klux Klan. She met two Klansmen and they took her to their camp. It was the camp of so called Sons of Dixie, which was a faction of the modern Klan. (According to SPLC, there are about 34 different groups of the Klan). 73 She planned to become a member of the Klan but during the initiation rite she changed her mind and asked the Klansmen to take her to the nearest city, so she could go home. The leader of the group, Raymond Charles “Chuck” Foster was not willing to let her leave and he shot her. CNN report says that:
“During the initiation rite, members of the Klan group, which calls itself the Sons of Dixie, shaved Lynch's head. After 24 hours of drills, including chanting and running with torches, she asked to be taken to town. An argument began, and the group's leader, Foster, allegedly pushed her to the ground and shot her to death without warning.”74
After killing her, Foster tried to remove the bullet from her body and he burnt all her personal items to destroy the evidence. Finally, a shop keeper called the police,
72 "The Godfathers". Inteligence Report fall 2006: 45 47. 73 Brooks, Jacob. "Beneath the Robe: A look into the Sons of Dixie Knights of the KKK Former member says Bogalusa Klan group is no more". The Daily News November 20, 2008.
36 because suspected two men, who came into his shop and asked for some cleaning agent to remove blood from their clothes. The police found Lynch’s body few miles from the camp and later, in the same place, they found Confederate flags, Klan banners and robes. 75 Foster and other seven members of the Sons of Dixie were imprisoned. Foster was accused of second degree murder and no bail was set for him. The relatives of Cynthia Lynch said that she did not travel at all and this was the first far journey from home. After she had found the camp conditions and initial rituals unsuitable, she started to be homesick and wanted to go home. Foster did not want her to leave and killed her. 76
In July 2006, several members of IKA (Imperial Klans of America), Ron Edwards, Joshua Edward Cowles, Jarred R. Hensley and Andrew R. Watkins, were on their recruiting mission. 77 In Brandenburg, Kentucky, they met a young Latino teenage boy, Jordan Gruver, who was 16 years old. The Klansmen beat him and caused him cracked ribs, broken left forearm, multiple cuts and bruises and jaw injuries, which were very complicated to cure. 78 They were arrested and Southern Poverty Law Centre sued them for calling Gruver a “spic” and hurting him seriously. 79 Gruver won $ 2.5 mil. 80 According to SPLC, there are about 34 groups that are following ideals of original Ku Klux Klan. They are also connected with neo nazi groups. As the Ku Klux Klan is illegal organization, the groups are hidden and secret. Nowadays, it seems, they fight more against immigrants from Mexico and South America. But SPLC expects that as Barack Obama became the first African American president
75 Ross, Katie. "FBI joins investigation of Klan initiation death". CNN.com. 9th of April
77 "Jordan Gruver v. Imperial Klans of America". Southern Poverty Law Center. 9th April 2009
37 of the United States, there will be some protest or even violent actions happening. The Klan is not that numerous as in 60sbut it still exists and there are still some people, who will follow its ideas and will be persuaded that America should be inhabited only by white citizens.
38 5. Conclusion This thesis dealt with the racist organization, the Ku Klux Klan and specialized on two periods in the history of the USA: Civil Rights Movement times in 50s and 60s and present days. The thesis is focused on the general characteristics of the Klan, the description of the person of the member and some concrete cases of the violence, the Klan caused in mentioned periods. In the 50s and 60s, Klan fought mainly against African Americans because their Civil Rights Movement fighting against segregation was very strong and active and achieved a lot of success. The Ku Klux Klan was convinced that Jesus died for the white race and they did not want to allow the Blacks to have the same rights as them. The members of the Klan were usually not very well educated workers, who did not earn enough money for their families. They worked hard but it was not enough. Their feeling of desperation was turned against Blacks. The ways of torturing were very brutal and cruel. A very important thing for the activity of the Klan was that is was secretly supported by the local governments. Many executives and politicians sympathized with the ideas of KKK but could not support it publicly because they could lose their position. Nevertheless, they did not punish them for the murders and other violent crimes committed on African Americans. Now, the Klan is not that powerful as it used to be. The original organization is divided into many smaller that are connected with neo Nazi and other racist organizations and took their program. Today’s Klan fights not only against Blacks but also against homosexuals, immigrants and Jews. The members are mostly the same social class as in 60s. But there is a very important difference in the society in USA. The Ku Klux Klan is no more supported by the public. It is forbidden and outlawed. It forced the Klan to change the way it was presenting itself. It proclaims to be just a group of white people who are proud of their nationality and race and they deny spreading hatred against other races. They base their rights on some quotes took from the Bible. On the contrary, organizations fighting for the rights of African Americans and other minorities are pointing out some cases of murder, Klan caused. But now, the murders are sentenced to prison, which was not common in 60s. The Ku Klux Klan is still active, sometimes more and sometimes less. The experts expect the rise of it, because of the financial crisis and mainly for Barack Obama, the first African American president of the United States in the history.
39 6. Resume Tato bakalářská práce zkoumá Ku Klux Klan a jeho hodnoty ve dvou obdobích v historii USA. První jsou 50. a 60. léta, kdy hnutí Afroameričanů a jejich boj za rovnoprávnost byli velmi silné a Ku Klux Klan se je snažil vraždami a mučením zastrašit. Snaží se zkoumat situaci v USA, pohnutky občanů přidat se ke Klanu a popisuje nejvýznamnější zločiny, kterých se Ku Klux Klan dopustil. Druhým obdobím je současnost, kdy se Ku Klux Klan ztotožňuje se neo nacistickými skupinami a přebírá jejich názory. Tato práce se snaží najít podobnosti a rozdíly v názorech a hodnotách Ku Klux Klanu a jeho činech.
This bachelor thesis is dealing with the Ku Klux Klan and its values during two significant periods in the history of the USA. The first period id 50s and 60s when Civil Rights Movement and its fight for the equality of African Americans was very strong and the Ku Klux Klan tried to protest against it by torturing and murders of Blacks. The thesis tries to look for the reasons of people who joined the Klan and is describing the most important crimes committed by the Klan. The second period is the present when the Klan is connected with neo Nazi organizations and took their ideas. This work tries to find similarities and differences in values and opinions of the Ku Klux Klan and its activities.
40 7. Bibliography
7.1 Printed materials Bohn, Frank. "The Ku Klux Klan Interpreted". The American Journal of Sociology Jan. 1925: 388, 389
Chura, Patrick. ""Prolepsis and Anachronism: Emmet Till and the Historicity of To Kill a Mockingbird". Southern Literary Journal 32 spring 2000: 4 5.
Doyle , Leonard. "America unmasked: The images that reveal the Ku Klux Klan is alive and kicking in 2009". The Independent 21 February 2009
Elgersman Lee, Maureen. "A Place in Time: Women of the Ku Klux Klan (WKKK)". The Griot, Preserving African American History in Maine Summer 2003
Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission, "What brought us to November 3, 1979? “ North Carolina resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission Final Report: 100 104. 25 th May 2006.
National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior, Little Rock Central High School. National Historic Site Arkansas. Little Rock Central High School.
National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior. Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, Little Rock Central High School. Philander Smith College and the 1957 Crisis.
National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior. Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, Little Rock Central High School. The Little Rock Nine
Sitkoff, Harvard. The Struggle for Black Equality. 1981. Canada. HarperCollins Canada Ltd. 1993. 38, 45, 37 52, 61 66, 67, 73, 90 97, 182
Terkel, Studs. American dreams Lost and found. New York: Pantheon Books, 1980. 142 144, 144 154, 147
"The Godfathers". Inteligence Report fall 2006: 45 47.
Vander Zanden, James. "The Klan Revival". The American Journal of Sociology March, 1960: 458, 460
7.2 Online Sources About the 1963 Birmingham Bombing Birmingham, Alabama, and the Civil Rights Movement in 1963 The 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing". Modern American Poetry. 23rd March 2009
41 Anderson, Devery. "Interview with Mamie Till Mobley December 3, 1996 Conducted by Devery S. Anderson". Emmett Till Murder. com. 22nd March 2009
"A Wall of Wizards and other prominent men who joined the KKK". The Ku Klux Klan. 28th February 2009 "Brown v. Board of Education About The Case". Brown Foundation for Educational Equity, Excellence and Research. 14th March 2009 Cause for Concern: Hate Crimes in America". Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund.. 6th April 2009 "Christian Identity". White Camelia Kings of the Ku Klux Klan. 31th March 2009 Cozzens, Lisa. "Brown v. Board of Education". 14th March 2009 Cozzens, Lisa. "Sit Ins". African American History!. 14th March 2009 "Disclaimer". Imperial Klans of America national Headquarters. 31st March 2009 "Extremism in America David Duke". The Anti Defamation League. 28th February 2009 Giannino, Joanne. „Viola Liuzzo". Dictionary of Unitarian and Universalist Biography. 20th March 2009 "History". Texas Knights of the Invisible Empire Inc. . 28th February 2009 "Jordan Gruver v. Imperial Klans of America". Southern Poverty Law Center. 9th April 2009 "Ku Klux Klan History". Imperial Klans of America. 24th February 2009 Mareš, Miroslav. "Ku Klux Klan a pravicový extremismus V ČR". Středoevropské Politické Studie. 14th March 2009 42 McElrath, Jessica. "Ku Klux Klan". African American History. 24th February 2009 McElrath, Jessica. "Lunch Counter Sit Ins". African American History. 15th March 2009 McElrath, Jessica. "The Murder of Emmett Till". African American History. 21st March 2009 McElrath, Jessica. "The Murder of Emmett Till Page 2". African American History. 20. March 2009 McElrath, Jessica. "The Sixteenth Street Baptist Church Bombing". African American History. 23rd March "Nature's Law". White Camelia Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. 1st April 2009 "Notorious Klan group hit with SPLC lawsuit". SPLC report fall 2007: 1. Simkin, John. Spartacus Educational. 25th February 2009 Potok, Mark. "Taking on the Klan". Southern Poverty Law Center. 9th April 2009 Pence , James. "Jury Awards Jordan Gruver (Southern Poverty Law Center) vs Imperial Klans of America $2.5 Million". Hillbilly Report November, 15, 2008. Rogers, Dexter. "Emmet Till: A story America must not forget". Dexter's Vantage Point! 22nd March 2009 Ross, Katie. "Group: Murder suspect has long history with Klan". CNN.com. 9th of April Ross, Katie. "FBI joins investigation of Klan initiation death". CNN.com. 9th of April Simkin, John Spartacus Educational. 20th March 2009 http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAkkk.htm . "Sixteenth Street Baptist Church". We shall overcome Historical Places of the Civil Rights Movement. 23rd March 2009 43 "The Ku Klux Klan: Burning Crosses in Cyberspace". The Anti Defamation League. 6th April 2009 "The Ku Klux Klan: Legacy of Hate". Antidefemation League. 17th March 2009 "Things the liberal media told you that just aren't true! “ Free Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. 31st March 2009 "Why we light the Cross". Free Knights of Ku Klux Klan. 31st March 2009 44