WHITE HOODS AND KEYBOARDS: AN EXAMINATION OF THE KLAN AND KU KLUX KLAN WEB SITES By ANDREW G. SELEPAK A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2011 1 © 2011 Andrew G. Selepak 2 To my grandfathers, George Kanala and George Selepak, who spent their lives providing for their families and inspired me to achieve. Also to my parents, Ronald and Josephine, who have supported me in all my decisions, and without their love and guidance, I would never have been able realize the honor of receiving a doctorate. 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost I would like to thank Dr. Debbie Treise who has been my academic advisor, dissertation chair, mentor, friend, motivator, guide, and the person most responsible for me being able to achieve earning a doctorate. Second, I would like to thank Dr. Belio Martinez, Jr., who has worked with me on numerous projects, been a friend and colleague, and shown me a job is not who a person is but what they do. I would also like to thank Dr. Johanna Cleary who provided personal insight for this study and imparted me with invaluable knowledge of the field of Journalism and Communications. In addition, I would also like to thank Dr. Connie Shehan who has encouraged my diverse areas of research and always been enthusiastic about my topics of study. Finally, I would like to thank Jody Hedge, Kim Holloway, and Sarah Lee for providing untold assistance in helping me graduate. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES .......................................................................................................... 10 LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................ 11 ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... 13 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 16 Internet of Hate ....................................................................................................... 22 Klan.net ................................................................................................................... 25 World Wide Klan ..................................................................................................... 27 Behind the Message ............................................................................................... 33 Purpose .................................................................................................................. 34 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 37 White Supremacy ................................................................................................... 39 The Original Klan .................................................................................................... 42 Post-Reconstruction Klan ....................................................................................... 46 Klan of the 1920s .................................................................................................... 49 Jim Crow Klan ......................................................................................................... 56 Civil Rights Era Klan ............................................................................................... 58 Post-Civil Rights Klan ............................................................................................. 60 The Klan and Immigration ....................................................................................... 63 The Klan Today ...................................................................................................... 67 The “Christian” Klan ................................................................................................ 71 Contemporary Klan Activity ..................................................................................... 73 Klan.net ................................................................................................................... 76 Hate on the Net ....................................................................................................... 78 Kinder and Gentler Klan on the Net ........................................................................ 83 Mainstreaming of the Klan ...................................................................................... 87 Still Violent After All These Years ........................................................................... 90 Studying the Klan .................................................................................................... 95 Understanding Before Predicting ............................................................................ 96 Grounded Theory .................................................................................................... 99 Research Questions ............................................................................................. 106 3 METHOD .............................................................................................................. 108 Content Analysis ................................................................................................... 110 5 Analyzing Klan Web Sites ..................................................................................... 111 Klan Web Site Content Analysis ........................................................................... 117 In-depth Interviews ............................................................................................... 128 Participants ........................................................................................................... 132 Studying Web Masters .......................................................................................... 135 Interviewing Web Masters ..................................................................................... 136 Analyzing In-Depth Interviews .............................................................................. 143 Mixed Method Analysis ......................................................................................... 147 4 RESULTS ............................................................................................................. 149 Results of Content Analysis .................................................................................. 149 Shell, Feeder sites and Mistakes by the SPLC ..................................................... 150 Klan Site Content .................................................................................................. 151 Site Contact Information ....................................................................................... 154 Chat Rooms & Guestbooks .................................................................................. 154 Merchandise Sales ............................................................................................... 156 Leaflets ................................................................................................................. 159 Option to Join ........................................................................................................ 162 Internal Links and Counters .................................................................................. 164 Events ................................................................................................................... 166 Links to other Klans .............................................................................................. 171 Links to non-Klans ................................................................................................ 175 Logos and Klan Symbolism .................................................................................. 187 Klan Multimedia - Videos ...................................................................................... 194 Klan Multimedia – Music ....................................................................................... 203 Klan Multimedia - Images ..................................................................................... 206 Portraying a Different Image ................................................................................. 217 The Religion of the Klan........................................................................................ 219 Descriptive Content .............................................................................................. 221 The “True” Klan ..................................................................................................... 224 Non-Christian ................................................................................................. 226 Christian Identity ............................................................................................. 227 Christian ......................................................................................................... 229 Protestant ....................................................................................................... 232 Denounce Violence ............................................................................................... 233 Non-Christian ................................................................................................