Ku Klux Klan

In the late 1800’s slaves were given their freedom; an organization was formed in hopes to prevent them from acquiring their new rights. This organization was called the Ku Klux Klan. The organization was picked up in 1915 by a man named William Joseph Simmons in which members wore white long robes that covered their entire body including their faces with a pointy hood.

It is hard to fathom that people would form such a heinous group in which brainstorming a population and harming other human beings. This group often fell below the radar of the crimes they were committing such as racism, murders and in total 152 violent acts. The media tried its hardest in all areas of the United States to inform the American population of the dangers of this group. Unfortunately majority of the papers often led people to be intrigued by the group and the publicity turned more people towards the organization than they thought would happen.

During the rise of the Klan there were three major newspapers that had a severe impact on the American population. The New York World, The Commercial Appeal and The Montgomery Advertiser. These papers shed light on all aspects of the organization; some the awful truth and others false information. However what they all had in common were their cartoon drawings. They always indicated how preposterous the Ku Klux Klan was and how bad it reflected the American people.

I cannot believe that the citizens of this country who claim to love their freedom would be so quick to follow under the lead of an organization such as this. The line had to be drawn somewhere, fellow Americans were being stripped of their freedom by just joining this Klan and not even realizing it. The photo below was from the newspaper Commercial Appeal which to me is a very powerful photo. There is a US Solider in uniform who had lost his leg in battle fighting for his country and his beliefs; while standing in the background is a member of the KKK with the words 100% American written across its cloak.

Some people still today do not see the harm the KKK has caused. Below is an article from the NY Times written in the beginning of this year. The staff members of Evans Academy, a school in Florida had their annual staff bowling party. At this party they made humorous names up for their teams as well as costumes. One team made a poor decision deciding to name their team the KKK and come in with white costumes on. When photos and the news surfaced about the event the president of the Minor League Baseball informed the Academy that it would be severing it ties with the school and would no longer accept students into their professional ranks.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/10/sports/baseball/umpiring-school-loses-baseball-relationship-over-behavior-at-party.html?_r=1&ref=kukluxklan#



To me this is a topic that often goes unnoticed; the KKK is known as Americas Forgotten Terrorists. While children learn about it in school at a young age they often are not taught that it still goes on today. It is scary to know that people still believe in the beliefs of the KKK and will continue to follow and shed light in the way the organization once did in the early 1920’s.

Photos From:
http://kkk.org/kkk-culepicture/kkk-pictures

http://whitenoiseinsanity.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/is-sarah-palin-trying-to-get-barack-obama-assassinated-on-behalf-of-the-kkk/

http://thegetjusticecoalition.blogspot.com/2011/03/new-world-order-kkk-type-world.html