Jack Burnett Mr. Telles English 1H 4 April 2023 Daryl Davis Modern Courage INTRODUCTION The novel To Kill a Mockingbird examines the virtue of courage through Atticus’ staying true to what he believes in despite heavy societal opposition (Lee). Today, courage can be described as defending the oppressed, even if it means sacrificing time, money, or even one’s safety. To give everything a person has to a cause bigger than oneself is true heroism. A major problem in today’s society is racism, specifically extremist ideology designed around the hatred of people of color. Modern day activist Daryl Davis is the embodiment of courage through his acts in breaking down these dangerous beliefs despite the danger involved in his campaign for …show more content…
Originally designed as a club for ex-Confederate soldiers, the KKK became a “vehicle for Southern white underground resistance to Radical Reconstruction” (The Editors of). Members would attack recently freed slaves in an attempt to assert white superiority over blacks. Members could be found spread throughout the southern United States, including in levels of state and local government (The Editors of). Although the KKK saw membership dramatically decline due to growing racial tolerance in the United States, the late 20th century featured a revival of the group due to the Civil Rights movement. KKK attacks on supporters of the movement still occurred until the late 1980’s (Lay). From the 1980’s to today, the KKK can be found in “a close relationship with such organizations as the Aryan Nations and other neo-Nazi factions” (Lay). However, the group has since fractured into many unorganized sub-divisions, which makes it hard to estimate how many members still affiliate with the …show more content…
Davis recounts in an interview, “I’m wondering, why am I sitting with a Klansman? But he was very friendly. It was the music, you know, that brought us together” (Brown). Daryl Davis was the very first black person the Klansman had ever sat down and talked to. Davis was intrigued as to how the man could hate black people even if he had never sat down and spoken to one. Since then, he has dedicated himself to finding the origins of racism, and how these dangerous ideologies can be unraveled. In a Ted Talk he gave in 2017, Davis recounts an interview he set up with Roger Kelly, the Imperial Wizard of the KKK, who was initially unaware that Davis was black. Kelly arrived with an armed bodyguard, and at first, the conversation was tense. But after a long discussion, the two were able to bond. Davis explains, “I wasn’t there to fight him, I was there to learn from him, to learn ‘where does this ideology come from?’” (“Why I, as a Black Man, Attend KKK Rallies”). Davis continued this unlikely friendship for years, attending KKK rallies miles away just to talk to Kelly. His approach worked; after years of friendship with Kelly, the imperial wizard of the KKK finally left the clan for good. It was with this same empathy that Davis was able to convince hundreds of members to leave the KKK. Davis explains that he “didn’t convert anybody. They saw the light
Numerous Confederate soldiers joined the KKK; therefore, they soon dressed as the Ghost of Confederate Soldiers. At first, they would patrol the roads and crash parties. They eventually realized that the freed black people were terrified of them and used this to control their behavior. They started seeing themselves as a law enforcers rather than law breakers. Their law enforcement was traveling at night and randomly beating people who didn't like the klan.
The Ku Klux Klan, more commonly referred to as the KKK, is a secret hate organization that operates on the basis of white supremacy, committing extreme acts of violence towards African Americans and other minorities. Although Forrest later quit from the position and attempted to disband the group due to too much publicity, branches of the organization continued to live on, and still exist even today. Despite his efforts to deny any affiliation with the KKK, this combined with his previous history of racism and aggression thoroughly cemented the way most Americans viewed him. Even in current society, there are still many protests advocating against (or, less commonly, for) Forrest, and multiple locations where he has been commemorated have been forcibly renamed (Glaze). However, as put by a recent biographer of Forrest, “The reality is that over the length of his lifetime Nathan Bedford Forrest's racial attitudes probably developed more, and more in the direction of liberal enlightenment, than those of most other Americans in the nation's history” (Hurst,
The Klan has inspired others to create their own groups to enforce white superiority; these groups would have parade floats, sponsored public events, free speakers and partake in cross burnings such as the KKK does. The Klan eventually expanded their violence towards small farmers, planters, lawyers, merchants, physicians, and many more. The KKK became so powerful in the regions where most of the Klan was, that members of the local police departments belonged to the KKK or they did not take any actions against the Ku Klux Klan. This problem only got worse; the people who were convicted to have been in the KKK could not find anyone to testify against them in court, so they never really got sentenced for any
It started when he was young, at the very beginning of his story. From an early age, his father was harassed by the Ku Klux Klan, and then his mother was driven mad by social workers. Upon which his family was very
He claims that blacks are no different than us yet he is the first leader of the KKK (Grand Wizard) and has no problem putting black men in fields and working them to death. The Ku Klux Klan was formed in 1866 in Tennessee as a social group by a group of Confederate war veterans. They all wanted this group to be
The KKK was a white supremacist group that utilized intimidation and violence to keep white control over the political and economic structures of the state. Despite being outlawed in the early 1870s, the Klan continued to operate in North Carolina and had a crucial part in the establishment of the Democratic Party in the state in the late nineteenth century. During this period, North Carolina was also home to a number of other white supremacist organizations, such as the Red Shirts and the White Brotherhood, in addition to the Ku Klux Klan. For the sake of maintaining their hold on political power, these organizations engaged in acts of violence and
The segregation between the two races spawned many extremist groups that often encourage violent acts such as the Ku Klux Klan, the Nation of Islam, and the Black Panthers. Not only these aforementioned groups encourage violence, they also prefer to live in isolation away from other races. In contrast, King’s ideology focused mainly in integration and unity of races, yet he was still labeled as an extremist – the label that he found to be offensive and disappointing. King labeled himself as somebody who was in between the extremist and moderate black Americans. He exemplifies how both ends of the spectrum can be as equally damaging to the American society.
The KKK was a white nationalized group that included former veterans, which created the first branch of the group. The Klansmen founded in 1865, in Pulaski, Tennessee, is now known as the birthplace of the KKK. This group dedicated themselves to a campaign of violence to Republican leaders and voters. The KKK targeted many people based on their race or sexuality , including, Gays, Immigrants, African Americans, and Catholics(KKK history). Jim Crow laws,
Andrew Moneysmith Mr. Mizrahi English 1-2 Per 6 May 11, 2023 Abundance of Courage Brené Brown once said, “Courage starts with showing up and letting ourselves be seen”. Having courage is like a superpower that gives the ability to put aside fear, failure, and for example, in To Kill a Mockingbird, being able to stand out from the crowd. To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by Harper Lee about racial injustice in a southern town during the 1930’s. A lawyer named Atticus defends a black man who was falsely accused of rape even though Atticus knows that he will lose. Along the way, Atticus’s kids Jem and Scout learn lots of lessons about empathy, family life, prejudice, and showing courage.
Most white supremacy groups were only local town lynching mobs, but another national white supremacy group that was most feared was the “Klu-Kux-Klan” or also know as the “KKK”. According to the Salem Press (2011) Gorrell explained this white supremacy group was formed in 1866 and was a “group of white supremacists, disaffected by the outcome of the Civil War, grew into an organization of institutionalized race hatred.” (pg.3) After the KKK was formed every African American living in the south knew who the klan was and new to stay out of their
Almost every American state had some type of KKK group and all had the same beliefs as what was being preached by their leadership. Over the years the groups have been responsible for not only lynching’s and intimidation but also increasing their tactics of terror by using explosives to kill or maim colored people and those who supported or fought for their rights.
I have come here to state my belief that the abolition of Jim Crow has top place on the agenda of a program for national defense. I have come to say that until it is abolished the words “democracy” and “freedom” and “justice,” used so glibly to support our foreign policy, will ring hollow throughout the world. [...] I say that those who perpetuate Jim Crow are criminals. I pledge you that I shall fight them with everything I have. He took his stand and worked with state and federal authorities to change various policies within the Jim Crow Laws which were state and local laws mainly in the Southern States enforcing racial segregation.
Between 1922 and 1924, the KKK gained over 3.8 million members. Many white Americans, especially in the South, felt threatened by African Americans. Many people were threatened so that they would join, and the KKK was often violent. The prominence of the KKK shows how many people were still against pushing these social boundaries, and demonstrates corruption during this time as
The Ku Klux Klan first emerged in Pulaski, Tennessee following the Civil War. As we know today, the mere mention of the Klan triggers fear as the KKK is known for its various tactics of violence that came in the form if lynchings, murders, and mutilations. Following their emergence, the KKK were quickly symbolized and portrayed as the protectors of the South, following the defeat of the Southern states in the Civil War and the beginning of the period of Reconstruction by the federal government (Gurr, 1989, p. 132). During the 1920s, the KKK achieved its greatest political success and growth outside of the South. During this period, the membership of the Klan heavily expanded to the states of Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Oklahoma, Colorado, and Oregon, to which the KKK obtained two to two and one-half million members at its apex.
Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ shows the trial of Tom Robinson, an innocent black man through the eyes of the young, eight year old narrator by the name of Scout Finch. Atticus, her father and Tom’s lawyer, goes against society’s expectations and beliefs as he valiantly defends both Tom and his own ideology. Lee uses characters like Mrs Dubose, Miss Maudie, Atticus and their actions to show the audience that courage is not just “a man with a gun in his hand.” (pg.149) A sampling of each characters actions throughout the novel will be analysed with relations to the recurring theme of personal, social, and moral courage.