KKK’s Negative Impact on Civil Rights
Anthony Earwood
English 1
The Ku Klux Klan's impact on the Civil Rights Movement was significant, as the group's use of violence and intimidation tactics, opposition to desegregation and racial equality, and influence on the political and social climate of the United States had a profound effect on the advancement of civil rights in America (Southern Poverty Law Center, 2023).
Firstly, the Ku Klux Klan's use of violence and intimidation tactics had a chilling effect on the Civil Rights Movement. The group often targeted African Americans who were advocating for their rights, as well as white individuals who supported the movement (National Humanities Center, 2023). By using tactics such as bombings, beatings, and lynching, the Klan sought to instill fear in
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The group believed in the superiority of the white race and sought to maintain segregation and discrimination against African Americans. This opposition was reflected in the group's efforts to block school desegregation, voting rights legislation, and other measures aimed at promoting racial equality (Civil Rights Movement, 2023). The Klan's influence on local and state governments also hindered progress, as many politicians were reluctant to take a stand against the group for fear of losing their support.
Finally, the Klan's influence on the political and social climate of the United States had a lasting impact on the Civil Rights Movement. The group's activities and rhetoric fueled racial tensions and divisions throughout the country, making it difficult for the movement to gain widespread support (Facing History and Ourselves, 2023). The Klan's influence was felt not only in the South but also in other parts of the country, where the group established chapters and carried out acts of violence against African Americans and their
The KKK had been attributed to racial segregation in their own was as well. In general, the KKK had a few scare tactics that they had practiced, that being, “fraud, violence, intimidation, and murder” (Major Problems, 171) and had used those very same tactics to segregate African Americans from the rest of the population by a
The KKK terrorized African Americans, as described in Document 1. The KKK physically attacked blacks, burned their churches and schools and also tried to prevent them from exercising their right to vote. The KKK and other white power groups tried to prevent blacks from being able to protest and whites from helping them through intimidation and fear. The KKK was
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
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
Their main goal was to manufacture it impossible for emancipated African Americans to have the ability to vote in addition to becoming in any way equal with whites. Second was the 1920s Klan, which was liked by people all around the country also included somewhere between 3-5 million members. This Klan was a result of World War I which caused a change in cultural, economic, as well as social values thanks to the Industrial Revolution. They were against those changes in values. Third, and the most recent Klan, showed up after World War II.
The KKK was able to uphold segregation even in the civil rights movement era, they commanded fear among Black individuals by scaring them with their “night rides”' '. These night rides consisted of driving through Black people's neighbourhoods, Throwing fire crosses in their front yards, along with shooting and brutally beating Black people. Tthe notion (ideology) that white people are superior to people of colour in terms of their ideas, thinking, beliefs, and behaviour (“The Deacons”, 2016). Our institutional and cultural presumptions that give the white group importance, morality, righteousness, and humanity while demeaning persons of colour and communities of colour are constant manifestations of white supremacy (Meszaros, 2023). The KKK was able to scare civil rights protesters and the Black majority from raising their voices against white people in fear of themselves or their families being targeted.
The Ku Klux Klan was hurting and impacting groups of
The KKK began to grow and become a large problem for innocent people. In 1833 the United States passed a bill called the Force Bill (Carson 1). This made the klan disappear for awhile but did not stop them. Still to this day people are struggling with the Ku Klux
The KKK used many ways to scare and threaten African Americans such as physical abuse, verbal abuse, and torturing them in horrifying ways. The KKK was first known as a group who fooled around in the woods and get drunk until they started scaring and torturing African Americans as their daily entertainment, ¨Attacking under cover of night, the nineteenth- century klan whipped, robbed, murdered, and raped their victims.¨ (¨Ku Klux Klan¨1). It is sad how innocent African Americans became part of the KKK´s everyday torturing entertainment. Not only did the KKK whipped, robbed, murdered, and raped their victims, they also burned crosses on their victim´s lawn because of their hatred against many religions. The KKK's main goal was to limit the rights
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
As the Ku Klux Klan’s membership grew, organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which fought to end racial discrimination and segregation, grew as well. With these two growing groups pushing for opposite ideals, tensions continued to increase. The NAACP pushed for reform and rights for African Americans and the Ku Klux Klan combated their progress with lynching and
Following Reconstruction, southern governments implemented Jim Crow laws, which mandated racial segregation and discrimination against African Americans. These laws, which were passed in direct response to the progress made toward racial equality during the Reconstruction period, reinforced racism and inequality. The the Ku Klux Klan, a white supremacist organization, grew to popularity during this era , using violence and intimidation to prevent Black Americans from exercising their rights. The government's failure to handle these issues contributed to Reconstruction's failure. The evidence shows that the hatred from the people and the government led to the establishment of Jim Crow laws and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan, both of which promoted racism and inequality.
The Klan would also instill fear by using violent intimidation and scare tactics. In the Reconstruction era, the Klan dedicated itself to an underground campaign of violence against Republican leaders and their supporters (3). Violent intimidation and scare tactics took many forms with the Klan. African Americans and those who sought to help gain freedmen their civil rights were, threatened, assaulted, and murdered regularly (3). One extremely common thing for Klansmen to do was they would whip the teachers of freedmen's schools and then burn down the schoolhouses (4).
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.
The Ku Klux Klan or KKK has created centuries of fear. They originated in Pulaski, Tennessee. The famous hate group was out to re establish white supremacy. The KKK has influenced local governments and people in power. It has also had an impact on American people and specifically black minorities.