Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is the name of a number of past and present fraternal organizations in the United States that have advocated white supremacy, anti-Semitism, racism, anti-Catholicism, and nativism. These organizations have often promoted the use of terrorism, violence and acts of intimidation such as cross burning to oppress African Americans and others. The Klan's first incarnation was in 1866. Founded by veterans of the Confederate Army, its main purpose was to resist Reconstruction, and it focused as much on intimidating "carpetbaggers" and "scalawags" as on putting down the freed slaves. It quickly adopted violent methods. A rapid reaction set in, with the Klan's leadership disowning it, and Southern elites seeing the Klan as an excuse for federal troops to continue their activities in the South. The organization was in decline from 1868 to 1870, and was destroyed in the early 1870s by President Ulysses S. Grant's vigorous action under the Civil Rights Act of 1871 (also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act).

The founding in 1915 of a second distinct group using the same name was inspired by the newfound power of the modern mass media, via the film The Birth of a Nation and inflammatory anti-Semitic newspaper accounts surrounding the trial and lynching of accused murderer Leo Frank. The second KKK was a formal membership organization, with a national and state structure, that paid thousands of men to organize local chapters all over the country. Millions joined, and at its peak in the 1920s the organization included about 15% of the nation's eligible population.According to the 1920 census, the population of white males 18 years and older was about 31 million, but many of these men would have been ineligible for membership because they were immigrants, Jews, or Roman Catholics. Klan membership peaked at about 4-5 million: http://www.aaregistry.com/african_american_history/2207/The_Ku_Klux_Klan_a_brief__biography, retrieved August 26, 2005. The second KKK typically preached racism, anti-Catholicism, anti-Communism, nativism, and anti-Semitism, and some local groups took part in lynchings. Its popularity fell during the Great Depression, and membership fell further during World War II, due to scandals resulting from prominent members' crimes and support of the Nazis.

The name "Ku Klux Klan" has since been used by many different unrelated groups, including many who opposed the Civil Rights Act and desegregation in the 1950s and '60s, with members of these groups eventually being convicted of murder and manslaughter in the deaths of Civil Rights workers and children (such as in the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Alabama). Today, dozens of organizations with chapters across the United States and other countries use all or part of the name in their titles, but their total membership is estimated to be only a few thousand. These groups, with operations in separated small local units, are considered extreme hate groups. The modern KKK has been repudiated by all mainstream media and political and religious leaders.

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RT MY DAD:I am watching a programme on the Ku Klux Klan and at a public speach they actually said "they took our jobs"
haneol (Lisa Clarke) Fri, 01 Jan 2010 22:36:29 -0000
RT MY DAD:I am watching a programme on the Ku Klux Klan and at a public speach they actually said "they took our jobs"
@firwoodbandb Yes, Ku Klux Klan outrageously funny
John_McCue (John McCue) Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:40:48 -0000
@firwoodbandb Yes, Ku Klux Klan outrageously funny
RT @eurorex- Tschechien: Ehemaliger Ku-Klux-Klan-Chef David Duke plant erneut Tschechien-Reise- Der frühere Chef ... http://bit.ly/6MHVAw
travelideas_de (Travelideas) Fri, 01 Jan 2010 15:52:23 -0000
RT @eurorex- Tschechien: Ehemaliger Ku-Klux-Klan-Chef David Duke plant erneut Tschechien-Reise- Der frühere Chef ... http://bit.ly/6MHVAw
Tschechien: Ehemaliger Ku-Klux-Klan-Chef David Duke plant erneut Tschechien-Reise- Der frühere Chef der rechtsextr... http://bit.ly/80eCfT
eurorex (Izmir Ögal) Fri, 01 Jan 2010 15:14:07 -0000
Tschechien: Ehemaliger Ku-Klux-Klan-Chef David Duke plant erneut Tschechien-Reise- Der frühere Chef der rechtsextr... http://bit.ly/80eCfT
Blogged Tschechien: Ehemaliger Ku-Klux-Klan-Chef David Duke plant erneut Tschechien-Reise: http://tinyurl.com/ycnvgzl
eurorex_info (Eurorex) Fri, 01 Jan 2010 15:04:53 -0000
Blogged Tschechien: Ehemaliger Ku-Klux-Klan-Chef David Duke plant erneut Tschechien-Reise: http://tinyurl.com/ycnvgzl
The Ku Klux Klan has "extremely high standards" & runs credit checks on applicants even if they're Florida cops. http://is.gd/5IKxP
BarkingUnicorn (Barking Unicorn) Fri, 01 Jan 2010 13:07:06 -0000
The Ku Klux Klan has "extremely high standards" & runs credit checks on applicants even if they're Florida cops. http://is.gd/5IKxP

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