Klansmen Research Articles

Resisting White Nostalgia: Sikh history in Abbotsford

ABSTRACT This paper uses the Sikh Heritage Museum, a National Historic Site Gur Sikh Temple, the oldest still standing gurdwara in the western hemisphere, in Abbotsford, BC, as a living site of Sikh story telling. The author shares her journey of transformation over the past decade, based on stories and archives that have emerged reminding us that histories of racism, including that of the ku klux klan continue to be relegated to the margins in the name of white nostalgia. Sikh story telling then, through truth and radicalism, is a reclaiming of histories that are nuanced, and can move communities forward.

‘Thingly’ forms in Guston Reloaded: Filipo Caramazza at Handel Street Projects

The paintings by Filippo Caramazza were made during years of protracted expectation of the major retrospective of paintings: Philip Guston Now. Delay was caused by significant debate between major receiving institutions as to their responsibilities when exposing provocative imagery to public view. Potential for misjudgement was a foremost concern in planning publications and installations. As if to manage a sense of deprivation, Caramazza imaginatively substitutes the real paintings, currently withheld, as postcard re-presentations, as if to mark their existence in absentia. The faithful painterly address to detail of image and technique suggest his reverence for the presence of the original works without attempting to replicate their powerful impression. The passive form of copying, a ‘humble address’ to the original paintings, stands in contrast with the authoritative nature of the institutional debate. Much of the concern with public reception of the paintings focused on issues raised by the contemporary ‘Black Lives Matter’ movement and references to the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) within Guston’s work. Effectively the museums decided to acknowledge but defuse problematic content. This article takes the view that the politics of Guston’s paintings address sociopolitical and personal issues generally, as well as formal painterly issues in contemporary American painting. Taking these ideas further, Caramazza’s paintings offer an opportunity to consider how museums shape critical and theoretical narratives in the construction of displays and a consideration of how painting may act as a critical witness.

THE RECENT EMERGENCE OF WHITE SUPREMACIST SOCIETY IN THE UNITED STATES: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS IN MODERN KU KLUX KLAN

This paper examines the discourse in Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, one of the most recently active chapters of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). With the flyering (spreading flyers/pamphlets) incidents that spiked during and in the aftermath the Charlottesville protests in 2017, in the few recent years some of the more active chapters of KKK have steadily distributed the flyers in the United States. Recognizing the Ku Klux Klan’s historical role within the white supremacist movement and its participation in the Unite the Right rally, it is important to understand the meaning behind the discourse and the social act. This is a qualitative and descriptive analysis done on the basis of Fairclough’s three-dimensional framework (Fairclough, 1995) and Gunther Kress and Theo van Leeuwen’s theory (2006) derived from Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics. It is found from the analysis that the KKK tries to appeal to the audience for their sympathy, courage, and pride.

Manifestations of White Supremacy in the USA: A Case of the Ku Klux Klan

This research paper carries the overlying objective of exploring Christian identity and the religious foundations of White Supremacy ideology, which promotes violent hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Christian theological principles were employed to explore the religious domain of white supremacy. It was discovered that Christian identity was incorporated as a tool to fuel white supremacy and justify violence against the black plus Jewish community of the United States (US). In accordance with Christian principles, Anglo-Saxon individuals were the lost biblical Israeli tribes and the chosen people of God. On the other hand, Jews were claimed to be the offspring of Satan, that employed manipulation for gaining dominance over the world’s finances and promoted the destruction of Aryan civilizations. Moreover, it was stated that, amidst the second coming, a war between the children of light (Christians) and darkness (Jews) will institute the Kingdom of Christ. Hence, hatred was fueled against the Jewish community, and justification for violent crimes was undertaken. Further adding on, Christian identity was further employed for the justification of racial segregation. White individuals and Aryans are stated to follow in line with Adam and Eve, while, non-Aryans or black individuals were regarded as children of Eve and the serpent. The Christian school of thought argues that racial mixing was the original sin resulting in the expulsion of the “white man from the Garden of Eden”. Henceforth, racial segregation and racism against the black community were justified on religious grounds. The violent manifestations of these narratives were witnessed under the KKK. The hate group induced organized terror against African Americans and Jews on the basis of theology, and their implications are witnessed to this day. American society is still struggling with racism and anti-Semitism, which explains religious rhetoric in militant organizations has lasting implications on the narrative of communities.

Guns, Torches and Badges: The 1979 Greensboro Massacre, the Charlottesville Unite the Right Rally, and the Lasting Impacts of Racial Violence on Black and anti-Racist Communities

One of the most tragic examples of extreme racial violence occurred in Greensboro, North Carolina, on November 3, 1979, when the multi-racial Communist Workers Party (CWP) planned a demonstration to protest against the notorious Ku Klux Klan (KKK). As protestors gathered for the “Death to Klan” march, a group of Nazis and Klansmen drove through the protest site in a nine-car caravan. The Nazis and Klansmen unloaded eighty-eight seconds of gunfire into the crowd killing five Communist Workers Party members. That same hatred and violence in Greensboro perpetuated by neo-fascists appeared again on August 12th, 2017, in an eerily identical fashion when Heather Heyer, a thirty-two-year-old, White woman, was killed in Charlottesville, Virginia. Heyer lost her life after white supremacist, James Fields, Jr., plowed his car into demonstrators protesting at a “Unite the Right” rally that had been orchestrated by white nationalists. In an instant following Heather Heyer’s murder, Charlottesville became reminiscent of Greensboro and 2017 blatantly mirrored the dawn of the 1980s, a troubling period of racial conflict and frayed politics. The case study of Morningside Homes illuminated a disregard and invisibility that black communities often suffered at the hands of law enforcement, city officials, white supremacists and other community members. The tragedy of Charlottesville illustrated not only the continuation of that invisibility, but also the traditional hindering of political organizing as a result of trauma, fear, and distrust of those sworn to protect the communities in which they serve. Despite how progressive America attempts to position itself, local histories continue to reflect national divisions of race and politics that relentingly facilitate rage, violence, and white supremacy in an alleged Post-Racial Society.

Communists and Community: Activism in Detroit's Labor Movement, 1941–1956

Communists and Community: Activism in Detroit's Labor Movement, 1941–1956

Development and Psychometric Properties of the Hate-Motivated Behavior Checklist (HMBC)

Hate-motivated behavior (HMB) in criminal and noncriminal forms is a public health dilemma. This study is an advanced measurement of the perpetration of HMB through development of the Hate-Motivated Behavior Checklist (HMBC). Through a cross-sectional online-administered survey of adults ( N = 289), we examined: (a) factor structure and internal consistency of HMBC behaviors, (b) descriptive patterns of targeted groups and motivations for HMB, and (c) correlates of HMBC behaviors. Findings support a single-factor HMBC behaviors score with high internal consistency. HMB based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and sex were the most commonly endorsed. The most highly endorsed motivations for HMB were perceived intrusion and perceived threat. Antigay prejudice, antilesbian prejudice, positive views of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and Nazis were among significant correlates of HMB perpetration. The HMBC represents a preliminary research measurement tool for the assessment of HMB in need of further psychometric study.

The Use of Popular Culture and Norms by Extremists

On November 27, 2020, Dr. Elaine Frantz presented The Use of Popular Culture and Norms by Extremists at the 2020 CASIS West Coast Security Conference. The presentation was followed by a panel discussion for questions and answers, and a breakout room for further discussion before closing off the day. The key topic of Dr. Frantz’s presentation included the development and spread of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) through the media.

America’s Fascination With The Ku Klux Klan. “BlacKkKlansman” and “Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America”

Because of the rich historical and cultural associations, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is a subject frequently represented by American filmmakers. After a short historical introduction about the group, this article explores the past and present shape of KKK’s representation in film and relates it to the discourse on race and ethnicity representation in the United States. It conducts a comparative examination of two contemporary cinematic productions: Spike Lee’s "BlacKkKlansman" (2018) and "Accidental Courtesy: Daryl Davis, Race & America" (2016) directed by Matthew Ornstein. Both pictures tell the stories of a controversial close relation of a black man with KKK. The conscious aesthetic and meta-cinematographic techniques employed by the films are analyzed through the lens of the two related concepts: Brecht’s reflective spectatorship and Shklovsky’s defamilarization in art. The aim of these techniques is to create a sense of distance in the spectators in order to address them as conscious and reflective subjects. In this way the two films shock the audience with the question of what happens if a black person becomes a member or a friend of the Klan? The two stories challenge the long-established ideology and traditional image of the the white hood.

A Guided Inquiry into a Dubious, Pervasive, All-American Organization, the Ku Klux Klan

The historical roots of White nationalism in the United States appear in the history of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Historians have traced three distinct surges in KKK membership and activity. Recently, White nationalism has reemerged, as evidenced in the 2017 Charlottesville, Virginia events. This guided inquiry positions students explore the Klan’s dubious place in American history. Primary and secondary sources from each wave, including contemporaneous documents from recent events, are coupled with discipline-specific close-reading and text-based writing strategies.

Comparing American perceptions of post-Civil War Ku Klux Klan and transnational violence

Recently, public debates have questioned whether or not the American government responds differently to terrorism by white, right-wing, Americans. This article examines a historical period in which similar dynamics were on display in state responses to the Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan (KKK), Irish-American Fenians, and anarchists from 1860 to 1920. This history suggests that political officials responded to these groups more on the basis of ideas than their actual levels of violence, including discourses of Americanism shaped by ideology, nativism, and racism. Successful claims to ‘Americanism’ lent the KKK a sense of familiarity that led it to be seen as less of a threat to ontological security, even as it posed a significant threat of physical violence. In contrast, the ideologically subversive and foreign anarchists were responded to more severely, despite being responsible for far fewer deaths and injuries than the KKK. This history suggests that American counter-terrorism has been influenced by factors of racial and national belonging in the past, and provides significant context for the consideration of current debates about responses to right-wing groups.

Fred Trump, the Ku Klux Klan and Grassroots Redlining in Interwar America

The arrest of Fred Trump during a Ku Klux Klan (KKK) rally in New York City in 1927 came to light during the 2016 election campaign, but no one grasped its full historical significance. This article sets this contentious episode within the larger history of the Klan and the racial contests that scarred life in the interwar metropolitan fringe to produce a new account of how racially segregated communities were formed. The article finds a decade-long contested process of overlapping layers, driven by debates over race and national identity; tense relationships between community groups; the political machinery of city, state and federal governments; competition between civic groups for access to services; and all set against a turbulent speculative world of interwar real estate. The article argues racially redlined communities were created by a decade-long grassroots battle fought from below just as much as they were imposed from above by political decision-makers.

Investigating the KKK’s sociopolitical position in American history, past and present

PurposeWhite nationalist groups have recently been at the forefront of American sociopolitical life, as demonstrated by the events in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. The purpose of this paper is to explore the historical roots and various waves of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK).Design/methodology/approachThis paper offers high school teachers age-appropriate, evocative texts and disciplinary-specific, engaging tasks organized in a guided inquiry on the KKK, America’s most prominent hate organization.FindingsStudents are positioned to utilize newly-constructed understandings to take informed action on the local, state and national level.Originality/valueRecently-published research has explored late-nineteenth century and early-twentieth century manifestations of the Klan, but not mid-twentieth and twenty-first century outbursts.

Confronting Misrepresentative Political Messages: The Klan’s 19th- and Early 20th-Century Manifestations

Over the last couple of years, White nationalist groups have been at the forefront of American political life, especially with the events in Charlottesville, Virginia. The historical roots of White nationalist movements run deep in the United States and are most closely associated with the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). In this article the authors explore the history of the KKK outside of the South and how this oft-neglected history gets at elements of intergenerational and intragenerational occlusion. Next, we discuss the type of angry political rhetoric used by the KKK. Finally, a series of activities are provided. These activities enable students to see the presence of the KKK outside of the South, break down elements of intragenerational and intergenerational occlusion as it relates to the Klan, and confront angry political rhetoric in the racist messages of the KKK. These activities give students experience to analyze the messages of White nationalist movements to prepare them as future citizens to counter such rhetoric on the local, state, and national level.

Syndromic Surveillance on the Mental Health Impact of Political Rallies in Charlottesville, Virginia

ObjectiveTo describe the impact of civil unrest on the mental health of a community in near real-time using syndromic surveillance.IntroductionAs part of a wide-spread community discussion on the presence of monuments to Confederate Civil War figures, the Charlottesville city council voted to remove a statue of General Robert E. Lee.1 Multiple rallies were then held to protest the statue’s removal. A Ku Klux Klan (KKK) rally on July 8, 2017 (MMWR Week 27) and a Unite the Right rally on August 12, 2017 (MMWR Week 32) held in Charlottesville both resulted in violence and media attention.2,3 The violence associated with the Unite the Right rally included fatalities connected to motor vehicle and helicopter crashes.Syndromic surveillance has been used to study the impact of terrorism on a community’s mental health4 while more traditional data sources have looked at the impact of racially-charged civil unrest.5 Syndromic surveillance, however, has not previously been used to document the effect of racially-charged violence on the health of a community.MethodsThe Virginia Department of Health (VDH) analyzed syndromic surveillance data from three emergency departments (EDs) in the Charlottesville area (defined to include Charlottesville city and Albemarle county), regardless of patient residence following the Unite the Right rally. Visits to these EDs between January 1 and September 2, 2017 were analyzed using the Enhanced Surveillance System for the Early Notification of Community-based Epidemics (ESSENCE) and Microsoft SQL 2012. Encounters were identified as acute anxiety-related visits based on an International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) discharge diagnosis beginning with ’F41’. Analyses were conducted using the ESSENCE algorithm EWMA 1.2 and SAS 9.3.ResultsThe greatest number of visits with a primary diagnosis of anxiety in 2017 (N=20) was observed in MMWR week 34 (August 20-26). This represented a statistically significant increase over baseline with a p-value of 0.01.By race, a significant increase over baseline in visits with a primary diagnosis of anxiety was observed among blacks or African Americans. The largest volume of visits was observed in MMWR week 33 with a total of 8 identified visits or 1.8% of total ED visit volume. The increase in visits for anxiety observed in weeks 33-35 was 2.2 times greater among blacks or African Americans than it was among whites, p = 0.016, 95% CI [1.14, 4.16].ConclusionsPrevious work done in Virginia to identify ED visits related to anxiety included only chief complaint criteria in the syndrome definition. Due to a change in how one ED in the Charlottesville area reported data during the study period, this syndrome definition could not be applied. In order to remove any potential data artifacts, only those visits with an initial diagnosis of anxiety were included in the analysis. The resulting syndrome definition likely underestimated the occurrence of anxiety in the Charlottesville area, both because it lacked chief complaint information and because syndromic surveillance does not include data on visits to mental health providers outside of EDs. This analysis presents a trend over time rather than a true measure of the prevalence of anxiety.This analysis, while conservative in its inclusion criteria, still identified an increase in visits for anxiety, particularly among blacks or African Americans. In today’s political environment of race-related civil unrest, a way to measure the burden of mental illness occurring in the community can be invaluable for public health response. In Charlottesville, the identification of a community-wide need for mental health support prompted many local providers to offer their services to those in need pro-bono.6References1 Suarez, C. (2017, February 6). Charlottesville City Council votes to remove statue from Lee Park. The Daily Progress. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2wYOHhv2 Spencer, H., & Stevens, M. (2017, July 8). 23 Arrested and Tear Gas Deployed After a K.K.K. Rally in Virginia. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://nyti.ms/2tCiBGU3 Hanna, J., Hartung, K., Sayers, D., & Almasy, S. (2017, August 13). Virginia governor to white nationalists: ‘Go home … shame on you’. CNN. Retrieved from http://cnn.it/2vvAGHt4 Vandentorren, S., Paty, A. C., Baffert, E., Chansard, P., Caserio-Schönemann, C. (2016, February). Syndromic surveillance during the Paris terrorist attacks. The Lancet (387(10021), 846-847. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(16)00507-95 Yimgang, D. P., Wang, Y., Paik, G., Hager, E. R., & Black, M. M. Civil Unrest in the Context of Chronic Community Violence: Impact on Maternal Depressive Symptoms. American Journal of Public Health 107(9), 1455-1462. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2017.3038766 DeLuca, P. (2017, August 19). Downtown Charlottesville Library Offers Free Counseling. NBC29.com. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/2yIzHbl

THE KU KLUX KLAN, LABOR, AND THE WHITE WORKING CLASS DURING THE 1920S

Historians usually consider the revived Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s to have been consistently opposed to labor unions and the aspirations of working-class people. The official outlook of the national Klan organization fits this characterization, but the interaction between grassroots Klan groups and pockets of white Protestant working-class Americans was more complex. Some left-wing critics of capitalism singled out the Klan as a legitimate if flawed platform on which to build white working-class unity at a time when unions were weak and other institutions demonstrated indifference to working-class interests. In industrial communities scattered across the Midwest, South, and West, white Protestant workers joined the Klan. In Akron, Ohio, the Klan helped to sustain white working-class community cohesion among alienated rubber workers. In Birmingham, Alabama, the Klan violently repressed mixed-race unions but joined with white Protestant workers in a political movement that enacted reforms beneficial to the white working class. But Klan attention to working-class interests was circumstantial and rigidly restricted by race, religion, and ethnicity. Ku Klux definitions of whiteness excluded from fellowship many immigrant and Catholic workers. Local Klans supported striking white Protestant workers when Catholic, immigrant, or black rivals were present, but acted, sometimes violently, against strikes that destabilized white Protestant communities. Ku Klux sympathies complicated urban socialist politics in the Midwest and disrupted the effectiveness and unity of the United Mine Workers. Lingering Klan sympathies among union workers document the power of reactionary popular movements to undermine working-class identity in favor of restrictive loyalties based on race, religion, and ethnicity.

Book Review of, Words Marked by a Place: Local Histories in Central Oregon

549 Reviews 548 OHQ vol. 119, no. 4 He became president of a bank, a position that suited the silver-tongued autocrat’s desire for the good life. Nokes has crafted an engaging portrait of an often-unlikable figure, and the book will likely appeal to a general audience. Some of the stand-alone chapters, particularly those on the Donner Party and the 1859 Broderick-Terry duel, are fascinating but somewhat disconnected from the main narrative. Nokes finds in Burnett a useful through-line to connect the early political histories of Oregon and California . One problem, however, with Nokes’s focus on the machinations of elite individuals is that he seldom examines Burnett’s life — and his commitment to ethnic cleansing, racial exclusion , and wealth accumulation — within the context of broader nineteenth-century historical processes, such as the emergence of settler colonialism and the market revolution. The limited scope of the political history also leaves major historical questions unasked and unanswered . For instance, Nokes fails to address why Oregonians repeatedly embraced Black exclusion laws while Californians consistently rejected them. Still, Nokes is an unpretentious and witty writer with an ear for a good story. Moreover, he had to rely on Burnett’s own self-serving writings for the bulk of his primary research, and he approached these texts with laudable skepticism. Ken Coleman Portland, Oregon THE SECOND COMING OF THE KKK: THE KU KLUX KLAN OF THE 1920S AND THE AMERICAN POLITICAL TRADITION by Linda Gordon Liveright Publishing Corp., a division of W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 2017. Illustrations, notes, index. 288 pages. $27.95 cloth. How did the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) of the 1920s gain so many members and influence politics? Distinguished historian Linda Gordon draws on others’ work and her own original research to document why the Klan “owed much of its considerable electoral success to nonelectoral activities that signaled its mass following” (p. 164). She takes readers on a vivid and disturbing tour of Klan recruitment, rallies, and lobbying, and builds to a finale where the KKK disrupts the 1924 Democratic National Convention. Gordon distinguishes the twentieth century KKK from the original post–Civil War Ku Klux Klan, which mobilized white former Confederates to intimidate freed people. The modern Klan invoked this history, especially when screening D.W. Griffith’s 1915 racist epic, Birth of a Nation. But the new KKK was a national organization, run from the top down by key leaders who profited from selling dues and regalia. The main tenets of KKK ideology were racism (especially white supremacy); nativism (that fueled anti-Catholicism and antiSemitism ); temperance; fraternalism; Christian evangelicalism; and populism. The modern Klan advocated vigilante violence and political terrorism, and its national reach and broad popularity made it a very effective political lobby. Klan supporters upheld Jim Crow and opposed immigration, championed Prohibition , lobbied against parochial schools, and advocated forced sterilization. The Klan was not confined to small-town America. Gordon demonstrates that “it was in cities and states that the Klan amassed its greatest dominance” (p. 170). Who joined? The modern Klan signed up white male (and female) native-born Protestants , and targeted African Americans, immigrants , Catholics, Jews, and others. Shared ideology was important, but Gordon shows readers that the KKK’s real strength was social networking. There was also a financial motive: any Klan member could become a recruiter and secure a share of the fees paid by those they converted. This incentive prompted like-minded people to utilize their political, social, religious, and family networks to find new Klansmen. The organization soon boasted impressive numbers. Membership was an open secret: the Klan was a public and political presence. The Klan roiled the 1924 Democratic National Convention, fueled by hatred of Catholic, anti-Prohibition contender Al Smith, whose nomination they helped to defeat. Even those who did not support the KKK feared their influence: “Neither major political party, and none of the presidents in this period . . . could be persuaded to condemn the Ku Klux Klan” (p. 165). Gordon emphasizes the emotional appeal of this new Klan, and the “structures of feeling” they manipulated. Local leaders sponsored widely advertised mass entertainments, including picnics with free food and airshows that featured a...

Words Marked by a Place: Local Histories in Central Oregon by Jarold Ramsey

549 Reviews 548 OHQ vol. 119, no. 4 He became president of a bank, a position that suited the silver-tongued autocrat’s desire for the good life. Nokes has crafted an engaging portrait of an often-unlikable figure, and the book will likely appeal to a general audience. Some of the stand-alone chapters, particularly those on the Donner Party and the 1859 Broderick-Terry duel, are fascinating but somewhat disconnected from the main narrative. Nokes finds in Burnett a useful through-line to connect the early political histories of Oregon and California . One problem, however, with Nokes’s focus on the machinations of elite individuals is that he seldom examines Burnett’s life — and his commitment to ethnic cleansing, racial exclusion , and wealth accumulation — within the context of broader nineteenth-century historical processes, such as the emergence of settler colonialism and the market revolution. The limited scope of the political history also leaves major historical questions unasked and unanswered . For instance, Nokes fails to address why Oregonians repeatedly embraced Black exclusion laws while Californians consistently rejected them. Still, Nokes is an unpretentious and witty writer with an ear for a good story. Moreover, he had to rely on Burnett’s own self-serving writings for the bulk of his primary research, and he approached these texts with laudable skepticism. Ken Coleman Portland, Oregon THE SECOND COMING OF THE KKK: THE KU KLUX KLAN OF THE 1920S AND THE AMERICAN POLITICAL TRADITION by Linda Gordon Liveright Publishing Corp., a division of W.W. Norton & Co., New York, 2017. Illustrations, notes, index. 288 pages. $27.95 cloth. How did the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) of the 1920s gain so many members and influence politics? Distinguished historian Linda Gordon draws on others’ work and her own original research to document why the Klan “owed much of its considerable electoral success to nonelectoral activities that signaled its mass following” (p. 164). She takes readers on a vivid and disturbing tour of Klan recruitment, rallies, and lobbying, and builds to a finale where the KKK disrupts the 1924 Democratic National Convention. Gordon distinguishes the twentieth century KKK from the original post–Civil War Ku Klux Klan, which mobilized white former Confederates to intimidate freed people. The modern Klan invoked this history, especially when screening D.W. Griffith’s 1915 racist epic, Birth of a Nation. But the new KKK was a national organization, run from the top down by key leaders who profited from selling dues and regalia. The main tenets of KKK ideology were racism (especially white supremacy); nativism (that fueled anti-Catholicism and antiSemitism ); temperance; fraternalism; Christian evangelicalism; and populism. The modern Klan advocated vigilante violence and political terrorism, and its national reach and broad popularity made it a very effective political lobby. Klan supporters upheld Jim Crow and opposed immigration, championed Prohibition , lobbied against parochial schools, and advocated forced sterilization. The Klan was not confined to small-town America. Gordon demonstrates that “it was in cities and states that the Klan amassed its greatest dominance” (p. 170). Who joined? The modern Klan signed up white male (and female) native-born Protestants , and targeted African Americans, immigrants , Catholics, Jews, and others. Shared ideology was important, but Gordon shows readers that the KKK’s real strength was social networking. There was also a financial motive: any Klan member could become a recruiter and secure a share of the fees paid by those they converted. This incentive prompted like-minded people to utilize their political, social, religious, and family networks to find new Klansmen. The organization soon boasted impressive numbers. Membership was an open secret: the Klan was a public and political presence. The Klan roiled the 1924 Democratic National Convention, fueled by hatred of Catholic, anti-Prohibition contender Al Smith, whose nomination they helped to defeat. Even those who did not support the KKK feared their influence: “Neither major political party, and none of the presidents in this period . . . could be persuaded to condemn the Ku Klux Klan” (p. 165). Gordon emphasizes the emotional appeal of this new Klan, and the “structures of feeling” they manipulated. Local leaders sponsored widely advertised mass entertainments, including picnics with free food and airshows that featured a...

Murderous Mumbo-Jumbo: The Significance of Fraternity to Three Criminal Organizations in Late Nineteenth-Century America

Over the past thirty years or so the study of American fraternity has been used to explore a variety of phenomena in the nation's evolution, especially around the turn of the twentieth century. Fraternities have been used to understand the exploration, taming and exploitation of the West. They have been shown to represent proof of the various turn-of-the century crises of gender, race and ethnicity. They have been seen as the very embodiment of bygone caring, sharing, communities. However, among the aspects to have escaped attention is the importance of fraternity in criminal organizations. Given that crime, then as now, was seen as one of the most pressing of social issues, and given that over these years there was a deep suspicion that there were a variety of ultra-secret fraternities organizing, facilitating and manipulating wide-ranging criminal activities, this may be considered a little odd. This article investigates the idea that there was really such a thing as a genuine criminal “fraternity.” Looking at three of the most famous of such organizations – the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), the Molly Maguires and the Mafia – it demonstrates that not only were ideas of fraternity central to their very existence, but they are also crucial to our understanding both of them and of the period in which they were situated.

What is the KKK a Case Of? Extreme Cases as Analytic Device

AbstractSocial scientists frequently deploy extreme or rare cases as analytic devices to produce insight into broader social processes. Such a move requires that analysts understand what their object of inquiry is in fact “a case of.” Focusing on the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) as one emblematic instance of an extreme case, this article considers the stakes associated with casing decisions around rare and extreme phenomena. Interrogating how the KKK has been understood as both an object of inquiry (i.e. a case) and a signal of broader social processes (i.e. a variable), the discussion emphasizes how to view the associated literature to more reflexively examine the KKK, as well as gain more global insight into the value and cautions associated with using extreme cases to produce generalizable conclusions.