Ku Klux Klan in the Twentieth Century - The Diigo Meta page

• 27 Jan 08
  

  David Voelker

  history racism Jim Crow

  • The original Klan of Reconstruction was suppressed by the federal government in the early 1870s, but in following decades its violent activities were increasingly  rationalized and even romanticized, most notably in Thomas Dixon's popular novels, The Leopard's Spots (1902) and The Clansman (1905).
  • The         

    William J. Simmons

    popularity of The Birth of a Nation, and specifically its appearance in Atlanta in December 1915, proved the major impetus for the reemergence of the Klan.
  • Much of the second Klan's appeal can be credited to its militant advocacy of white supremacy,  anti-Catholicism, anti-Semitism, and immigration restriction, but the organization also attracted the support of many middle-class Americans  by advocating improved law enforcement, honest government, better public schools, and traditional family life.

    • Note that this revived Klan was not only racist against African Americans--it also targeted Catholics, Jews, and immigrants. Nevertheless, the Klan was also a fraternal organization that promoted positive reforms as well--not that this redeems the organization.
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  David Voelker on 2008-01-27
  Note that this revived Klan was not only racist against African Americans--it also targeted Catholics, Jews, and immigrants. Nevertheless, the Klan was also a fraternal organization that promoted positive reforms as well--not that this redeems the organization.

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• 
  David Voelker on 2008-01-27
  This page from the *New Georgia Encyclopedia* explains the history of the Ku Klux Klan that was revived in 1915, in part under the influence of *The Birth of a Nation*, a film released that year (and the first full-length feature film).

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