Ku Klux Klan

The **Ku Klux Klan (KKK)** is an American White supremacist hate group. A group of Confederate veterans created the original KKK in Pulaski, Tennessee on December 24, 1865. This was shortly after the Confederacy lost the American Civil War. The group quickly expanded among White people in the southern United States. 

There have been several versions of the Ku Klux Klan. The original Klan lasted till 1871, when the group was made illegal. In 1915 an Atlanta businessman named William J. Simmons started the Ku Klux Klan for a second time. In 2023 there were just 10 active Klan groups in the United States. 

## Early years
A group of Confederate veterans, led by Nathan Bedford Forrest, created the original Ku Klux Klan shortly after the American Civil War ended, during Reconstruction. It began as a social club for former Confederate soldiers, who had fought to defend slavery. The Klan quickly became a terrorist organization. in 1928.]]

When the KKK started, northern soldiers were occupying the former Confederate States of America. Klan members feared that white people in the South could lose their supremacy over black people. The Klan used violence and intimidation towards black voters to prevent them from voting. At times, Republicans were also attacked by the Klan. A movie called *The Birth of a Nation* had just been released. The movie proved to be an excellent recruitment tool for the KKK.

In 1920, the Klan began attracting recruits from all over the nation. They d better law enforcement, better government, better schools, and a return to traditional family values.

There were a number of scandals within the second KKK, a great deal of internal feuding, and unhappiness among Klan members who were tiring of the group's violent image. Most of these murders were extrajudicial hangings where the victim had received no trial. These were acts of terrorism because the KKK used fear to control African Americans and take away their political rights. 
## The third Ku Klux Klan
In 1954, the United States Supreme Court (the highest court in the US) decided *Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas*, one of the most important court cases in American history. They ruled that it was unconstitutional to have different schools for black and white children. After this ruling, many independent Ku Klux Klan groups increased their attacks on African Americans. This is called a hung jury. As a result, Killen was set free. These events were later discussed in a 1988 movie called *Mississippi Burning.* He died on January 11, 2018 in prison in Parchman, Mississippi at age 92.

### Membership
 at the en:The Children's Museum of Indianapolis, Indiana, USA: Figurine in Ku Klux Klan outfit, historical photo, etc.]]

In 2011, the KKK was estimated to have as many as 5,000 members.

## Connections with other ideologies
### Islamism
#### 2000s
David Duke, who led the KKK between 1974 and 1980, has deep connections with Islamist groups, especially the Iranian regime. On December 11 – 13, 2006, Duke attended a Holocaust-denying conference in Iran after being invited by the Iranian government. There, he claimed that Zionists used the Holocaust to deny rights to Palestinians. He repeated the claim in another Press TV interview in 2013, insisting that the "Jews' control of the U.S. is the world's greatest single problem". and Jake Shields. There they preached to Muslim attendees, making these claims:

* The Jews had a plan to set up 'greater Israel' by war, revolution and subterfuge"
* Muslims and White nationalists share the same fight against "Jewish supremacy"
* The "Jews are genociding Palestinians in Gaza just as they are genociding White people in America"

## Related pages
* Racism
* Afrophobia
* Antisemitism
* Angry white male
* White nationalism

## References