Talk:Ku Klux Klan

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[edit] History in the States

I am sure the people writing here know more of the subject than I. However I was trying to write a section in the Ohio history article about the KKK and was wondering if anyone had any links I could use. It was removed because they said at first is was nothing more than trivia. So is there anyone who could like to help me write a small section? I was thinking that all states that had historical klan membership should be linked to this article. --Margrave1206 (talk) 15:17, 8 February 2008 (UTC)

I recommend you David Chalmers' book Hooded Americanism, he describes the second Klan state by state. - Darwinek (talk) 14:12, 2 March 2008 (UTC)
Kenneth T. Jackson's Ku Klux Klan in the Cities is also a valuable resource. He goes beyond cities but also notes data about how urban the Second Klan was.--Parkwells (talk) 23:01, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

Footnote #2 in the article proper is incorrect. Membership in the original Klan was not restricted in the same manner as its second incarnation. Whether due to ignorance or convenience-of-argument, the method and motive of the two organizations are blurred in the text cited here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tttecumseh (talkcontribs) 14:09, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Knights of The KKK is not racist

I would like to point out that the group mentioned "Knights of the Ku Klux Klan" is not a racist organization, but a group promoting white pride and heritage. This can be misleading to people not familiar with this organization. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.247.21.111 (talk) 04:19, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

Well, it depends on the point of view. ;) - Darwinek (talk) 10:36, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

.Well I think his point of view is racist... admit your the real founder of the kkk... black pride!!

if you dont want to be perceived as racist then dont call yourslef knights of the kkk its as simple as that! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.149.246.185 (talk) 00:01, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

Yeah!! the kkk is a racist thing! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.7.3.94 (talk) 03:34, 14 April 2008 (UTC)

Do KKK really call themselves Christians? It offends me that they overlook the verses in the Bible that say ALL people are equal.. And don't try to say that African Americans aren't people. Because it's been proven that they are just as Human as any Caucasian, or ANY other person, for that matter, and deserve the same rights as everyone else. KKK is racist. It's no different than the Nazi's view, that white people are "superior." Pride is fine. I for one am white, but I say that people of ALL races should have pride in their heritage. All people are equal. No matter their beliefs, outisde appearances, whatever. --The Wolfe22 (talk) 23:49, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

You guys are soapboxing and making comments that are not about the article. They can be removed.--Parkwells (talk) 15:40, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Just a reminder

As horrible as some of us may think this is, let's keep a neutral viewpoint. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Saberwolf116 (talkcontribs) 23:24, 24 April 2008 (UTC)

Some of us? I think every sane person finds this despicable. Spykeesam (talk) 08:40, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

Regardless of how we all feel we should endeavour to keep the article as neutral as possible, this is an encyclopedia after all —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.140.155.43 (talk) 23:52, 20 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Far-right

  • So how are they considered far right when they stand in opposition to everything the far right stands for? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.197.131.27 (talk) 02:48, 25 April 2008 (UTC)
They don't. They stand in favor of everything the far right stands for. Yahel Guhan 21:21, 27 April 2008 (UTC
But under "political influence" is specifically says that political klansmen were in favor of many "progessive" causes. I'm removing the Far-right designation until a consensus can be reached - or not, it's locked. 71.232.60.16 (talk) 22:04, 9 May 2008 (UTC)
The far-right designation is ridiculous when the organization was so closely tied to Southern Democrats. 205.175.225.22 (talk) 21:50, 4 June 2008 (UTC)
Southern Democrats of the late 1800's were "far right" especially when they were opposed to just about anything that would be considered progressive. The modern right/left description of our current political parties probably didn't enter common usage until the 1960's, give or take. The KKK is far right by any definition. OrangeMarlin Talk• Contributions 07:01, 5 June 2008 (UTC)
I don't think the article makes it clear that "far right" is being used in modern terms, and it would certainly be wrong if that were the intention. About the only things the Southern Democrats of the late 1800s had in common with the modern right are that they abhorred protective tariffs and rejected mercantilism, but they also differed from the modern Klan on those issues. The modern progressive movement grew out of the populist politics of the agrarian part of the nation, which also followed those who left the farms for factory work. They stood against the monied interests of capitalists in the northeast. Thus these Democrats did come to stand for many progressive issues, such as opposition to child labor, support for labor unions, agricultural parity, income taxes, and also for institutional opposition to those who competed against these factions.
The Klan has almost nothing in common with the modern political right, which stands for global free trade, laissez faire economics, religious freedom, and educational choice. An extreme right-winger, in modern terms, is not a racist, but an extreme advocate of global democracy and free markets to the point of opposing even the most popular social supports and business regulations and even of favoring military intervention (by a volunteer army) in support of foreign democracies and foreign markets. By failing to define the term "far right" in appropriate anachronistic terms, the designation cannot meaningfully serve to describe the KKK, but instead makes the implicit claim that the extreme support for free markets characteristic of the modern far right is inherently racist. On political issues, the modern Klan stands with the left on more currently disputed issues than it stands with the far right--e.g. on the war in Iraq, the USA PATRIOT Act, and the outsourcing of jobs. But the defining issue of the Klan is its devotion to racial and ethnic isolationism, and on that issue the modern Ku Klux Klan is a fringe group of a small fraction of one percent of the population, and to apply any mainstream political label, left or right, is nothing more than propaganda, as nearly everyone on the left and right, even at the extremes, rejects their position. Mazzula (talk) 20:51, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] All new material needs sources

Where are the "Sources" for the sources? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.111.126.200 (talk) 20:24, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

People who add material without sources will find it quickly removed. Editors have worked hard to base the article on reliable third-party sources, not on opinion and anecdote.--Parkwells (talk) 12:21, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

i really wish you guys would shut up

[edit] Citation, please, for 'A federal grand jury in 1869 determined the Klan was a "terrorist organization." '

I am doubtful that a grand jury labelled the KKK a "terrorist organization" in 1869, as that terminology was not in common English usage at that time.

The word "terrorist" was not commonly used in English until 1947, according to this source:

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=terrorist&searchmode=none

..."Terrorist in the modern sense dates to 1947, especially in reference to Jewish tactics against the British in Palestine"...

Please provide a citation to the actual jury findings. The use of quotation marks implies literal verbiage that seems very unlikely.

Kevindraz (talk) 06:41, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Sorry, but the Oxford English Dictionary, which is probably the leading text for the history of English words states that "terrorist" was used as early as 1795 to describe the Reign of Terror in France, and since 1866, it specifically was used as "any one who attempts to further his views by a system of coercive intimidation." Though "terrorist organization" seems contemporary in usage, it was used to describe the KKK. I find it amusing that you would selectively bring up the definition above regarding Jewish tactics in Palestine. OrangeMarlin Talk• Contributions 06:55, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Unsourced materials

The exact or approzimate numbers of KKK members of the past and present are unsourced and unverified.

Please resolve this.

88.105.71.197 (talk) 18:18, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Etymology

Ku Klux is derived from the Greek kuklos (meaning circle). Klan is clan with a k to match the first letter of the other two words (I assume). Source: GCSE Modern World History Second Edition by Ben Walsh, publisher Hodder Education. There's a picture here: http://www.bookrabbit.com/catalogue/detail/bookid/3646496 194.81.36.61 (talk) 14:35, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] KKK: pop culture references

  • In the 1989 movie "Fletch Lives"( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fletch_Lives ), some protagonists in the story are members of the KKK, there's a scene in wich the hero (played by Chevy Chase) infiltrate a Klan meeting. This could be added to the section.

74.12.228.176 (talk) 01:35, 11 June 2008 (UTC)