KU-KLUX-KLAN. — This strange name originated in America in 1865, at Pulaski in Tennessee, one of the Southern States. Some young men wished to establish an association among themselves and, while discussing what name to choose, one of them, somewhat versed in Greek, proposed kuklos (circle, gathering), and one of those present added the Gaelic word klan (group). Thus the name K. K. K. came into being.
What the original purpose of the K. K. K. was does not appear to be entirely clear. Some say that the young founders thought only of amusing themselves; others maintain that it was intended to defend them against the insolence of the former black slaves, recently freed after the Civil War and favored by the federal authorities of the North against their former Southern masters.
The movement, which at first appeared harmless, soon, through the work of political agitators and the imprudent measures of the Northern authorities, developed into a society of whites for intimidating and taking revenge on blacks. The members of the new organization, who knew well the childish character and primitive mentality of their former slaves, nevertheless managed to adopt effective means for their purpose: nighttime gatherings, long white smocks, heads covered by pointed hoods with only two holes through which to see, and extravagant names given to their leaders—all intended to impress the poor blacks. The designated victims were then abducted at night, taken into the forests, stripped, thrown onto hot tar and rolled in feathers; at other times they were mercilessly flogged with whips made of strips of wet leather, or branded with a red-hot iron bearing the three letters K.K.K., and sometimes hanged and riddled with bullets. The crimes committed were so numerous and so grave that the federal government had to intervene effectively, and between 1870 and 1871 the Association appeared to come to an end, but it was later reborn, more active than before.
If the first K.K.K. in fact targeted only blacks and carried out its terrorist acts only in the Southern States, the second K.K.K. spread to many other States and was characterized not only by anti-Negro sentiment, but also by hostility to Catholics, Jews, and foreigners. In 1915, when the European War had already broken out, the evangelical minister G. J. Simmons, under the pretext of fostering nationalism and distinguishing genuine Americans from others, promulgated the program of the new K.K.K., which stated, among other things: “Only those may be members of the society who are white and born in America, who believe in the dogmas of the Christian religion, who are subject to no foreign religious or political power, and who are affiliated with some sect.” The new Association proved similar to its predecessor, although somewhat more cautious in applying corporal punishment; it also adopted the system of the Knox-Nothing (v.), that is, the systematic and implacable defamation of all those whom it considered less than one hundred percent American, especially Catholics, so that they would not be elected to public office.
This time, however, the Jews, who were richer and more powerful than the Catholics, also became involved, and the campaign against the K. K. K. was vigorous and effective; its secret maneuvers were exposed to the public, its calumnies were refuted, the unconstitutional nature of its conduct was revealed, and the K. K. K. was forced for a time to go underground. The dangerous society appeared to have been extinguished when, on the occasion of the new war that broke out in 1939, it became known that it still existed under the same name in some parts of the United States and under the name of the “Black Legion” in Detroit. There the legionaries had changed the white smock for a long black garment and replaced the upper part of the hood with a piece of stiff cloth on which two crossed bones stood out beneath a white skull. Although the strange clan uniform, the attraction of Secrecy, the anti-Catholic spirit, and Protestant fanaticism still attract some people to join the K. K. K., it may practically be said that, at least for now, it has no prestige among serious-minded people, though it nevertheless remains a danger in turbulent times and during periods of political and religious agitation.