150 years of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK)
Born
in the ashes of the smoldering South after the Civil War, the Ku Klux
Klan died and was reborn before losing the fight against civil rights in
the 1960s. Membership dwindled, a unified group fractured, and one-time
members went to prison for a string of murderous attacks against
blacks. Many assumed the group was dead, a white-robed ghost of hate and
violence.
Yet
today, the KKK is still alive and dreams of restoring itself to what it
once was: an invisible white supremacist empire spreading its tentacles
throughout society. As it marks 150 years of existence, the Klan is
trying to reshape itself for a new era.
Klan
members still gather by the dozens under starry Southern skies to set
fire to crosses in the dead of night, and KKK leaflets have shown up in
suburban neighborhoods from the Deep South to the Northeast in recent
months. Perhaps most unwelcome to opponents, some independent Klan
organizations say they are merging with larger groups to build strength
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