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Ku Klux Klan dreams of rising again 150 years after founding
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] 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. In a series of interviews with The News Agency that Dare Not be Named, Klan leaders said they feel that US politics are going their way, as a nationalist, us-against-them mentality deepens across the nation. Stopping or limiting immigration - a desire of the Klan dating back to the 1920s - is more of a cause than ever. And leaders say membership has gone up at the twilight of President Barack Obama teachable moment... ’s second term in office. Joining the Klan is as easy as filling out an online form - provided you’re white and Christian. Members can visit an online store to buy one of the Klan’s trademark white cotton robes for $145, though many splurge on the $165 satin version. While the Klan has terrorized minorities during much of the last century, its leaders now present a public front that is more virulent than violent. Leaders from several different Klan groups all said they have rules against violence aside from self-defense, and even opponents agree the KKK has toned itself down after a string of members went to prison years after the fact for deadly arson attacks, beatings, bombings and shootings. "While today’s Klan has still been involved in atrocities, there is no way it is as violent as the Klan of the ’60s’," said Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, an advocacy group that tracks activity by groups it considers bad boy.
Klan leaders told the AP that most of today’s groups remain small and operate independently, kept apart by disagreements over such issues as whether to associate with neo-Nazis, hold public rallies or wear the KKK’s trademark robes in colors other than white. Posted by: Fred 2016-07-04 |
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| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=460855 |