Changes

Democrat Sen. [[Robert Byrd]] joined the Klan in the 1940s and was unanimously elected to the rank of Exalted Cyclops for his inborn leadership skills.<ref>Pianin, Eric. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061801105_pf.html A Senator's Shame: Byrd, in His New Book, Again Confronts Early Ties to KKK]. Washington Post, 2005-06-19, pp. A01</ref><ref>https://allthatsinteresting.com/famous-kkk-members</ref> He repeatedly expressed his desire for the Klan to expand to its previous size and power, once remarking in a letter that "The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia" and "in every state in the nation." <ref>King, Colbert I. [http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2003/commentary/works/king2.html Sen. Byrd: The view from Darrell's barbershop], Washington Post, March 2, 2002</ref>

Democrat Sen. [[Robert Byrd]] joined the Klan in the 1940s and was unanimously elected to the rank of Exalted Cyclops for his inborn leadership skills.<ref>Pianin, Eric. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061801105_pf.html A Senator's Shame: Byrd, in His New Book, Again Confronts Early Ties to KKK]. Washington Post, 2005-06-19, pp. A01</ref><ref>https://allthatsinteresting.com/famous-kkk-members</ref> He repeatedly expressed his desire for the Klan to expand to its previous size and power, once remarking in a letter that "The Klan is needed today as never before and I am anxious to see its rebirth here in West Virginia" and "in every state in the nation." <ref>King, Colbert I. [http://www.pulitzer.org/year/2003/commentary/works/king2.html Sen. Byrd: The view from Darrell's barbershop], Washington Post, March 2, 2002</ref>

Byrd commented on the 1945 controversy raging over the idea of racially integrating the military. In his book When ''Jim Crow Met John Bull'',  Graham Smith referred to a letter written that year by Byrd, when he was 28 years old, to fellow Klansman Sen. [[Theodore Bilbo]] of [[Mississippi]], in which Byrd vowed never to fight: {{Cquote|Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.}} Bilbo  told ''[[Meet the Press]]'' in a 1949 interview: {{cquote|No man can leave the Klan. He takes an oath not to do that. Once a Ku Klux, always a Ku Klux.<ref>[http://mdah.state.ms.us/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bilbo.pdf Robert L. Fleegler, "Theodore G. Bilbo and the Decline of Public Racism, 1938–1947"],''The Journal of Mississippi History'', Spring 2006. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160103063503/http://mdah.state.ms.us/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bilbo.pdf]</ref>}}

Byrd commented on the 1945 controversy raging over the idea of racially integrating the military. In his book When ''Jim Crow Met John Bull'',  Graham Smith referred to a letter written that year by Byrd, when he was 28 years old, to fellow Klansman Sen. [[Theodore Bilbo]] of [[Mississippi]], in which Byrd vowed never to fight: {{Cquote|Rather I should die a thousand times, and see Old Glory trampled in the dirt never to rise again, than to see this beloved land of ours become degraded by race mongrels, a throwback to the blackest specimen from the wilds.}} Bilbo  told ''[[Meet the Press]]'' in a 1949 interview: {{cquote|No man can leave the Klan. He takes an oath not to do that. Once a Ku Klux, always a Ku Klux.<ref>[http://mdah.state.ms.us/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bilbo.pdf Robert L. Fleegler, "Theodore G. Bilbo and the Decline of Public Racism, 1938–1947"],''The Journal of Mississippi History'', Spring 2006. [https://web.archive.org/web/20160103063503/http://mdah.state.ms.us/new/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/bilbo.pdf]</ref>}}  

By the 1960s the Klan was so thoroughly infiltrated by [[FBI]] informers, the joke existed that a Klan cell of 6 members often consisted of 5 FBI informants and one klansman.

Democrats tried to block passage of the bi-partisan [[1965 Civil Rights Act]] by filibustering for 75 hours, led by a 14-hour and 13-minute speech by the Exalted Cyclops Sen. Byrd.  The law was intended to block Republican gains in the South followed by buying off Blacks with [[Great Society]] [[welfare]] and [[affirmative action]] programs.  By the 1960s the Klan was so thoroughly infiltrated by [[FBI]] informers, the joke existed that a Klan cell of 6 members often consisted of 5 FBI informants and one klansman.

[[David Duke]] was a [[Democrat]] at the time of his official membership with the Klan and founded the National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP).  Duke quit the Klan and the Democrat party and was elected to the Louisiana state legislature.  When Duke registered to run for higher office in a Republican primary, the [[Republican National Committee]] disavowed Duke and repudiated his racist views.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-1176548.html RNC Condemns Ex-Klansman Duke], ''[[Washington Post]]'', February 25, 1989. {{dead link}}</ref>

[[David Duke]] was a [[Democrat]] at the time of his official membership with the Klan and founded the National Association for the Advancement of White People (NAAWP).  Duke quit the Klan and the Democrat party and was elected to the Louisiana state legislature.  When Duke registered to run for higher office in a Republican primary, the [[Republican National Committee]] disavowed Duke and repudiated his racist views.<ref>[http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-1176548.html RNC Condemns Ex-Klansman Duke], ''[[Washington Post]]'', February 25, 1989. {{dead link}}</ref>