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==Second KKK: The 1920s==

==Second KKK: The 1920s==

The second KKK was a nonviolent membership organization in the 1920s that reached hundreds of thousands—possibly millions—of men in every state.  It was mostly a [[Ponzi scheme]], whereby the organizers took all the money (for initiation fees and costumes).  When they had organized an area they moved on, leaving local chapters without money or leadership.  No prominent American admitted he was a member at the time, but state organizers claimed vast powers.  There is a possibility that some local Klans in the deep South engaged in violence against blacks, but historians are unsure; allegations of systematic violence were common but have not been verified.  In recent years historians have found enough records to show that local chapters were primarily discussion groups, often with speakers who denounced Catholics, Jews, crime and violation of the prohibition laws.   

The second KKK was a nonviolent membership organization in the 1920s that reached hundreds of thousands—possibly millions—of men in every state.  It was mostly a [[Ponzi scheme]], whereby the organizers took all the money (for initiation fees and costumes).  When they had organized an area they moved on, leaving local chapters without money or leadership.  No prominent American admitted he was a member at the time, but state organizers claimed vast powers.  There is a possibility that some local Klans in the deep South engaged in violence against blacks, but historians are unsure; allegations of systematic violence were common but have not been verified.  In recent years historians have found enough records to show that local chapters were primarily discussion groups, often with speakers who denounced Catholics, Jews, crime and violation of the prohibition laws.   

 

A series of scandals rocked the KKK's reputation and the group somewhat faded after the 1924 Democratic National Convention.

A series of scandals rocked the KKK's reputation and the group somewhat faded after the 1924 Democratic National Convention.

==Third Klan==

==Third Klan==

 

The third Klan currently exists and comprises a few thousand members in local chapters.  There is no real organization, and the group sponsors vehement hate talk as well as occasional violent threats and actions.  It is racist and aims at the suppression of African-American, Jewish, homosexual, and Catholic interests.  The current Klan presents itself as a "Christian" organization, but all denominations have rejected it as inherently non-Christian.

The third Klan currently exists and comprises a few thousand members in local chapters.  There is no real organization, and the group sponsors vehement hate talk as well as occasional violent threats and actions.  It is racist and aims at the suppression of African-American, Jewish, homosexual, and Catholic interests.  The current Klan presents itself as a "Christian" organization, but all denominations have rejected it as inherently non-Christian.

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>}}  

Democrats tried to block passage of the [[bi-partisan]] [[1964 Civil Rights Act]] by filibustering for 75 hours, led by a 14-hour and 13-minute speech by the Exalted Cyclops Sen. Byrd.<ref>{{cite news|title=Byrd Says He Regrets Voting For Patriot Act |agency=Associated Press |work=[[Common Dreams NewsCenter|Common Dreams]] |date=February 28, 2006 |url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0228-07.htm |accessdate=|deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060919043913/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0228-07.htm |archivedate=September 19, 2006 }}</ref>  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.  In 1981 when the Republicans took control of the Senate for the first time in 28 years, the Exalted Cyclops Robert Byrd was again elected Democrat Senate Leader to oppose [[Ronald Reagan]].

Democrats tried to block passage of the [[bi-partisan]] [[1964 Civil Rights Act]] by filibustering for 75 hours, led by a 14-hour and 13-minute speech by the Exalted Cyclops Sen. Byrd.<ref>{{cite news|title=Byrd Says He Regrets Voting For Patriot Act |agency=Associated Press |work=[[Common Dreams NewsCenter|Common Dreams]] |date=February 28, 2006 |url=http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0228-07.htm |accessdate=|deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060919043913/http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0228-07.htm |archivedate=September 19, 2006 }}</ref>  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.  In 1981 when the Republicans took control of the Senate for the first time in 28 years, the Exalted Cyclops Robert Byrd was again elected Democrat Senate Leader to oppose [[Ronald Reagan]].