How "Patriotism" Led to the Second Wave of the KKK in the 1920s
- Editorial Team
- Jun 8, 2020
- 6 min read
Photo: NPR
This is a continuation of my first post about the KKK. If you have not read that yet, I urge you to take a look before reading this one.
After Congress started passing more and more laws to halt the KKK and other white nationalist, terrorist organizations, the appeal to join these groups decreased. Potential members did not want to be arrested as the North began taking control of the situation. But the tactics the KKK used previously to disenfranchise black people did work. In the 1870s, the Democrats began to regain control of the South, not really needing these terrorist groups anymore to punish black people – they could just use the law since they were in charge now. So the KKK fell out for a while as segregation reigned supreme.
Plessy v Ferguson (1891) was the case that legally allowed the segregation of black and white people. The case ruled “separate but equal” which is just so far from the truth. But the racist, angry, white men were less angry these days since they could legally treat black people worse. They did not need their hooded cloaks anymore.
White Southerners began to feel in power again and felt that they restored balance in favor of white supremacy towards the end of the 1800s. This was then challenged by an influx in immigrants from Europe in the early 1900s. Americans felt threatened by the millions of immigrants coming into the US and they were scared their way of life would be threatened as well. A rise in nationalism and patriotism was sweeping across America which then gave way to the second rise of the KKK. There was also a secret, anti-Catholic organization called the American Protective Association that reflected how many Americans felt about all of these “aliens” coming in.
Another key element to the second rise of the KKK, was World War I. Americans were introduced to violence unlike anything they’ve seen before. The white Americans were also so upset to have the black Americans fighting right beside them. They were introduced to a whole new world and they absolutely hated it. Nationalism rose even more as Americans began to distrust anything foreign or alien. Clearly, rises in nationalism is really just cloaked racism. White Americans become so scared of what is not themselves and they take it out on black people and people of color (POC). The reject anything that is not White America and they call it nationalism and patriotism while in reality, it is simply racism.
It is clear that an influx of immigrants, WWI, and the increase in nationalism created an idea of distrust and fear in the American people. This all started to boil until in 1915, William J. Simmons decided to do something about it. Simmons was a war veteran and an active member in a number of fraternities and societies. A major catalyst in reigniting the KKK was his viewing of the movie, Birth of a Nation. This film portrayed the KKK as heroes and black people as criminals. He convinced 15 like-minded people to join and in 1915 they light a cross on fire, symbolizing the rise of the KKK once again.
The new version of the group was not so much about killing black people as it was about protecting the country from immigrants, aliens, and even, union leaders. Membership and growth was slow at first but then in 1920, Simmons met with Edward Young Clarke and Elizabeth Tyler, two publicists. They came up with a plan to promote the KKK as aggressively pro American, which in their language really meant aggressively anti-black, anti-Jewish, and anti-Catholic. Simmons even said at a KKK meeting in Georgia, “Now let the Niggers, Catholics, Jews and all others who disdain my imperial wizardry, come out!”.
The KKK expanded their hate and racism from African Americans to Asians, immigrants, bootleggers, dope, graft, night clubs and road houses, violation of the Sabbath, sex, pre- and extra-marital escapades and scandalous behavior. It is obvious that the new version of the group was not just anti-black anymore, they hated everything and were willing to resort to violence. The group preached about living a clean, Protestant life yet they beat and killed thousands of innocent people. Call me crazy, but burning down schools and murdering people does not seem very Christian. They just used their “religion” as an excuse to “clean up the country”.
This new “all-American” group was gaining a lot of attention and had upwards of 100,000 members by 1921. Recruiters for the terrorist organization would use powerful rhetoric to attract new members but their tactics were almost too convincing. As the group grew larger and larger, it was clear that the founders and people in charge could not quite control the violent members. The members started lynching black people, whipping people, tar and feather people, and they would even use acid to burn anyone them seemed un-American, including black people, Jewish people, and really anyone they wanted.
The people sworn to protect the citizens such as police officers, judges, and mayors did not do anything about these hate crimes. Part of their complacence in these acts was because they were often the ones committed the crimes as part of the KKK. Hardly anyone went to jail for these crimes. A major component to recruitment in this terrorist organization was to have each new member, recruit and convince 10 other people to vote for the KKK member in whatever election was near. Their aim was to have their members in every authority position possible. And this worked. They were able to appoint their members to mayor’s office and sheriff’s departments from coast to coast. The people in charge of the law, were KKK members.
As the group became more violent as more members across the country joined, they were getting a lot of press. Newspapers started reporting the violence. Tensions were rising in the KKK and the struggle for power was beginning. Because of the articles though, Congress started setting up hearings to look into the Klan. The hearings proved useless and the group ended up better than before because of all the free press they were getting. Because of all of the press, Simmons said, “Certain newspapers also aided us by inducing congress to investigate us. The result was that congress gave us the best advertising we ever got. Congress made us.”.
By the mid 1920s, the KKK had membership in the millions all across the country. This new power amplified the tensions in the group. After many ploys and lawsuits between members, Simmons left and the new head was Hiram Wesley Evans. The country saw all of the inner conflict and fighting within the group and it did weaken its reputation.
The Klan described themselves as a non-profit group dedicated to keeping the American way, but various newspaper articles showed the true violence and wasteful spending within the group. With Evans as the new leader, he ushered in a new wave of violence through lynching, shooting, and whipping black people, Jewish people, Catholics, and more. Although these were the main recipients of the hate crimes, the KKK also often punished white people for “betraying their race”. In Georgia, a woman was given 60 lashes for a vague charge of “immorality and failure to go to church”; when her 15-year-old son ran to her rescue, he received the same treatment. The KKK spent so much time inflicting violence on “immoral” people when in reality, they were the largest terrorist organization in the country.
At the same time, the KKK gained enormous political control with seats in Congress and many allies in Washington as well. But with all of this power, internal power struggles continued. Some members wanted to leave and others wanted to separate and create their own groups. Deserters were often times beaten or even burned alive. Many members were sick of the reckless violence so membership started declining.
The group was at its peak in the 1920s but by the time the 1930s hit, membership was continuing to decline and the Great Depression led many members to leave. Internal disputes continued and the leadership changed again but the KKK was slowly dying. The group temporarily disbanded in 1944. The next wave of the Ku Klux Klan began in the 1960s with the Civil Rights Movement. I will do a separate piece on that wave of the KKK.
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