“a straightforward presentation...recommended”—<i>Public Library Quarterly</i>; “chronicles the directions the Klan has taken during its long and diverse history”—<i>C&RL News.</i>
Although the Ku Klux Klan can be traced from the 1700s through the Civil War and is still evolving at present, many people fail to realize its reach and influence. Some perceive the KKK as merely a radical racist group composed primarily of ignorant, uneducated members, but it is much more. Some Klan groups are political, while others are simply social. Some "meet and eat" like any mainstream civic or church group, but others are focused on well-planned violence. Not all Klan groups advocate an overthrow of the U.S. government, though some do.
Avoiding the bias of previous works--written by either Klan apologists or detractors--the author traces the historical development of the Klan and its organization, membership, ideologies and philosophies. Also detailed are the secret oaths of allegiance, the Imperial Wizards, and the concept of Knighthood.
Acknowledgments
Preface
Introduction
1. Before the Beginning
2. An Empire Is Born
3. 1915—A New Image
4. The Ku Klux Klan in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s
5. The Modern Klan
6. The Klan in the 1970s and the 1980s
7. Klan Surrogates
8. The Religion of the Ku Klux Klan and Its Offspring
9. Right-Wing American Terrorism
Appendix I The Original 1866 Ku Klux Klan Prescript
Appendix II The Revised and Amended Prescripts of the KKK (1869)
Appendix III Constitution and Laws of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (Incorporated), 1915
Appendix IV The Constitution of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of the Sovereign Realm of Mississippi
Appendix V The Klan Oath Top Secret
Appendix VI Imperial Wizards
Appendix VII Brochure : Twenty Reasons to Join the Klan
Appendix VIII Brochure : Ideals of a Klansman
Appendix IX Brochure : A Message from the Invisible Empire
Appendix X Klan Terms Used After World War II
Notes
Bibliography
Index