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Writer's pictureÜmit İşlek
Aug 20, 20246 min read

An Overview of the Ku Klux Klan


Down in Dixie, far south,

My heart is wounded, shattered,

They’ve hung my black pepper

On a tree at the crossroads.

— Langston Hughes


The Ku Klux Klan (KKK), established in 1865 shortly after the American Civil War, is an extreme right-wing and Protestant organization that advocates for white supremacy and opposes African Americans, immigrants, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, communists, and Europeans. The organization is known for its use of the burning cross as a symbol. Members, dressed in white robes from head to toe, wore pointed hoods that left only the eyes visible. One of their initial activities involved raiding villages and prisons, terrorizing African Americans while dressed in frightening costumes and carrying flaming crosses.


The organization was founded in the state of Tennessee in response to the rights gained by African Americans under the leadership of Abraham Lincoln after the Civil War. The most well-known founder, regarded as their leader and given the title of "Grand Wizard," was General Nathan Bedford Forrest. It appears that most of the founders were soldiers who played active roles in the Civil War. The organization's membership has fluctuated over time, with numbers reaching as high as 4 million in certain periods, though recent estimates put the current membership in the thousands.


1. History

Officially established on December 24, 1865, the KKK is believed to have roots in the Knights of the Golden Circle. The term "circle" in the organization's name refers to the goal of creating a united slave state encompassing the Caribbean, the United States, Central America, and Mexico (Ancient Encyclopedia, 2020). The intended enslaved population included almost everyone outside of white Protestants, which forms the theoretical basis of the KKK. John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of Lincoln, who advocated for the human rights of African Americans, was a member of the Knights of the Golden Circle.

The founding location of the KKK, Tennessee in the southern United States, is also significant. During the American Civil War, the North and the South were at odds, with the North largely opposing slavery, while the South sought to continue these inhumane practices. The founders were likely some of the officers who emerged from Confederate ranks during the war (Kemiksiz, 2021). Initially, the organization's membership numbers remained relatively stable for many years. By the early 1880s, the organization had disbanded. However, the 1915 release of The Birth of a Nation (Griffith, 1915) led to a resurgence of the KKK, with membership rapidly increasing. The film, which glorified white supremacy, demeaned African Americans, and praised the KKK, became a reference point for the organization (Istanbul Art House, 2021). By the 1920s, the KKK's membership was estimated to be around 4-5 million.


During this period, the KKK developed its anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic, anti-Communist, and anti-immigrant ideologies. In the following decades, the organization's support of the Nazis or their sympathy toward them significantly decreased their membership and popularity. The devastating effects of the Great Depression led to the disbanding of the organization again in 1944, but it reformed in the 1960s.


The organization, which engaged in activities such as murder, bombings, and lynchings, continued to shrink and eventually became increasingly hidden. Today, it is believed that the KKK has around 6,000 members, with cells and members primarily located in some states in the U.S.


2. Geography

The KKK was founded in the town of Pulaski in Tennessee. This state is located in the southeastern United States, on the border that separated the North from the South during the Civil War. In Tennessee, where slavery was widespread and considered normal, the economy was primarily agricultural, and the idea of maintaining slavery to sustain this economy was supported by some local leaders. The roots of this outcome can be traced back to the beginning of the century. From 1800 onward, the North focused on industrialization, while the South implemented an agricultural economic model. Due to the lack of industrial development in the South, there was a need for labor in the agricultural sector, which was provided by African slaves (Clark, 1997).


The primary goal of the organization was to maintain slavery for African Americans and to reinforce the divide between the superior white group and the enslaved black group. The early abolition of slavery in the North and the South’s resistance to this can be attributed to this objective. Thus, the KKK's first and fundamental slogan to oppress slaves can be understood in the context of such geography.


3. Activities

In its early years, the organization engaged in threats, beatings, rape, and arson. Over time, as it expanded, it carried out more systematic activities. The organization, which was characterized by racial segregation and violent tendencies, increased its lynchings, murders, threats, and propaganda based on its own theories (Yanmış, 2021). By 1926, when the KKK's membership had surged, the organization held a march in the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., with 60,000 participants.


The Klan, which had members among doctors, students, lawyers, and even governors and senators, systematically organized itself. They planned attacks on black meetings, killing participants, burning their schools, hospitals, and churches. While these activities fluctuated in intensity over time depending on social conditions, they have significantly decreased in recent years.


4. In the Present Day

The years of violent actions have considerably reduced the number of KKK sympathizers. The organization, which is now remembered with hatred and condemnation both in the United States and around the world, is believed to have around 5-8 thousand members (BBC, 2017). The KKK, with cells in some U.S. states, organizes small-scale actions with members from these cells. It is also understood that the organization has members in some major European countries, with Germany leading the list, and that there is a branch of the organization there, from which actions like murders are carried out (Cumhuriyet, 2019). The Nazi Party's influence is, of course, a factor in Germany's prominence in this regard. The ideas of the two movements align in many ways, and they will undoubtedly share the same fate in terms of public disdain and eventual disappearance.


5. Symbols and Conclusion

The white robe they wear, which resembles a shroud, symbolizes their willingness to die for their cause as well as their capacity to kill. The white color represents purity and cleanliness, as well as, of course, the white race. The burning cross they carry during their actions, meetings, or marches also symbolizes purification.


Finally, the emblem used by the KKK is perhaps the most noteworthy symbol. The outermost part of the emblem is a black circle. The term “klux” in the organization’s name is derived from the Greek word for “circle.” The Knights of the Golden Circle also reference a circle in their name. In the emblem, the innermost area is red, with a large cross in the center. When members wear their white robes, this cross aligns with their hearts, and in the center of the cross is a black but white-centered square with pointed corners positioned at the top and bottom. Inside this square is a red symbol resembling the hooded head of a Klan member with a pointed hood.


The outermost circle represents the circle of the desired slave state. The central large cross symbolizes the Protestantism they wish to impose, and the symbol, which likely represents the member’s hood, located in the middle, is the KKK at the center of the entire system. The square structure surrounding the member’s head separates the Klan and the functioning system.


Since its early days, the Klan, which designed these symbols in a systematic and thoughtful manner, has taken firm steps forward in its own view. The KKK, which has been active for over a century and a half, has killed thousands of people who did not share their views, attacked and beaten tens of thousands, raped hundreds, pillaged and burned religious and official institutions, blacklisted tens of thousands, tortured an uncountable number, and even castrated them. The KKK, a dark stain on both the United States, Christianity, and humanity, has undoubtedly played and continues to play a negative role in the formation of the modern world. However, it is observed that the concepts of identity and belonging are becoming increasingly irrelevant in the world, and ideas like those of the KKK are no longer needed. With this fact clearly evident, it is inevitable that the organization will slowly fade away through its own acts of violence.


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