Ku Klux Klan

The Ku Klux Klan (often shortened to KKK) are a White Supremacist group - they are one of America's most infamous hate-groups and are notable for their violent history and extremist philosophy.

The Klan dates back to the post American Civil War era when it was founded by Confederate veterans in Pulaski, Tennessee after their side lost the Civil War. Former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest served as the first Grand Wizard of the Klan.

The Ku Klux Klan engaged in such crimes as lynching, intimidation and racial abuse - amongst other things - despite their infamy the Ku Klux Klan continues to exist (although it is no longer a single organization - instead it exists as splinter movements) and is often used as a symbol of racism and far-right extremism.

Members of the organisation dress in white robes that cover their entire bodies, with distinctive masks that are said to represent the ghosts of fallen soldiers in the Revolution (in truth this was used to try and scare superstitious black slaves and was as much about concealing identity than anything else - the original Klan didn't wear this uniform), they are also famous for their practice of burning the Christian Cross (despite them believing themselves to be a Christian organisation) - the Ku Klux Klan has been known to set burning Crosses on the lawns of black families in an effort to scare them out of communities.

As mentioned above the Ku Klux Klan's past is violent and it has engaged in the practice of lynching - the illegal killing of black men (often via hanging) - this was sometimes used as another means of striking terror in the black community.

Although originally aimed at the freed African-Americans and other Republicans later incarnation of the Ku Klux Klan would broaden their hate campaign to include Jews, Catholics, Communists and immigrants.

As well as death by lynching earlier versions of the Klan would burn and shot into the homes of black farmers, sometimes with their occupants still inside and often tried to frighten black farmers out of their own properties - the first Klan was active roughly from 1865 until 1874.

The second Klan (which introduced much of what we traditionally associate with the organization) was set up in 1915 and faded away towards the end of the 1920s after Klan leader D. C. Stephenson savagely raped a young woman, leading to her death. In disgust large numbers of people abandoned the Klan, and law enforcement stepped up efforts to fight the Klan.

The Klan was revived again in the form of the third Klan - which rose up as opposition to the Civil Right Movement and remains (in a splintered fashion) to this day. Despite violent actions by the likes of Byron De La Beckwith, Robert Edward Chambliss, and others, the Klan continued to lose influence and was on the losing end of the civil rights struggle.