Knights of the Ku Klux Klan
The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (shortened to K.KKK or KKKK ) was the Ku Klux Klan organization of right-wing extremist David Duke .
history
The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan emerged in 1975 as the successor to a smaller clan organization in New Orleans led by Ed White . David Duke, already a militant neo-Nazi at that time , joined this clan and became its information collector and Grand Dragon of Louisiana . When Ed White was murdered in 1975, Duke began to seize control of the Klan and portrayed himself as its founder. He changed the image of the Klansmen through appearances on various television programs, in which he was deliberate, debatable and rhetorical. As a result, he received a lot of encouragement for his clan. At the same time, according to the newspaper The Crusader , his print products continued to agitate in a consistently racist way and conveyed sympathy for violent racist crimes, such as the murder of five demonstrators in Greensboro in 1979. Membership numbers included around 1,500 permanent members and an estimated 10,000 supporters.
Duke quickly came into conflict with other clans who saw in him less an ideologue than a businessman who was addicted to profile. Duke tried to buy his way out of the sound business and offered his rival Bill Wilkinson a larger sum for his resignation. Wilkinson agreed to pretend, but had the cash delivery filmed, discrediting Duke. Duke then finally withdrew from the clan and handed over the reins to Don Black , who began to rebuild. Together with Louis Beam he built a violent, terrorist clan headquartered in Texas. Among other things, the two founded a vigilante group to stop Mexican immigrants at the border and planned terrorist attacks. When he was arrested for conspiracy in 1981 and spent two years in prison, the clan fell into two parts. Both organizations were based in Alabama and published a newspaper called The White Patriot . The leadership of the first clan with 2,000 members took over Stanley McCollum and was based in Tuscumbia , the other clan with about 1,000 members was located near Decatur .
In 1989 Thom Robb took control of the K.KKK. He reunited both parts, which at that time comprised only a few hundred members, and tried to return to the beginnings of the clan. Harrison has been based in Arkansas since then . In fact, he managed to increase the number of members again. However, his version of a more moderate clan again led to divisions. For example, leading members accused him of abusing Klan membership as a business model. Instead of maintaining the traditions, the various rituals and annual rallies, the members could influence their position in the clan by paying monetary contributions. In 1994 Ed Novak separated from the Klan and founded the Federation of Klans in Chicago .
Despite the weakening of the clan, it is still active today and advertises membership on its website with the incorrect information "the most active white rights organization in America". Robb is also trying to legalize the K.KKK by giving it party status.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Roger Martin: AmeriKKKa. The Ku Klux Klan and the far right in the United States . Rotbuch Verlag, Hamburg 1996, ISBN 3-88022-491-9 , p. 89-94 .
- ↑ a b c Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Southern Poverty Law Center , accessed August 2, 2013 .