Landon Boffman KKK Public Image 1920-1980s The Ku Klux Klan was founded by Nathanial Bedford Forrest after

the Civil War on the basis of promoting white supremacy and white nationalism. In the 1920s, the KKK promoted white supremacy through violence, and their public image was one of a violent group towards minority groups. The KKK was particularly violent in the state of Texas in the 1920s towards the African-American community in ways that the black community began to fear the organization. Also, the KKK hindered the minority groups in Texas by politically controlling local elections in the 1920s, and they did this by threatening minority groups not to vote or they will be harmed. The KKK was a group that wanted the public image of being a violent one if necessary in the 1920s. As time went on, the KKK began to take a more political approach to their group, but still the KKK kept the idea that being white was the ideal race. In the 1980s, the KKKs public image was one of a group that was still hateful towards minority groups, but not as violent as they were in the 1920s. The KKK evolved into an organization that protested to get their point across, and displaying their hate by having Klan rallies to promote the idea of white supremacy and white nationalism. From the 1920s to the 1980s, the KKK kept the same idea throughout those years of promoting white supremacy and white nationalism, but in the 1920s the KKK promoted more in a violent way towards minority groups while in the 1980s, the KKK took more of a stance of protesting their hate for minority groups. Their public image also evolved from the 1920s-1980s, in the 1920s the KKKs public image was one of violent group promoting white supremacy, and in the 1980s their public image was one of a group still promoting white supremacy, but they were not a violent group. The KKK evolved in the span of sixty years in the eyes of the public

from a violent group displaying their idea of white supremacy to a group that became

nonviolent but still promoted white supremacy. The KKK was founded by six confederate veterans, and the meaning of Ku Klux Klan is a Greek word having the meaning of band of brothers. Historians give credit to Nathan Bedford Forrest as being the founder of the group, but actually he was the first Grand Dragon, which means he was a leader of the organization. The KKK was founded in the 1860s on the basis of a brotherhood of Confederate soldiers who during the Reconstruction Era in the United States believed that the white race reigned supreme over any race particularly blacks at the time, and also the KKK had political hatred for white republicans. The KKK even before the 1920s had a violent public image because after the Civil War the KKK was founded and began to target freed blacks and began to terrorize them, and even killing the freed blacks. That public image was seen by the government and the government passed the Enforcement Acts trying to prevent specifically the KKK from harming any African-Americans from trying to vote. The 14-15th amendment were passed for African-American males to vote, and the KKK did not take to kindly to those amendments, and they not only targeted freed blacks, but often white Republicans because at that time the Republicans were in control of the government. The KKK had a public image of violence even after a couple of years of being founded. The violence in the 1860s1870s was fueled from losing the Civil War, and seeing the African-American race getting rights especially to vote. The KKK did not want to see any minority races to have a say on who ran the country or who led the country because the KKK did not believe the African-American community was equal to them. The Enforcement Acts of 1870-71 helped put an end to the KKK from the 1880s-1910s because the KKK could not function with the government knowing what
1

Flanagan, Timoithy. Reconstruction: A Primary Source History of the Struggle to Unite the North and the South after the Civil War. New York City: The Rosen Publishing Group, 2005.

type of public image they were placing on themselves, and it did not help that at the time the

white Republicans were giving rights to the newly freed African-Americans. The KKK hated minorities, but also they disliked whites who tried to sympathize or side with AfricanAmericans. The leadership during the time of the Enforcement Acts became disorganized including Nate Bedford Forrest who distanced himself from the organization even as one of the first leaders. The KKK would go on a quiet period from the 1880s to the 1910s, and would reappear with a full head of steam in the 1920s bringing back the public image of being a violent group particularly to the African-American community. In the 1920s in Texas, the KKK had the public image that they were violent, and they embraced the fact that they were violent particularly to the black community. The violence consisted of similar violence that happened in the 1860-70s, violent acts such as threatening to harm minorities such as blacks from voting, hanging, lynching, and beatings. There were numerous accounts of violence specifically by the KKK towards the black community specifically. The KKK targeted the black community because from the time after the Civil War until the 1920s, the African-American race began to receive rights in which made them citizens, and also have the right to vote for the males. The KKK being an organization based on white supremacy and being the almighty race above any other race could not stand the fact that the black community was being giving rights to have a say in what happens in the U.S. political wise. The KKK felt as if violence would put down the African-Americans will to further advance in society, and their public image as a violent group just help further put fear in other minority groups. Henry Fry wrote a book on how violent the KKK was in Texas in the 1920s titled, The Modern Klu Klux Klan, and the book gave a good analysis on how the KKK
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Fry, Henry. The Modern Klu Klux Klan. Boston: Small Maynard & Comapny, 1922. Pg. 184189

enacted violence on the black community. The KKK was white men who at night would ride

around on horses with white hooded sheet over their body with the eyes and head cut out so that they could see and breath. Frye gives several accounts of the KKK, enacting violence on the black community. Violent acts such as mutilating a black dentist to whippings, and tar and featherings were accounts given by Frye. The KKK imposed the violent acts to make sure the black community feared them at all times because they wanted the black community to know they had the power. The public image of the KKK was exposed in the book written by Frye because there were primary accounts of different violent acts imposed on particularly the black community in Texas. Texas was a hotspot for the KKK and their violent acts, and the black community was a primary victim to the violent acts in the 1920s. The violent acts that the KKK inflicted on the black community was not necessarily a part of what the KKK were trying to accomplish as an organization, but the violence was a part of making minority groups fear the power and what the KKK can do in the 1920s. The KKK was about white supremacy and nationalism, and the violence in the 1920s is the way they got their idealism to the different minority groups. Henry Frye gives the world a public image of the KKK in his book, but the book showed ways that the KKK expressed their ideals of white supremacy and nationalism through violence, and in later years the KKK expressed their ways through protesting and rallies and not violence. The public image of the KKK in 1920s was one of violence, but also the violence portrayed to the white community that didnt involve themselves as with the KKK had the same mindset as the KKK. The white community believed in the white supremacy and white nationalism ideas, but just did not partake in the violent acts that the KKK did. The white
3

Fry, Henry. The Modern Klu Klux Klan. Boston: Small Maynard & Comapny, 1922. Pg. 184189

community in the 1920s particularly had great power in the important power positions such as

judge, local government positions, sheriff/police department, and owners of local stores. With the white community controlling the city and towns of Texas, the KKK had a big advantage of doing violent acts towards the minority groups of their choosing, particularly the blacks. The white community consisted of KKK members in Texas, and it was easy for the KKK to influence local leaders because the white community shared the same key ideas such as being a superior race. The public image of the KKK in the 1920s affected the white community because at that time in the South including Texas, the white community shared the same ideas as the KKK, and mainly the white communities were stereotypical. When the black community or any minority group went to the local leaders complaining about the violence of the KKK, the local leaders would often look the other way. There were many cases in Texas in the 1920s were a black male was on trial for an offense that had no evidence that the black male committed the crime, and the black male had an all white jury and judge, and was convicted, often the conviction would consist of beatings and lynching by the white community not even the KKK. For instance, Patricia Bernstein writes a book, The First Waco Horror: The Lynching of Jesse Washington and the Rise of the NAACP explaining factual evidence of the trial of Jesse Washington a black male who was convicted of murder and killed after his trial by the white community of Waco. Bernstein gives a factual account of the trial in her book, and the trial of Jessie Washington explains how the white community treated the black community. The white community also acted violent towards the black community similar to the way the KKK acted towards the black community because the white community had the power. The difference in the KKK and the white community is that the white community did not want to have a public image of violence
4

Bernstein, Patricia. The First Waco Horror: The Lynching of Jessie Washington and the Rise of the NAACP. College Station, Texas: Library of Congress, 2005.

even though in situations such as Jessie Washington they used violence as justice even though

Jessie Washington could have been innocent. This court case ties in hand in hand with how the KKK enacted violence on minority groups in an illegal way, but the acts of violence in the 1920s by the KKK were overlooked because the white community held jobs such as being a judge. Jessie Washington had no chance to have a fair trial because his conviction was of him murdering a white woman and his juror and judge were all white. The KKK embraced the public image of being violent in the 1920s, and the white community just had the power as well to affect the black community except they didnt want the image of being violent, but the white community had the power also to be violent and not care of the repercussions because the white community had the power in the 1920s in Texas. Jessie Washington in the courtroom admitted to the crime of killing the white woman, and instead of letting the judge decide the fate of Jessie Washington an angry white mob had formed, and brought Jessie outside the courtroom and set him on fire and hung him. Even though Jessie may have been guilty of the crime, he deserved to have a fair sentence, but in the eyes of the white community he deserved to die that day. The white community took it into their own hands to punish a minority because the value of Jessie Washington was beneath that of a white person in their eyes. This belief is exactly how the KKK conducted their violent acts in the 1920s not caring about the public image; all that mattered was the KKK organization expressing their ideas through violence. The white community and the KKK intertwine together because they both shared the same view points in the 1920s and the only exception is that the KKK had the public image of being a violent organization and the white community didnt have a public image of being violent even though the white community did violent acts such as Jessie Washington. The white community of Texas in the 1920s
5

Bernstein, Patricia. The First Waco Horror: The Lynching of Jessie Washington and the Rise of the NAACP. College Station, Texas: Library of Congress, 2005.

controlled the town because every local leadership position was predominately white, so the minority groups such as the blacks had no choice, but to endure the unfairness and violence from the KKK and the white community and understand that the violence and unfairness would not be brought to justice. In the 1980s and into the 1990s, the KKKs public image went from one of violence to a public image of being less violent and more political. The KKKs public image began to change because the violent acts began to decrease as the United States began to modernize. The KKK had to modernize as well and change their public image because in the 1980s times were different, and the violent acts that went on in the 1920s had to come to a halt or repercussions such as jail time would occur. As time changed, the KKK changed into more a political organization with the same ideas that the organization was founded on in the 1860s-1870s. The political ideas of the Klan in Texas in the 1980s were still white supremacy and white nationalism. The KKK believed the white society was above any other minority groups, and every race should be segregated from whites. Politically wise, the KKK had little to no success in Texas because society as a whole including whites that did not share the same views as the KKK, and thats why the KKK had little to no success in politics in Texas. Even though the KKK tried changing their public image, they were still being remembered as being a violent organization in the eyes of minority communities. The KKK tried to adjust to the new times and modernization, but the public image they created in the 1920s still stuck to them. The violent acts of the KKK in the 1920s turned into protest and rallies in the 1980s, and the public image of the KKK still lingered of being a violent organization even though the KKK tried to make a legitimate change to their public image. The KKK political advancement in Texas was little to nonexistent, but different KKK leaders or grand dragons ran for government position in other

states. One leader of the KKK, David Duke from Louisiana was a member of the House of Rep.

and in 1988, he was a candidate in the Democratic presidential primaries, and in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992. Even though David Duke was not from Texas, he influenced a lot of KKK members and groups as a whole, He was one of the only chances that the KKK had to change their public image in the 1980s-1990s, and also he was going to be able to affectively get the Klans ideas into action. His political views and his background as being a Grand Dragon of the KKK lost him both primaries. The public image of the KKK even though the KKK saw themselves as being changed, the public still saw them as a violent group because of their past. Also, the public as a whole were moving out of the age of segregation, and minority groups were beginning to advance and Dukes political views did not match up with what the public wanted. Tyler Bridges wrote a book, The Rise of David Duke, and Bridges writes a biography of David Duke with factual evidence explaining the political history of Duke, and his days as a KKK Grand Dragon. David Duke gave hope to the Klan as a whole because the Klan needed a spark to change their public image into one of a violent one into one of more political organization still trying to get their ideas voiced to the public. Duke influenced many KKK groups especially in Texas, and gained many supporters in Texas according to Tyler Bridges biography. Duke was seen as a different candidate because of his political views, he believed in white supremacy, voluntary racial segregation, and white separatism. Those viewpoints hindered Duke from winning elections and primaries even though he gained support from particularly the white community. Times had changed though, and Duke was not able to advance the ideas of the KKK, but the public image of the KKK took a change with the help of Duke. Duke helped change the public image of the KKK in the 1980s because before that the KKK was seen as a

Bridges, Tyler . The Rise of David Duke. Oxford: University Press of Mississippi, 1994.

violent group specifically in the 1920s in Texas, and with Dukes political success to an extent

gave hope to the public image being changed for the KKK. The KKK in the 1980s in Texas began to change their public image by not involving their groups in violent acts, but instead trying to find ways to express their view points of white supremacy. The Klan participated in rallies and protest, and even when Duke campaigned in Texas. Duke was a vital piece of changing the public image of the KKK as a whole in the 1980s-1990s, and he was the closest politician to being able to express the KKK viewpoints to the world and actually have an effect that the KKK could get. The KKK as an organization in Texas made an impact to communities in Texas from the 1920s-1980s. Their public image in the 1920s was one of violence, and every community at the time knew to fear the KKK even the white community at times feared the KKK. The white community that feared the KKK was the whites who believed that the advancement of minorities is a good thing and segregation was a bad thing. The whites who did not favor the KKK in the 1920s explained to their children and grandchildren that the KKK was a bad organization, and their ideas were wrong. The KKK gained a public image as such because of the different violent acts. The grandkids of the white community who did not believe in the KKK wrong doings were taught by their grandparents to go against what the KKK believed in and stood for. Baylor Universitys Living Stories interviewed former Waco ISD superintendant Avery Browning and Waco native Helen Geletmeyer, and both gave accounts of the KKK in Texas. Geltemeyer gave a factual interview because she actually attended a Klan meeting in Waco, Texas in the 1920s with her mom and sister on accident. Geltemeyer explains her account of experiencing a Klan meeting at a young age. Brownings account was based on his uncle being on a debate team in
7

Patterson, Kim. "Baylor University: Living Stories." Baylor University. http://www.baylor.edu/livingstories/index.php?id=79021

Hallsville, Texas back in the 1920s, and his uncle account explains how he and one of his

friends made fun of a Klan member during a rally causing a uproar. Both of these accounts are vital because both share their experience of the KKK, and since they are the public their accounts are important to how the KKK was viewed at the time of the 1920s. The interviews were conducted in 2010, and the public image of the KKK had changed from the 1920s-1980s, but the violent past still lingered in the communities including the whites. The KKK changed as a whole though from being a pure violent organization in the 1920s to an organization in the 1980s of trying to become more political and voicing their opinions through rallies and protest. The similarities that Geltemeyer and Brownings accounts of the KKK; show that the KKK was a group that still had the potential to be violent. The KKKs public image may never be one of not associated with violence because of what happened in the 1920s in Texas, and the KKK in Texas will always be associated with being a violent group because of their past. The public image of the KKK may be forever tainted because of their viewpoints on white supremacy and nationalism, and also in the 1920s exercising their viewpoint on minority groups in a violent way. When the KKK is taught in schools in modern times, teachers dont associate the KKK with being a group trying to express their views politically, but as a group who expressed their views violently. Even though this isnt true because of David Duke, the KKK tainted their public image in the 1920s and could not change their public image in the 1980s to modern times. The KKK in Texas from the 1920s-1980s were viewed by the public as a violent group even though the KKK tried to become peaceful during the 1980s, and the public image of being violent may not ever go way because of the KKKS political views and violent acts committed in the 1920s.

Patterson, Kim. "Baylor University: Living Stories." Baylor University. http://www.baylor.edu/livingstories/index.php?id=79021

The KKK in Texas is an organization that is to be feared according to the public image the KKK obtained in the 1920s. Minority groups feared the KKK in the 1920s because of how violent the KKK would get, but as times changed the KKK had to assimilate as well and stop the violent acts. Even though the KKK attempted changes their violent actions toward minority groups, they were still seen as a dangerous organization. In the 1980s the KKK, tried tp become more political and did not have much luck except for David Duke who was from Louisiana, and he was the closet politician being a Klan member to get within being in the Presidential running. The Klan needed an opportunity to show the public eye that they are really not a violent organization, but an organization that believes in the values they were founded on. Times have changed, and minority groups in Texas have begun to flourish in Texas. The KKKs views on minorities will never change and because of that their public image will not be considered a nonviolent one. The KKK was founded on the basis that the white race should never be equal to any minority race, and in the 1920s the KKK expressed that in a violent way and in the 1980s the KKK expressed it in more a political way by protesting and holding Klan meetings and rallies. The public image of the KKK in Texas will always be tainted by being a violent group even if in modern times the KKK tried to change their public image. White communities as well in the 1920s were associated with the KKK even though the white community didnt have the public image of being violent. The white community in Texas in the 1920s contributed to acts of violence as well in the forms of mistreatment of the law, Jessie Washington being an example. Even though the white community may have not be associated with the KKK as in going to Klan meetings and rallies, the white community still shared the same ideas as the Klan as being racist and believing other minority races, particularly the blacks were beneath them. The white community such as the Geltemeyer family was the part of the white community that would in the

future modernize and favor the advancement of the minority groups because they did not believe in what the KKK were doing and feared the actions of what would take place if the KKK knew they were against their views. The KKK affected the Texas community during the 1920s through the 1980s in a way that the public image of the KKK would never leave the image of being a violent group. Even if the KKK tried to take the political direction in the 1980s, the public still viewed the KKK as a violent group. To this day in the year of 2013, the KKK will be an organization that will be associated with violence because of their past, and their public image to this day will also being one of violence.