Source: Getty Images The first KKK made it up as they went along These were the guys who added cross-burnings and mass parades to the white robes and secret codes of the first group.įinally, the third Klan – the one whose members appear on exploitative talk shows and hateful Twitter accounts to this day – became a thing in the 1950s, when the civil rights movement was firmly on the American agenda.Ī still from 1916's 'The Birth of a Nation' by DW Griffith. Griffith’s landmark film, The Birth of a Nation. The second Klan arose in 1915, in the wake of increased Jewish and Catholic immigration – as well as D.W. The first KKK was launched in the 1860s, as a social club (that unfortunately quickly mutated into a group with a vicious “purpose”). Three main ones, anyway – over the years they inspired plenty of spin-off splinter groups using the name. There have been three different Klans over the years
Kamau Bell explores the new face of the KKK in episode one of SBS 2's United Shades of America, here are ten interesting things you might not have known about "the Klan". But behind the pageantry and bigotry, there’s an interesting history to the secret society that still hopes to re-establish white dominance in America.īefore comedian W. They’re the archetypal racists – dressed up in white robes and pointy hoods, setting fire to crosses and calling each other by a range of ridiculous titles.