151 years ago today: Democrats founded and staffed the Ku Klux Klan

[owebo]

You democrats are what you are....klansmen....

You are what you are, a lying troll.

You know what you are? A klansman.....

And worse, you seem quit proud of the fact.....

 

[The Great Goose]

What choice do they have?

Yes...but....what have they got to lose?

A lot. There is a lot of poverty in America and the Republicans have a history of being cruel to poor people.

How so?

They freeze the wages. They prevent working poor from getting health care, and a decent standard of living. And they cut services and welfare for those who don't work.

I haven't seen any of that....your fake news tell you that?

We give people opportunity and what they do with that opportunity is their choice....unlike,democrats who force them onto their democrat plantation, far away from opportunity....

oh c'mon.

 

[konradv]

You democrats are what you are....klansmen....

You are what you are, a lying troll.

You know what you are? A klansman.....And worse, you seem quit proud of the fact.....

Lyin' trolls gonna be lyin' trolls.

 

[rightwinger]

There is little difference between the platform of today's Republican and the platform of today's klan

Both are Christian, hate minorities, hate gays and are not Politically Correct

 

[Crixus]

Conservative southerns angry about reconstruction after the civil war. Of course, I don't expect you republicans to understand basic political history.

Can you educate us on them angry conservatives during reconstruction? Likely not . As it is, and as its written the Klan was pretty much the political elite which especially in the south was happened to be democrats. Even LBJ had to twist the arms of his democrat comrades to get his civil rights stuff passed. Thing about basic political history, it changes allot depending on the politicians involved.

 

[Pogo]

Conservative southerns angry about reconstruction after the civil war. Of course, I don't expect you republicans to understand basic political history.

Can you educate us on them angry conservatives during reconstruction? Likely not . As it is, and as its written the Klan was pretty much the political elite which especially in the south was happened to be democrats. Even LBJ had to twist the arms of his democrat comrades to get his civil rights stuff passed. Thing about basic political history, it changes allot depending on the politicians involved.

Point of correction -- Klanners were not "political élite" at all. They were the underbelly viewed with alarm by the general law-abiding populace which is why they needed to be so secretive.

From one historiian's description:

>> "Lifting the Klan mask revealed a chaotic multitude of antiblack vigilante groups, disgruntled poor white farmers, wartime guerrilla bands, displaced Democratic politicians, illegal whiskey distillers, coercive moral reformers, bored young men, sadists, rapists, white workmen fearful of black competition, employers trying to enforce labor discipline, common thieves, neighbors with decades-old grudges, and even a few freedmen and white Republicans who allied with Democratic whites or had criminal agendas of their own." << --- Elaine Franz Parsons PhD, "Ku Klux: The Birth of the Klan during Reconstruction"​

In other words generally thugs, and/or Confederate insurgent guerillas. The Klan was never a political group and had no involvement in electoral politics until the 1920s, when it was supporting or opposing either Democrats or Republicans (or in at least one case a no-party candidate) depending on what served its interests in that time and place.

I've posted all this before including a year ago when Steve McRacist started the same kind of thread in, of course in his case, a celebratory manner since he's another thug himself.

 

[Pumpkin Row]

The Confederate Flag is a symbol of State Rights, which has little to do with Slavery. It honors all of those who fought for their state rights, and apparently offends all of those who don't understand what the Civil War was about. Lots of good reasons to love the Confederate Flag.

The Confederate flag is a symbol of the TRAITORS who made WAR against the United States of America, its People and the Constitution! Your revision of history has no rational truth or validity in the real world!

It's not revision if it's accurate. They fought for state rights against a President who believed the government didn't have enough power.

It was all about slavery. And once again Southerners were duped by the greedy idiot rich, the slave owners/plantation owners...

It had nothing to do with slavery until Lincoln decided to free the slaves as a war measure.

 

[bodecea]

Did the families of the Confederates leave the south or are the bloodlines still there?

We killed most of you democrats for defending your slavery.....

You're really really old. No wonder you're senile.

 

[bodecea]

The Confederate Flag is a symbol of State Rights, which has little to do with Slavery. It honors all of those who fought for their state rights, and apparently offends all of those who don't understand what the Civil War was about. Lots of good reasons to love the Confederate Flag.

The Confederate flag is a symbol of the TRAITORS who made WAR against the United States of America, its People and the Constitution! Your revision of history has no rational truth or validity in the real world!

It's not revision if it's accurate. They fought for state rights against a President who believed the government didn't have enough power.

It was all about slavery. And once again Southerners were duped by the greedy idiot rich, the slave owners/plantation owners...

It had nothing to do with slavery until Lincoln decided to free the slaves as a war measure.

Nope.

 

[Little-Acorn]

So that's what you're doing when you decide blacks can't live without your welfare systems, they need special treatment for college admission and can't possibly figure out how to vote with an ID. Isn't it at least interesting to you that the same attitude toward the blacks that people used for them being enslaved are the exact same reasonings you use to keep them in the democrat party?

They're just too dumb to live without you. Thinking for themselves is voting against their own interests. You just can't let these people think for themselves, that's discrimination.

Well said.

 

[Little-Acorn]

Isn't it a hoot how the Democrats are panicking and running for the tall grass on this?

The truth kills them. They absolutely cannot stand to have it come out. They must make up all the excuses and diversions they can think of.

"But, but, but they weren't REALLY Democrats back then!! Umm, they've changed! That's it, they've changed!

"BTW, Republicans are racist poopy-heads! Yeah, Republicans are the problem!!! Stop talking about Democrats!!!"

 

[Pogo]

The KKK was started by former soldiers of the Confederacy,

which is the single most important reason you see so many conservatives so vigorously defend the display of the Confederate Flag.

Wrong again.....it may have been founded by confederates, but it has members in every state

Technically no. The Klan officially ceased to exist in April of 1944. IRS got 'em.

What you have now is a lot of pop-up fringers playing dress-up. But they don't work together and may not even know of each other.

That's what David Duke did. He didn't join an existing chapter--- he created one.

No i meant Indiana, Oregon, Colorado, not havens for confederates

That's true of the second (1915) iteration. We must needs distinguish between the two.

The original Klan (1865) was confined to the Confederacy and had everything to do with the disruption of everyday affairs by the War, its aftermath, the Union Leagues, "carpetbaggers", and the social and economic upheaval of a sudden free black population competing for the rare jobs etc. The second (1915) Klan carried much of that over in terms of blacks but was more an exploitation of nativism, the anti-immigrant and anti-minority rhetoric of the time, which is when it brought in Catholics, Jews, immigrants in general, labor unions as well as drinkers, philanderers "loose women" and later communists as it targets. That version was by far the bigger one and spread on that nativist rhetoric to as you mention, Indiana, Ohio. Colorado, the Pacific Northwest and California as well as New England.

How it took off in each of those places depended on what worked in that time and place. If it was Maine the main target would be Catholics; Illinois or Pennsylvania it might be labor unions and/or the influx of immigrants taking factory jobs.

Formed around the same time on the basis of similar sentiments were the hypernatioinalistic/militaristic National Security League and its splinter group the American Defense Society. To understand the formation of such groups it's essential to understand the context of the times. These were the times of a polarized country with racism and lynchings rampant, with influxes of immigrants taking jobs and influencing culture; and with the entry into Word War One, hyperjingoism on top of it all. These were also the recurring echoes of the Know Nothings of the 1840s-'50s and the Temperance Movement of the same era, taking a militaristic approach to "moral enforcement" in search of a hypernationalistic "100% Americanism", which both the Klan and the Know Nothings preached using exactly that term.

Which is what makes the recent Presidential campaign (Orange version) kind of eerie.

 

[Crixus]

Conservative southerns angry about reconstruction after the civil war. Of course, I don't expect you republicans to understand basic political history.

Can you educate us on them angry conservatives during reconstruction? Likely not . As it is, and as its written the Klan was pretty much the political elite which especially in the south was happened to be democrats. Even LBJ had to twist the arms of his democrat comrades to get his civil rights stuff passed. Thing about basic political history, it changes allot depending on the politicians involved.

Point of correction -- Klanners were not "political élite" at all. They were the underbelly viewed with alarm by the general law-abiding populace which is why they needed to be so secretive.

From one historiian's description:

>> "Lifting the Klan mask revealed a chaotic multitude of antiblack vigilante groups, disgruntled poor white farmers, wartime guerrilla bands, displaced Democratic politicians, illegal whiskey distillers, coercive moral reformers, bored young men, sadists, rapists, white workmen fearful of black competition, employers trying to enforce labor discipline, common thieves, neighbors with decades-old grudges, and even a few freedmen and white Republicans who allied with Democratic whites or had criminal agendas of their own." << --- Elaine Franz Parsons PhD, "Ku Klux: The Birth of the Klan during Reconstruction"​

In other words generally thugs, and/or Confederate insurgent guerillas. The Klan was never a political group and had no involvement in electoral politics until the 1920s, when it was supporting or opposing either Democrats or Republicans (or in at least one case a no-party candidate) depending on what served its interests in that time and place.

I've posted all this before including a year ago when Steve McRacist started the same kind of thread in, of course in his case, a celebratory manner since he's another thug himself.

Real history, not the stuff in the top secret collection you brag about inheriting says different. Even though you were very selective in your link there, I notice that Democrat was the only party mentioned, but we all know famous republicans
(political elites) were members to. No politician who was in office during the klans heyday hands were clean. They were a powerful voting block much like the congressional black caucus today, but much more effective until they weren't.

 

[Pogo]

Somebody quick-deleted a post. Not before I saw it though.

Not that it any of your business, but I did because it was redundant. No need to post basically the same thing twice.

I think you did it because you knew I'd nail your ass.

So you in effect did the right thing because indeed I was doing just that when it disappeared.

Conservative southerns angry about reconstruction after the civil war. Of course, I don't expect you republicans to understand basic political history.

"At the time of Ulysses S. Grant's election to the presidency, white supremacists were conducting a reign of terror throughout the South. In outright defiance of the Republican-led federal government, Southern Democrats formed organizations that violently intimidated blacks and Republicans who tried to win political power.

The most prominent of these, the Ku Klux Klan, was formed in Pulaski, Tennessee, in 1865. Originally founded as a social club for former Confederate soldiers, the Klan evolved into a terrorist organization. It would be responsible for thousands of deaths, and would help to weaken the political power of Southern blacks and Republicans."

WGBH American Experience . U.S. Grant: Warrior | PBS

Where's your evidence of your assertion that it Conservative Republicans founded the KKK? Or is just another of the Democrats attempts at historical revisionism?

I have shown you mine, now show me yours.

Stop your lying, Derelict. The vigilante KKK was a hard right ultra conservative terrorist organization.

What, Jake? Are you calling ultra-left NPR a liar?

You may be correct that, at the time, Democrats were considered conservative. What you are failing to acknowledge is that they were still Democrats and on the left.

As I have said to others before, present credible evidence of your assertion. Or are you just attempting to rewrite history?

The NPR never said the Dems organized the KKK. That's a lie. The rest of your nonsense is nonsense. In the second wave of the KKK in the 1920s, from Washington State to Indiania and Ohio, many were Republican. You make a bad argument, kiddo, when you leave out all the info.

The link was PBS, not NPR.
It is badly worded and I've told them about it but they're too overbloated/understaffed to fix it. But the fact remains there is no evidence anywhere that the Klan founders had anything to do with politics at all.

Nor did the founder of the second one, "Colonel Joe" Simmons, who called his "the most powerful, secret, non-political organization in existence" and indeed when his Klan got involved in elections in the 1920s it got at least as many Republicans elected as Democrats if not more.

For that matter there's also no evidence that Simmons was personally racist. He was absolutely an opportunist, attempting to get rich by exploiting nativist sentiment through Klan memberships. He was also a hypocrite, he "spent his later years in an Atlanta movie house, smelling of bourbon and cloves, as he watched Birth of a Nation over and over" --- Political Alliances: the KKK and the Anti-Saloon League

 

[owebo]

Did the families of the Confederates leave the south or are the bloodlines still there?

We killed most of you democrats for defending your slavery.....

You're really really old. No wonder you're senile.

You're still a klansman.....

 

[oreo]

On Dec. 24, 1865, Democrats in the American South formed the Ku Klux Klan as a means of keeing uppity blacks in their place. They attacked the blacks, and any white Republicans who defended or support them, lynching and killing them when possible. Democrat support for, and membership in, the KKK continues to this day, with theDemocrat attacking, insulting, and pillorying blacks who dared to espouse viewpoints the Democrats disagree with.

-----------------------------------------------------------

KKK founded - Dec 24, 1865 - HISTORY.com

151 years ago KKK founded
December 24, 2016

In Pulaski, Tennessee, a group of Confederate veterans convenes to form a secret society that they christen the “Ku Klux Klan.” The KKK rapidly grew from a secret social fraternity to a paramilitary force bent on reversing the federal government’s progressive Reconstruction Era-activities in the South, especially policies that elevated the rights of the local African American population.

The name of the Ku Klux Klan was derived from the Greek word kyklos, meaning “circle,” and the Scottish-Gaelic word “clan,” which was probably chosen for the sake of alliteration. Under a platform of philosophized white racial superiority, the group employed violence as a means of pushing back Reconstruction and its enfranchisement of African Americans. Former Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest was the KKK’s first grand wizard; in 1869, he unsuccessfully tried to disband it after he grew critical of the Klan’s excessive violence.

Most prominent in counties where the races were relatively balanced, the KKK engaged in terrorist raids against African Americans and white Republicans at night, employing intimidation, destruction of property, assault, and murder to achieve its aims and influence upcoming elections. In a few Southern states, Republicans organized militia units to break up the Klan. In 1871, the Ku Klux Act passed Congress, authorizing President Ulysses S. Grant to use military force to suppress the KKK. The Ku Klux Act resulted in nine South Carolina counties being placed under martial law and thousands of arrests.

Yes, and they've now taken over the Republican party.

 

[Pogo]

Conservative southerns angry about reconstruction after the civil war. Of course, I don't expect you republicans to understand basic political history.

Can you educate us on them angry conservatives during reconstruction? Likely not . As it is, and as its written the Klan was pretty much the political elite which especially in the south was happened to be democrats. Even LBJ had to twist the arms of his democrat comrades to get his civil rights stuff passed. Thing about basic political history, it changes allot depending on the politicians involved.

Point of correction -- Klanners were not "political élite" at all. They were the underbelly viewed with alarm by the general law-abiding populace which is why they needed to be so secretive.

From one historiian's description:

>> "Lifting the Klan mask revealed a chaotic multitude of antiblack vigilante groups, disgruntled poor white farmers, wartime guerrilla bands, displaced Democratic politicians, illegal whiskey distillers, coercive moral reformers, bored young men, sadists, rapists, white workmen fearful of black competition, employers trying to enforce labor discipline, common thieves, neighbors with decades-old grudges, and even a few freedmen and white Republicans who allied with Democratic whites or had criminal agendas of their own." << --- Elaine Franz Parsons PhD, "Ku Klux: The Birth of the Klan during Reconstruction"​

In other words generally thugs, and/or Confederate insurgent guerillas. The Klan was never a political group and had no involvement in electoral politics until the 1920s, when it was supporting or opposing either Democrats or Republicans (or in at least one case a no-party candidate) depending on what served its interests in that time and place.

I've posted all this before including a year ago when Steve McRacist started the same kind of thread in, of course in his case, a celebratory manner since he's another thug himself.

Real history, not the stuff in the top secret collection you brag about inheriting says different. Even though you were very selective in your link there, I notice that Democrat was the only party mentioned, but we all know famous republicans
(political elites) were members to. No politician who was in office during the klans heyday hands were clean. They were a powerful voting block much like the congressional black caucus today, but much more effective until they weren't.

"Selective"? Not at all. I've got oodles more. This passage seemed to fit the point well though.

There's nothing "secret" about my research materials -- it's all readily available. I've poured it all over this board in the past, as I suspect you know.

They weren't much of a powerful voting bloc until the early/mid-1920s, and even then it fizzled out by the end of that decade due in large part to D.C. Stephenson's heinous crime and blatant hypocrisy. When he went down he took the whole political structure of Indiana with him.

And no, read the passage again --- both "Democrats" and "Republicans" are listed there but both are a minority of the aggregate because it simply was not a political thing in that time. It was a social-order thing.

 

[Witchit]

Which is not what I said or meant in any way.

Your party says it and liberals across the Country say it all the time.

So all the conservatives moved from the North to the South and all the liberals moved from the South to the North and that's where we are today?

Merry Christmas klansman....

With the Klansmen in the south. I guess they were the only liberals who stayed behind.

If you say so klansman....

 

[Pogo]

150 years ago......The "Democrat" party was the party of choice for the klan

Today, it is solidly Republican

No, the democrats created the kkk......

Link then?

I've got volumes and volumes on this history. Zero point to a political founding. Either time.

So c'mon then, educate me. Prove me wrong. Hook a brutha up.

 

[2aguy]

The klan was created by the democrats and the democrat party never lost racism as its core belief...the democrat party is the home of all racists, pf all colors....and they have to keep lying to stay aahead of the truth.......

La raza
Black lies matter
Obama
Bill clinton

Racists of the first order......who all belong to the party of racism....