The Rise of the Second Klan

The post war labor tensions increased the growth rate of this controversial group. Immigrants and migrants began looking for jobs in America the same time the Veterans were coming home. Jobs were limited and this increase tensions. Many immigrants were segregated in cities and it was not uncommon for the immigrants to be turned down for a job based on their race. This new Klan was created in Stone Mountain, Georgia. It grew rapidly and their popularity even grew in the North and West. They had made strong claims of being a non-political group, but they grew in size so fast it wasn't long until public officials were members of the Ku Klux Klan. Later on these politicians would be exposed to the public about their membership to the KKK. During the Second Klan's high point they had a lot of support from government officials including Democrats from the "Solid South" that blocked passage of an act that would make lynchings illegal. The Dyer anti-lynching bill would reappear in 1922 after influencing more anti-lynching bills. Despite the efforts of reconstruction, they always met great resistance from the south and also the KKK. (Bryant)More Info: Lynchings With the increase of KKK popularity, the number of lynches, tarring and feathering and public whippings also increased. For the first time in awhile the Ku Klux Klan had posed a large threat to society and to African Americans. They even had a film made about them called "The Birth of a Nation" by D.W. Griffith. This film was considered Hollywood's first blockbuster when it came out in 1915. The film has long since been shrouded in controversy due to claimed historical inaccuracy's, protests, and riots that all resulted in the showing of the film. After one man saw the film he immediately murdered a black teenage boy in Lafayette, Indiana. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored people protested the premiers in many cities and had organized petitions and conducting education about the civil war and reconstruction. This film had inspired many Southerners to join the Klan and had made the group much larger then before. Woodrow Wilson was quoted about the film saying, "it is like writing history with lightning. And my only regret is that it is all so terribly true." ( Bryant) Like most radical groups, the KKK movements seem to appear during social reform and change. The First Klan was created to preserve white supremacy after the North won the Civil War. The coming of the Third Klan would appear after World War II which is perhaps one of the greatest social changes in America. The Second Klan was certainly no exception. The racial tensions that existed post World War I would send this radical group into temporary success and even fame. They have since then become apart of our treacherous history as an important reminder of the tragedies that happened less then a century ago. (Ku Klux Klan)

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