The Ku Klux Klan and Related American Racialist and Antisemitic Organizations: A History and Analysis

by Chester L. Quarles

Overview

Although the Ku Klux Klan can be traced from the 1700s through the Civil War and is still evolving at present, many people fail to realize its reach and influence. Some perceive the KKK as merely a radical racist group composed primarily of ignorant, uneducated members, but it is much more. Some Klan groups are political, while others are simply social. Some "meet and eat" like any mainstream civic or church group, but others are focused on well-planned violence. Not all Klan groups advocate an overthrow of the U.S. government, though some do.

Avoiding the bias of previous works--written by either Klan apologists or detractors--the author traces the historical development of the Klan and its organization, membership, ideologies and philosophies. Also detailed are the secret oaths of allegiance, the Imperial Wizards, and the concept of Knighthood.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786438877
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	09/03/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	324
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Chester L. Quarles is a professor of criminal justice and serves in the Department of Legal Studies at the University of Mississippi. While serving as a state criminal investigator, director of the State Crime Laboratory and as the state ballistics examiner, he participated in the investigations of almost all KKK activity in Mississippi in the mid to late 1960s, testifying in court during the trial of the first KKK member convicted since Reconstruction. Quarles has studied the Klan for over 40 years and, in conducting extensive hands-on research, has attended Klan meetings in Mississippi and Tennessee and has interviewed many of the more notable Klan figures in Mississippi. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     
Preface     
Introduction     

1. Before the Beginning     
2. An Empire Is Born     
3. 1915—A New Image     
4. The Ku Klux Klan in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s     
5. The Modern Klan     
6. The Klan in the 1970s and the 1980s     
7. Klan Surrogates     
8. The Religion of the Ku Klux Klan and Its Offspring     
9. Right-Wing American Terrorism     

Appendix I The Original 1866 Ku Klux Klan Prescript     
Appendix II The Revised and Amended Prescripts of the KKK (1869)     
Appendix III Constitution and Laws of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan (Incorporated), 1915     
Appendix IV The Constitution of the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of the Sovereign Realm of Mississippi     
Appendix V The Klan Oath Top Secret     
Appendix VI Imperial Wizards     
Appendix VII Brochure : Twenty Reasons to Join the Klan     
Appendix VIII Brochure : Ideals of a Klansman     
Appendix IX Brochure : A Message from the Invisible Empire     
Appendix X Klan Terms Used After World War II     

Notes     
Bibliography     
Index     

Editorial Reviews

a straightforward presentation...recommended”—Public Library Quarterly; “chronicles the directions the Klan has taken during its long and diverse history”—C&RL News.

From the Publisher

Based on research conducted in the early 1970s, Quarles (political science, U. of Mississippi) traces the historical development of the Ku Klux Klan, addressing its organization, membership, ideologies, and philosophies and stressing throughout his goal of remaining unbiased. He also details the (formerly) secret oaths of allegiance, the Imperial Wizards, and the concept of Knighthood. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

"chronicles the directions the Klan has taken during its long and diverse history"

C&RL News

a straightforward presentation...recommended

Public Library Quarterly