From:
slider@anashram.com
terrorism:
noun: terrorism
the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against
civilians, in the pursuit of political aims.
"the fight against terrorism"
Origin:
late 18th century (in reference to the rule of the Jacobin faction during
the the period of the French Revolution known as the Terror): from French terrorisme, from Latin terror (see terror).
The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations defines terrorism as "the unlawful
use of force and violence against persons or property to intimidate or
coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives" (28 C.F.R. Section 0.85).
***
iow: if you 'terrorise' people then you're a... terror-ist!
and the kkk are famous for the terrorising of ethnic groups for political purposes!
history:
https://www.history.com/topics/reconstruction/ku-klux-klan
Founded in 1865, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) extended into almost every
southern state by 1870 and became a vehicle for white southern resistance
to the Republican Party’s Reconstruction-era policies aimed at
establishing political and economic equality for Black Americans. Its
members waged an underground campaign of intimidation and violence
directed at white and Black Republican leaders. Though Congress passed legislation designed to curb Klan terrorism, the organization saw its
primary goal–the reestablishment of white supremacy–fulfilled through Democratic victories in state legislatures across the South in the 1870s.
After a period of decline, white Protestant nativist groups revived the
Klan in the early 20th century, burning crosses and staging rallies,
parades and marches denouncing immigrants, Catholics, Jews, African
Americans and organized labor. The civil rights movement of the 1960s also
saw a surge of Ku Klux Klan activity, including bombings of Black schools
and churches and violence against Black and white activists in the South.
Founding of the Ku Klux Klan
A group including many former Confederate veterans founded the first
branch of the Ku Klux Klan as a social club in Pulaski, Tennessee, in
1865. The first two words of the organization’s name supposedly derived
from the Greek word “kyklos,” meaning circle. In the summer of 1867, local branches of the Klan met in a general organizing convention and
established what they called an “Invisible Empire of the South.” Leading Confederate general Nathan Bedford Forrest was chosen as the first leader,
or “grand wizard,” of the Klan; he presided over a hierarchy of grand dragons, grand titans and grand cyclopses.
At its peak in the 1920s, Klan membership exceeded 4 million people
nationwide.
The organization of the Ku Klux Klan coincided with the beginning of the
second phase of post-Civil WarReconstruction, put into place by the more radical members of the Republican Party in Congress. After rejecting
President Andrew Johnson’s relatively lenient Reconstruction policies, in place from 1865 to 1866, Congress passed the Reconstruction Act over the presidential veto. Under its provisions, the South was divided into five military districts, and each state was required to approve the 14th
Amendment, which granted “equal protection” of the Constitution to former slaves and enacted universal male suffrage.
Ku Klux Klan Violence in the South
From 1867 onward, African-American participation in public life in the
South became one of the most radical aspects of Reconstruction, as Black
people won election to southern state governments and even to the U.S. Congress. For its part, the Ku Klux Klan dedicated itself to an
underground campaign of violence against Republican leaders and voters
(both Black and white) in an effort to reverse the policies of Radical Reconstruction and restore white supremacy in the South. They were joined
in this struggle by similar organizations such as the Knights of the White Camelia (launched in Louisiana in 1867) and the White Brotherhood. At
least 10 percent of the Black legislators elected during the 1867-1868 constitutional conventions became victims of violence during
Reconstruction, including seven who were killed. White Republicans
(derided as “carpetbaggers” and “scalawags”) and Black institutions such
as schools and churches—symbols of Black autonomy—were also targets for Klan attacks.
By 1870, the Ku Klux Klan had branches in nearly every southern state.
Even at its height, the Klan did not boast a well-organized structure or
clear leadership. Local Klan members–often wearing masks and dressed in
the organization’s signature long white robes and hoods–usually carried
out their attacks at night, acting on their own but in support of the
common goals of defeating Radical Reconstruction and restoring white
supremacy in the South. Klan activity flourished particularly in the
regions of the South where Black people were a minority or a small
majority of the population, and was relatively limited in others. Among
the most notorious zones of Klan activity was South Carolina, where in
January 1871 500 masked men attacked the Union county jail and lynched
eight Black prisoners.
The Ku Klux Klan and the End of Reconstruction
Though Democratic leaders would later attribute Ku Klux Klan violence to
poorer southern white people, the organization’s membership crossed class lines, from small farmers and laborers to planters, lawyers, merchants, physicians and ministers. In the regions where most Klan activity took
place, local law enforcement officials either belonged to the Klan or
declined to take action against it, and even those who arrested accused Klansmen found it difficult to find witnesses willing to testify against
them. Other leading white citizens in the South declined to speak out
against the group’s actions, giving them tacit approval. After 1870, Republican state governments in the South turned to Congress for help, resulting in the passage of three Enforcement Acts, the strongest of which
was the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871.
For the first time, the Ku Klux Klan Act designated certain crimes
committed by individuals as federal offenses, including conspiracies to
deprive citizens of the right to hold office, serve on juries and enjoy
the equal protection of the law. The act authorized the president to
suspend the writ of habeas corpus and arrest accused individuals without charge, and to send federal forces to suppress Klan violence. This
expansion of federal authority–which Ulysses S. Grant promptly used in
1871 to crush Klan activity in South Carolina and other areas of the South–outraged Democrats and even alarmed many Republicans. From the early 1870s onward, white supremacy gradually reasserted its hold on the South
as support for Reconstruction waned; by the end of 1876, the entire South
was under Democratic control once again.
Revival of the Ku Klux Klan
In 1915, white Protestant nativists organized a revival of the Ku Klux
Klan near Atlanta, Georgia, inspired by their romantic view of the Old
South as well as Thomas Dixon’s 1905 book “The Clansman” and D.W. Griffith’s 1915 film “Birth of a Nation.” This second generation of the Klan was not only anti-Black but also took a stand against Roman
Catholics, Jews, foreigners and organized labor. It was fueled by growing hostility to the surge in immigration that America experienced in the
early 20th century along with fears of communist revolution akin to the Bolshevik triumph in Russia in 1917. The organization took as its symbol a burning cross and held rallies, parades and marches around the country. At
its peak in the 1920s, Klan membership exceeded 4 million people
nationwide.
The Great Depression in the 1930s depleted the Klan’s membership ranks,
and the organization temporarily disbanded in 1944. The civil rights
movement of the 1960s saw a surge of local Klan activity across the South, including the bombings, beatings and shootings of Black and white
activists. These actions, carried out in secret but apparently the work of local Klansmen, outraged the nation and helped win support for the civil
rights cause. In 1965, President Lyndon Johnson delivered a speech
publicly condemning the Klan and announcing the arrest of four Klansmen in connection with the murder of a white female civil rights worker in
Alabama. The cases of Klan-related violence became more isolated in the
decades to come, though fragmented groups became aligned with neo-Nazi or
other right-wing extremist organizations from the 1970s onward. In the
early 1990s, the Klan was estimated to have between 6,000 and 10,000
active members, mostly in the Deep South.
***
an association to & with neo-nazis thus says it all?
subsequently evolving/expanding into armed 'militia' & so-called 'preppers'
i just call 'em what they are?
cunts! :)
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)