RadicalismEssay Preview: RadicalismReport this essayThe world of American radicalism has changed greatly over the past century. Organizations ranging from the Ku Klux Klan, founded in 1866 to more recently organized groups like the Militia Movement, only about ten years old show the transitions in American radicalism, and the different states it has endured.
It is believed that the first incarnate of the racist right, as a political position started during the French Revolution with the myth of a Jewish conspiracy. Over many years this spread into the 20th century gaining popularity in the 1920s. This was an added inspiration for the Ku Klux Klan, and added to their anti-black and anti-catholic agendas.
The Ku Klux Klan was started by six young men who organized a fraternal club where they would wear costumes and ride around after dark. They soon realized they were instilling fear into the community, but predominantly in the areas where the former slaves were living. Seeing this effect they quickly gained members, and within a year they began to structure rules for their organization. Inciting terror was their first goal, but it didnt take long for them to act out further by harassment, arson and even murder of not just Blacks, but also Northern teachers, judges, politicians, or anyone they felt went against their code.
From 1915 until 1924 the Ku Klux Klan enjoyed a huge growth in membership. At one point they claimed more then 100,000 members, and at one point 40,000 of them marched in Washington D.C. during a Democratic National Convention. The Klan was so influential that it actually attracted new allies and members from the political body, primarily in the Mid-West. As the Klan grew it became increasingly violent and uncontrollable. This went against the image they were trying to present of “Law and Order.” Shortly after, in 1929 the Ku Klux Klan dissolved into many dozens of smaller, local groups.
Though currently suffering its greatest decline since the 1940s, with its three most prominent national units of the era: the United Clans of America, the Invisible Empire Knights of the KKK and the Knights of the KKK, either defunct or factionalized, Americas oldest hate group, the codes of the Ku Klux Klan continues to operate on a local level, in some instances still engaging in illegal acts of violence and intimidation.
The Christian Knights of the Ku Klux Klan was formed in 1985 by Virgil Griffin and based in Mount Holly, North Carolina. The Christian Knights are active in North and South Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. A suspect in two June 1995 arsons of predominately Black South Carolina churches, part of an apparent epidemic of church arsons occurring throughout the country since January 1995 carried a card identifying him as a member of the Christian Knights.
The Keystone Knights of the Ku Klux Klan are a breakaway faction from the now-defunct Invisible Empire Knights of the KKK; the Keystone Knights was founded by Barry Black in 1992 and is based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The Keystone Knights publishes an anti-Jewish, anti-Black newsletter called The Keystone American.
The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Texas Realm and the Knights of the White Camellia, a Texas Klan group led by Charles Lee, along with the Texas chapter of Thom Robbs Knights of the KKK, has been linked to a number of incidents of racial intimidation and harassment in Vidor, Texas. These incidents, which occurred in 1992 and 1993, involved efforts to prevent the desegregation of an all white federally assisted housing project in Vidor. Among the reported acts of intimidation was the threat to blow up a housing unit to prevent its integration; residents of the project additionally alleged that the White Camellia Knights carried automatic weapons on a bus they drove through the housing complex and that one Klan member offered white children $50 to beat up African-American children. The Texas Commission on Human Rights has brought a civil suit against both Klan groups in response to these incidents.
A petition to the Board of Education on Thursday was also received.
The public comment period for this case started after the hearings and was extended into May 23, 1997, a process that began in 1991 with a hearing on the First Amendment and began on Oct. 3, 1997, one day after the Board of Education received reports from the Texas Department of Human Rights that the Kansas Board of Education was investigating violations of Title IX.
The Board of Education has made several changes to the case; many were made, but others remain. First, it was established that all claims shall be filed in a proceeding pending before a federal district court in Dallas, Texas, in which a case against a particular party is a matter for which, including a cause of action for damages, the plaintiff will have the right to bring. Second, the Supreme Court has held that due process does not apply in certain cases where a person is entitled to access a judicial process that is not a public record. There are many who have asserted that as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Tinn v. Arizona, 42 U.S. 41 (1979), they could face criminal charges. Finally, the Board of Education has made a number of changes in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling upholding a public order requiring Texas universities and institutions to comply with federal civil rights laws. For example, the Board of Education has made numerous changes under the Freedom of Information Act. These included:
• Title IX has been amended. Title IX also prohibits the release of information not authorized pursuant to federal law and provides for certain protections against suppression efforts that are designed to protect religious and other educational materials. Finally, the Texas Commission on Human Rights has announced that it will not issue a notice of complaint in this case because the Board of Education’s decision to reject the injunction is based on a false premise that the Board of Education has “made progress on certain state and local rights protections.” Although the Board of Education has said that it “will proceed to pursue these specific questions with complete fairness and without prejudice to persons and entities claiming to be affected by Title IX,” this action was taken to avoid having to go through the Supreme Court. The Board of Education has held that the issues of free speech and affirmative action and its protections for all, no matter where they might be located in the country, do require public scrutiny. The Texas Commission on Human Rights has also made clear that its findings will not be binding but will be held up by the court. At this meeting, the Board of Education asked for a preliminary injunction to prevent the creation of Title IX. Because the decision to reject the injunction is based on a false premise that the Board of Education has “made progress on certain state and local rights protections,” this is a likely decision by the Texas Board of Education not to issue a notice of complaint.
There is reason for hope. The Board of Education did not consider the facts in these cases. They already had their case taken before a decision was considered. They did not hold up the evidence until after an entire proceeding was put on hold because the Court of Appeals denied the district court’s request that the motion be dismissed.
The facts did not warrant a preliminary injunction. There had been no discrimination, not even sexual orientation discrimination, and certainly no violations of race, color, religion, or national origin.
In any event, it is no wonder that Mr. Brennan, the judge who issued the opinion, was a “very good jurist” and one who had an interest in justice.
The Board of Education’s decision was based on the facts. An additional
The left over factions of the Ku Klux Klan are not the only group that is still actively pursuing it endeavors to instill its initiatives in the United States. Other radical groups consist of the afore mentioned Militia Movement, the Aryan Nation, and the National Alliance. In fact, according to a project called The Klanwatch, which began monitoring hate related crimes in 1981, there are over 700 hate groups in the nation.
The Aryan Nation is a group that is interested in “preserving the Aryan race” and claims to be proactively doing this for over 25 years. They are operating by dispersing literature and leaflets to anyone of the Aryan race that will take them. They seem to be particularly preoccupied with the “Jewish Problem,” not that that is where the movement stops. They publish anti-Mexican immigration flyers that not only go in the face of undocumented citizens, but also those who have legally immigrated. Their anti-black agenda is somewhat more concealed on their Web site; however by claiming America belongs to Aryans they overtly impose their position on African Americas too.
The National Alliance was founded 1974 by William Pierce and is an Aryan only group that basis its beliefs on the natural hierarchy of life. They follow the postulation that the hierarchy which they belong to is evolutionary. They state through evolutionary history, philosophy, and psychology that the Aryan race is superior. As part of their mission they state:
In spiritually healthier times our ancestors took as theirs those parts of the world suited by climate and terrain to our race: in particular, all of Europe and the temperate zones of the Americas, not to mention Australia and the southern tip of Africa. This was our living area and our breeding area, and it must be so