Is there a Rebirth of the Klan?

Is there a Rebirth of the Klan?

There was a time when American children learned in government schools of the founding of the Ku Klux Klan. It was established in 1865 to resist the Republican Party's Reconstruction policies which aimed at creating political and economic equality for Black Americans. As we recall the Southern Democrats did not support this and, in fact, had as its goal the re-establishment of White Supremacy. It is thought the name comes from the Greek word kylos, meaning circle. The 14th Amendment grants “equal protection” by the Constitution to former enslaved people and enacted universal male suffrage. In the 1920s there were over 4 million members of the Ku Klux Klan. As of 2016 the SPLC (a left wing group) estimates 6,000 members.

In the late 19th century, famous political cartoonist Thomas Nast portrayed Irish Catholic immigrants as drunks and/or barbarians, unfit for citizenship. We recall learning of signs “No Irish Need Apply.” Between 1840 and 1924 over 30 million European migrants relocated here. (Jack and brother, Bobby Kennedy, limited European immigration in 1964 and opened up immigration to Third Worlders.)

Anti-Catholicism found expression around the issue of education. Nowhere was this truer than in NYC where its Bishop John Hughes, a fiercely proud native of Ireland, built a massive web of primary and secondary schools.

In the early 20th century there was a rebirth of the Klan which now extended to Catholics (hence the burning crosses) and Jews, no longer only to Blacks.

Al Smith, a Catholic running for president in 1924 was soundly defeated. (This is the dinner in his honor, usually attended by both party reps – (and the one Kamala has boycotted as she did Netanyahu.) It took until 1960 for a member of the Catholic faith to win the presidency.

Is this current hatred of Jews a rebirth of the Klan?

Audrey Taggart

This is an editorial and not the official position of the Martin County Republican Executive Committee.