KKK

It's a safe bet that you've all heard of the KKK, or the Ku Klux Klan. The name conjures up images of intolerant men in white sheets, and pointed hoods lighting crosses on fire.

But there are strange and curious facts hidden in the Klan's history, and today we're going to peek under the sheet at some of them.

The Klan was originally founded just before the end of the American Civil War, but it almost died out after just a few years. It then popped back up in 1915 with the film The Birth of a Nation, when it had between two and six million members. And it wasn't just black people they hated. They also tried to get rid of Jews, Catholics and alcohol for some reason.

By the 1930's membership had again petered out into almost nothing until the civil rights movement started.

Today it's difficult to estimate how many Klansmen there are, since it's not one organization, but rather a loose coalition of Klans spread across America. In 2012 it was estimated that they were between 5000 and 8000 members strong. Membership is risky though since they are officially a hate group, and as such are under permanent FBI scrutiny.

In 1958, the Klan started a campaign of terror in Robeson County, North Carolina.

The reason? Well it's the home of the Native American tribe of Lumbee. And one of them dared to date a white woman. Another family had moved into a white neighborhood. So the Klan rolled in and did the whole burning cross thing. Then, later the same month they held a rally with about a hundred dedicated Klansmen.

The problem? A large crowd of angry Lumbee men that outnumbered them considerably. After a short and rather brutal fight, Grand Dragon James “Catfish” Cole fled in terror, taking his his “brave white knights” with him. I guess the Catfish didn't want to become a Custer...

Since that January day in 1958, the Klan has been suspiciously absent from Robeson County.

In 1965, the Klan suffered an intense (and hilarious) humiliation, due to the Grand Wizard of New York, Dan Burros.

Mr. Burros was thrown out from the Army in 1955 after three suicide attempts, one of which was accompanied by a suicide note praising Hitler. After his discharge he joined the American Nazi Party (bet you didn't know they had one of those), and later the Klan. However, in 1965, John McCandlish Philips Jr, a journalist for the New York Times, proved that Dan Burros was in fact Jewish. Ouch. He was tossed out right quickly.

During the 1980's the Klan had a very dangerous member, Frazier Glenn Miller Jr. Glenn had two decades worth of military experience, out of which 13 was as a Green Beret. He organized and planned assassinations (which were never carried out), but in 1987 he was arrested in the back seat of his car with a male black prostitute in drag. Yeah, so much for idealism.

In 1994, the Klan wanted to adopt a stretch of highway in Missouri. In case you're not familiar with the concept, it means the adopting group is responsible for maintaining the stretch in question, and in return they get some publicity.

Anyway, the state officials told the Klan to get lost, and they in turn went to court over the matter. A District Judge decided that the Klan had a constitutional right to adopt said piece of highway, and the Klan celebrated. Until the state officials named the road The Rosa Parks Highway, that is.

The Klan never picked up a single piece of litter, and later claimed they didn't have to, since the guy who signed the official document was no longer a member.

Finally I had a good laugh when I read that the KKK has officially condemned the Westboro Baptist Church for being a hate group. Yeah, if the most go-to example of a hate group in the Western Hemisphere thinks you are being too hateful, maybe you ought to rethink your agenda a little bit.

Hope you have a great week, and I'll see you next Monday!