Why hasn't any government in U.S. history made an effort to stop the KKK?

Question

By definition, the KKK is a home-grown terrorist group. Although not as active as they used to be, they have committed atrocities in the past in order to advocate their racist values and ideas of how society should be. Why haven't any large government agencies tried to seek out the clan members to bring them to justice?

Answer 1

Actually that isn't true, there's been an effort by the federal government to combat the KKK starting with the 1st government legislation ever passed specifically singling out the KKK, the Civil Rights Act of 1871, also known as the Ku Klux Klan Act, which was passed by congress under the administration of Ulysses S. Grant. The Ku Klux Klan Act was effective in suppressing the KKK and the original organization, for the most part, disbanded. In 1915, film director D. W. Griffith released a movie called "The Birth of a Nation" that glorified the original KKK and caused a sudden revival of the movement. Many white protestant southerners saw the KKK as a way to combat not only African-Americans but also the large influx of Catholic immigrants (mostly Irish and Italian), Jewish immigrants and left-wing political movements that were gaining popularity in America. The revived movement began to grow through the 20's and 30's but went into another major decline after WWII. As the Nazi movement was rising in Germany before WWII, some German-Americans formed a pro-Nazi political group that openly supported Hitler called The Bund. Before the war, Klan groups began forming alliances with the Bund. Once America entered WWII against Nazi Germany the Bund was suppressed in America with most of the Bund's members being put in to internment camps and some being deported. After the war most members of the KKK, many of whom either fought in the war or had family that did, left the organization because of the ties it had with the Nazi Germany through the Bund. It was estimated the there's were over 4 million members of the KKK in the 1920's, by the end of the war the KKK had less than 40,000 left. Only the most extreme and violent members of the organization stayed and when the Civil Rights movement began in the 50's the KKK began to attract more disillusioned white southerners who believed in the violent suppression of the Civil Rights movement. Many members of the KKK held prominent positions in southern state governments, police departments and courts, protecting KKK members from arrest and prosecution. Also, there were strong ties between the Freemasons, a secretive, powerful and well connected organization, and the KKK, which helped further protect the KKK's terrorist activities. The FBI, under J. Edgar Hoover, began infiltrating the KKK in the 1950's. In 1964, congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which gave the Attorney General the power to pursue federal charges against individuals who violate the newly passed legislation. With new powers to pursue groups like the KKK under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the FBI's COINTELPRO (Counter Intelligence Program) began aggressively infiltrating the KKK. The FBI was able to create and exploit internal conflicts in the KKK and cause a severe splintering of the organization internally, resulting in several key KKK members, whether knowingly or unknowingly, becoming FBI informants. Several prominent members of the KKK were successfully prosecuted and convicted during the late 1960's leading to another major decline in the KKK through the 1970's. The 1980's saw a new generation revive the movement, resulting in sporadic violence against African-Americans. In 1981 Michael Donald, an African-American, was beaten, had his throat slit and then lynched by 2 members of the KKK in Mobile, Alabama. The FBI was became involved in the case and 2 years later successfully prosecuted and convicted the perpetrators, resulting in one of the convicted receiving the death penalty. During the investigation it became known the the murder was ordered by leaders of the Alabama KKK. The Southern Poverty Law Center filed a wrongful death civil suit against the United Klans of America on behalf of Michael Donald's mother, Beulah Mae Donald. She was awarded $7 million in damages, bankrupting the KKK. This was the end of the KKK as a national movement, now KKK groups operate as small, independent factions. In 2005 there were only an estimated 3000 members of the KKK nationally. Most of the hardcore members of the KKK moved on to other extremist "white nationalist" groups like the neo-Nazi Aryan Nation, Nazi skinhead groups such as W.A.R. (White Aryan Resistance) and the Hammerskins and "Christian Identity" groups like the National Alliance.

Answer 2

The Klan has the right to exist under the First Amendment of the Constitution: "Congress shall make no law... abridging the free dome of speech, or of the press, or of the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

So, as long as a member of the Klan does not commit a crime... they have the right to exist, speak, and assemble.

Now the government HAS made numerous arrests... during the Johnson Administration, there were large-scale FBI investigations, arrests, and trails. In the late 1980's there were large scale FBI and DEA investigations with arrests in the San Diego area into other white-supremacist groups.

Now, just to snicker... "Why haven't any large government agencies tried to seek out the clan members to bring them to justice?" The FBI and perhaps IRS & ATF would be the only government agencies legally authorized to seek them out... CIA can't play, Military can't play...

Answer 3

They are so heavily infiltrated and have so many informants that the FBI knows when the Grand Wizard took a leak and how many times he shook it.
The Klan, in the old days and it's hayday....which was probably in the 1920's had many professionals and business people in its ranks....

Those days are long gone......

The Klan...these days....consists of white trash drunken crackers.
I really don't worry about the KKK .

AND....Correct me if I am wrong...but haven't some really really old cases been brought to trial fairly recently.???...
and by recently I mean the past few years......


That church bombing where the young girls were killed in the 60's
and another case where they made some black truck driver guy jump off a bridge...
these things happened years ago....
they are dragging these 70 year old guys into court..

Maybe in not as large numbers as you may like.
But it is happening when enough pressure is brought on local prosecuters and there is enough evidence to arrest somebody after 40 years or to re open a case.

Answer 4

originally many of the members where not only have a large political influence (president Warren G.) but they where originally seen as a social group and many of the Klan leaders SAY that they are peaceful and that the violence is not done by the organization but by extremist in the group.

slogan "Bringing a Message of Hope and Deliverance to White Christian America! A Message of Love NOT Hate!"

Answer 5

By definition, the NAACP is a home-grown terrorist group. Although not as active as they used to be, they have committed atrocities in the past in order to advocate their racist values and ideas of how society should be. Why haven't any large government agencies tried to seek out the NAACP members to bring them to justice?

Good question; hopefully they will all sooon be in jail or hell.

Answer 6

All I even could say is "AMEN" and that i'm American also. I want I knew the position to bypass to "get faraway from all this hypocrisy" and propensity to inform the global a thanks to stay their lives. we are fantastically pathetic and complete of immorality and evidently greed. i wager the sensible ones human beings would could watch for God's conflict, Armageddon to break each and each and every of the depraved not really in u . s . a . of america, yet global. human beings are very boastful and egotistical, maximum of them...they don't listen and are obstinant and obdurate mules. thanks for being common. possibly we may be able to bypass to that island we've continually reported, lol.

Answer 7

Do they still exist? I remember back in the 70s there was a running joke that the clan was so infiltrated by FBI etc........there were more undercover cops at this one meeting than actual members.........of course, they didn't figure this out til they executed a bust......

Answer 8

They do and they have when a crime has been committed. But it's not a crime to be a member. I guess you know that the KKK is not the only radical group in the country.

Answer 9

They have the same rights to create a organization as anybody else, just like I have being saying in the past. We all have the right to speak any language we want even if English is our "official language" and I will say it again NOT THE MANDATORY. Thousands of soldiers have died to keep this rights so here it goes "VIVA MEXICO CABRONES" and yes I have this right.

Answer 10

The problem with these dirtbags, they have "rights", the freedom of speech, the freedom of expresstion. They can't get arrested for their "rights", only when they commit a crime. I think their existence is a crime, but they do have rights, and boy do they know how to use them.