The Second Coming of the Invisible Empire: The Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s

by William Rawlings

Fifty years after the end of the Civil War, William Joseph Simmons, a failed Methodist minister, formed a fraternal order that he called The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Organized primarily a money-making scheme, it shared little but its name with the Ku Klux Klan of the Reconstruction Era. With its avowed creed of "One Hundred Percent Americanism," support of Protestant Christian values, white supremacy, and the rejection of all things foreign, this new Klan became, for a brief period of time in the mid-1920s, one of America s most powerful social and political organizations. Shamelessly adopting the symbols of the hooded robe and burning cross from the movie, The Birth of a Nation, and exploiting the sense that America was headed in the wrong direction, the order spread rapidly to every state in the nation. While often using intimidation and violence against its foes, the Klan was responsible for the election of supportive politicians at all levels of government. Following a disastrous attempt to influence the presidential election of 1924, and with increasing public awareness of the Klan's corrupt and violent nature, the order faltered, becoming a mere wisp of its former self by 1930. This original and meticulously researched history of America's second Ku Klux Klan presents many new and fascinating insights into this unique and important episode in American History.

Genres: History

311 pages, Hardcover

Published March 1, 2016

Reviews

[Mary Wagner]

When I first read this book, I intended to write about how this startling reconstitution of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s as a national fraternal organization reflected the banality of evil. Something long past, uniquely appalling but viewed through the lens of history and rightly consigned to its dustbin. The historical arc itself is riveting, the tale of how a failed Methodist minister sensed that there were piles of money to be made by turning the disbanded KKK into an organization along the lines of the Knights of Columbus, Hibernians, Moose, and Lions. With its avowed creed of nationalism, Protestant Christian values, white supremacy and rejection of all things foreign, the group swelled to have millions of members and become a potent political force before internal strife and an increased public awareness of its violence and corruption became its undoing. Along the way there were KKK franchises, toy drives for children, fiery crosses, floggings and general terror, an industry profitably turning out the white hoods and robes, and the 1925 march on Washington D.C. where literally tens of thousands of Klansmen marched proudly down Pennsylvania Avenue in full Klan regalia.

But given the current rise of white nationalism, neo-Nazis and the KKK front and center on today's political stage, just a week after the horrific events in Charlottesville, Virginia this book and its exploration of how the fires of racism and hatred can be fanned and channeled for wealth and political gain suddenly seems a current as today's headlines. Well worth a read. I received a copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

[Paul Gorsuch]

For anyone of a liberal disposition, this book, published in 2015, is going to seem eerily prophetic in predicting the events of 2016.