10 Burning Facts About The Ku Klux Klan

MIKE DEVLIN AUGUST 2, 2014One of the most reviled hate groups on the planet, the
Ku Klux Klan has a rich history of weirdness. We ve already looked at some of the
ir bizarre exploits, including their involvement with Muhammad Ali and their dis
dain for the Westboro Baptist Church. Here are 10 more facts about the Klan, fro
m the story of a Jewish impostor tothe Grand Dragon who penned a women s advice bo
ok.
Featured photo credit: Confederate till Death/Wikimedia
10 The KKK Isn t One Big Group 01
A cursory examination of history might suggest that the Ku Klux Klan existed, in
one form or another, since the end of the Civil War. However, the Klan has gone
through a few distinct eras. The first organization formed almost immediately b
efore the end of the Civil War, but it only existed a few years before disbandin
g. Some 45 years later, the Klan resurrected after the release of the 1915 film
The Birth of a Nation. They railed against not only blacks but Catholics, Jews,
immigrants, and even the consumption of alcohol. This was the most powerful vers
ion of the KKK, with membership estimated at two to six million at its height. T
his was the group that introduced the burning cross. The second version of the K
lan largely fell out of favor by the 1930s, and by the time World War II began,
only a handful of members remained. The group rose up again in response to the b
urgeoning civil rights movement, and it continues to limp on. Today s Klan is not
one cohesive group but a collection of loosely affiliated entities. Dozens of gr
oups are scattered throughout the United States, mostly in the South. While this
dissipates their power somewhat, it also makes it difficult to determine just h
ow big their membership is.
9 When The KKK Adopted Rosa Parks Highway02
Photo credit: Christian Gooden/St. Louis Dispatch
Unlike, say, the Knights of Columbus, the KKK is not really known for a strong s
ense of civic pride. So when a Klan member tried to adopt a stretch of Missouri
highway in 1994, which meant the organization would assume responsibility for it
s maintenance, his application was denied. A US District Court judge later ruled
in the Klan s favor, declaring it unconstitutional for Missouri to keep them out
of the program. However, Missouri got the last laugh. They renamed the stretch o
f I-55 the Rosa Parks Highway after the iconic civil rights activist. Thomas Robb,
the national director of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, responded by saying, I
f they think that s going to cause us to lose sleep, moan, or groan, they re mistake
n. It s another attempt to kick our white, Christian heritage in the face. The KKK
didn t keep up their end of the bargain, never once turning out to clean up the hi
ghway. Robb claimed they waffled on the deal because the person who d originally f
iled the application was no longer in the Klan.8 Zach Galifianakis vs. The Grand
Wizard 03
Pudgy, bearded Zach Galifianakis was the breakout star of the Hangover movie tri
logy. While he has only recently become famous, he has been on the outskirts of
the entertainment industry for years. In 2006, he was a cast member of Comedy Ce
ntral s faux newscast Dog Bites Man. The network filmed 10 episodes. Only nine air
ed.The tenth, entitled Klan Rally, involves the crew unwittingly attending a Klan
picnic. Zach s character, Alan Finger, ends up interviewing the Grand Wizard throu
gh a series of absurd questions. Zach later had some regrets about being on the
exploitative show, but Klan Rally stood out in his mind. He said, It was not for me
. But I did get to ask the Grand Wizard of the KKK if he s ever seen Big Momma s Hou
se 2 which is probably the highlight of my career in many ways. 7 David Duke s Self-H
elp Book 04
Photo credit: Emmanuel d Aubignosc
David Duke founded the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, an offshoot of the tradition
al KKK aimed at being more modern and professional. For example, members wear bu
siness suits rather than the standard terror-inducing white robes. But the group
is just as controversial as the original KKK, and Duke himself is a convicted c
riminal and a Holocaust denier.Despite his status as Grand Dragon, Duke had some
even darker skeletons in his closet. In 1976, he penned a women s self-help book
under the pseudonym Dorothy Vanderbilt. Dorothy s book Finder s Keepers Finding and Kee

ping the Man You Want is mercifully out of print, but those unlucky enough to ha
ve secured a copy can attest to its nature. The book reads like a collection of
tips from Cosmo. It not only offers diet and fashion advice but also ventures in
to the bedroom, calling oral sex quite a bedtime snack. 6 The Jewish Klansman 05
Photo credit: Detroit Free Press
Dan Burros was a strange man. Born Jewish, he became attracted to fascist ideals
and the Nazis. After graduating high school in 1955, he enlisted in the Army, b
ut after a trio of suicide attempts (including one where he left a note praising
Hitler), he was discharged for reasons of unsuitability, character, and behavior
disorder. Shortly thereafter, Burros struck up with the American Nazi Party, soon
rising to become National Secretary, the organization s third-highest officer. La
ter, he joined the KKK, being named Grand Dragon of New York by Imperial Wizard
Robert Shelton. Of course, being a Jewish Klansman was a problem. Burros tried t
o hide his past. But the Grand Dragon was exposed on October 31, 1965, thanks to
a New York Times article State Klan Leader Hides Secret of Jewish Origin by reporter
John McCandlish Philips Jr.At the time, Burros was staying at the home of fellow
Klan member Ray Frankenhouser, the Grand Dragon of Pennsylvania. When Dan saw t
he headline, he grabbed his .32-caliber revolver. Claiming I ve got nothing to live
for, he shot himself in the chest. He survived this wound. In front of several h
orrified witnesses, he next said, This will do it, then shot himself in the temple
, this time fatally.5 The First Grand Dragon 06In the beginning of the movie For
rest Gump, we learn that the titular character was named after a historical figu
re named Nathan Bedford Forrest. Before the Civil War, Nathan Forrest was a mill
ionaire plantation owner and slave trader. During the war, he rose to the rank o
f lieutenant general and was a fierce and competent leader. Forrest took the los
s of the South very hard, and his own personal finances were ruined. He fell in
with the fledgling Ku Klux Klan, becoming its leader (or Grand Dragon) in April
1867. The original Klan was short-lived. Its tendency toward violence led reputa
ble members of the community to drop out. Frustrated, Forrest largely disbanded
the organization by 1869.Forrest s stance seemed to mellow a bit in his later year
s. Indeed, in his last public appearance in 1875, he accepted a bouquet of flowe
rs from a black woman, telling the crowd, I accept the flowers as a memento of re
conciliation between the white and colored races of the Southern states. I accep
t it more particularly as it comes from a colored lady, for if there is anyone o
n God s Earth who loves the ladies, I believe it is myself. Just how sincere such s
tatements might have been is up for debate. Forrest was tied to all kinds of ugl
y incidents, including the massacre of black Union troops at Fort Pillow, Tennes
see. Despite this, there is at least one public school named in his honor. 4 The
KKK vs. The Lumbee Tribe 07
Photo credit: Lumbee Tribe
The KKK has been responsible for all manner of brutality, and their victims retal
iation sometimes turned quite violent as well. In 1957, led by Grand Dragon Jame
s Catfish Cole, the group began to torment members of the Lumbee Tribe of Robeson
County, North Carolina. On January 13, 1958, they burned crosses on the front la
wns of two families one of a Lumbee woman accused of dating a white man and the ot
her a Lumbee family that had moved to a traditionally white neighborhood. A Klan
rally was scheduled for January 18, 1958. Between 50 and 100 Klansmen arrived,
only to find themselves woefully outnumbered by a crowd of Lumbee men. Gunfire b
roke out. Many of the Klan, including Cole, fled. Images of the skirmish, which
would come to be known as the Battle of Hayes Pond, were published in a February 1
958 issue of Life magazine. Cole served prison time for inciting a riot, and the
KKK were never again active in Robeson County. The Lumbee celebrate the confron
tation to this day. 3Interracial Klan Baseball 08
Photo credit: Wichita State University
It might seem impossible for us to imagine, but when the Klan isn t engaged in rac
ist activities, they get together to have barbecues and hang out like the rest o
f us. In the 1920s, there were several accomplished KKK baseball teams. Surprisi
ngly enough, they had no issues playing all-black teams. On June 21, 1925, more
than two decades before Jackie Robinson would take the field for the Brooklyn Do
dgers, Klan players took on the all-black Monrovians of the Colored Western Leag

ue in Wichita, Kansas.The Witchita Beacon covered the game, which took place at
Island Park on a Sunday afternoon. No ugly incidents occurred, probably because
Catholic umpires were assigned to prevent any kind of favoritism. The Monrovians
, who went into the game with an impressive record, pulled off a 10 8 win. The Kla
n also played games against Jewish teams, such as this 1926 clash between the Kl
ansmen and the Hebrew All-Stars. 2 Witness Protection
Neo-Fascist Frazier Glenn Miller Jr. served in the US Army for 20 years, 13 of t
hose as a Green Beret, acquiring training that made him a very dangerous man ind
eed. He began the Carolina Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in 1980. In 1986, it was
discovered that Miller s organization intended to assassinate civil rights lawyer
Morris Dees for his work with the Southern Poverty Law Center. The SPLC, founded
in 1971, was established to combat hate groups in court.Miller was ordered not
to engage in paramilitary activities, a ruling he ignored. In 1987, he and sever
al other men were found with an arsenal that included grenades and automatic wea
pons. He was also arrested when caught in the backseat of a car with a black mal
e prostitute in drag. But he evaded prosecution for a simple reason: He d become a
n FBI informant, turning over on his white supremacist brethren. For his testimo
ny, he was granted a new identity as Frazier Cross to keep him safe from the var
ious KKK groups around the country. He didn t fly under the radar long, eventually
penning an autobiography, running for office, and appearing on talk shows to es
pouse his ugly views. On April 13, 2014, he shot three people to death outside a
Jewish Community Center and retirement home, reportedly screaming Heil Hitler as
he pulled the trigger. 1 The KKK vs. Evolution 10
Photo credit: University of Miami Libraries
Today s debate about how schools should teach evolution may seem absurd, but back
in the 1920s, scientists were still trying to prove that evolution existed at al
l. Soviet scientist Ilya Ivanov s quest in this matter was backed by a government
that sought to eliminate any trace of religion from its populace. There was no c
lear route for Ivanov to prove that man descended from apes. But he d had success
in the past creating animal hybrids, and he hypothesized that if he could breed
a human with a chimpanzee, he d settle the debate once and for all.He first attemp
ted to inseminate female chimps with human sperm. When this didn t pan out, he dec
ided to be inseminated. And to secure enough chimpanzee semen, Ivanov contacted
Rosalia Abreu, a Cuban heiress who maintained a large chimpanzee menagerie outsi
de of Havana. The Klan was disgusted by the idea of potentially impregnating hum
an women with the sperm of apes, calling the idea abominable to the creator. They
threatened to attack Abreu personally if she went through with Ivanov s experiment
s. Abreu gave in to the intimidation, and before Ivanov could find another sourc
e of chimpanzees, he was caught up in one of Stalin s purges and died in exile.