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| Linking Trump to the Ku Klux Klan risks boosting a rump organisation Linking Trump to the Ku Klux Klan risks boosting a rump organisation | |
| (about 4 hours later) | |
| At last week’s American Music Awards, Green Day adapted the performance of their song Bang Bang to include the repeated lines “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA”. | At last week’s American Music Awards, Green Day adapted the performance of their song Bang Bang to include the repeated lines “No Trump, no KKK, no fascist USA”. |
| Aligning Donald Trump with the Ku Klux Klan is a familiar tactic and a popular pastime on social media. John Oliver recently described the president-elect as a “Klan-backed misogynist internet troll”, while a Hillary Clinton campaign video had pointedly emphasised Trump’s apparent appeal to the group by showing former and present Klansmen outlining their support for him. | Aligning Donald Trump with the Ku Klux Klan is a familiar tactic and a popular pastime on social media. John Oliver recently described the president-elect as a “Klan-backed misogynist internet troll”, while a Hillary Clinton campaign video had pointedly emphasised Trump’s apparent appeal to the group by showing former and present Klansmen outlining their support for him. |
| This rush to connect Trump to the KKK illustrates the enduring power of the image, in particular the hoods and fiery cross, which ensures that even as the group enjoys little influence or membership today, it remains newsworthy and the identifiable face (or at least costume) of a white supremacy that spreads far beyond the robes. This tactic is also problematic, providing publicity and a sense of purpose for what is, in effect, a rump organisation. Unsurprisingly, those claiming affiliation with the KKK have been quick to attach to Trump and exploit this wider media interest. | This rush to connect Trump to the KKK illustrates the enduring power of the image, in particular the hoods and fiery cross, which ensures that even as the group enjoys little influence or membership today, it remains newsworthy and the identifiable face (or at least costume) of a white supremacy that spreads far beyond the robes. This tactic is also problematic, providing publicity and a sense of purpose for what is, in effect, a rump organisation. Unsurprisingly, those claiming affiliation with the KKK have been quick to attach to Trump and exploit this wider media interest. |
| International media outlets reported The Crusader, a hitherto-unknown Klan newspaper, endorsing Trump on its front page and published the tweets of a former KKK leader, David Duke, who claimed: “Our people have played a HUGE role in electing Trump.” News of a proposed post-election victory rally by a KKK group in North Carolina, the Kansas University cheerleaders suspended for their photograph captioned “KKK go Trump”, and the distribution of Klan leaflets in various locations all gathered extensive coverage. | International media outlets reported The Crusader, a hitherto-unknown Klan newspaper, endorsing Trump on its front page and published the tweets of a former KKK leader, David Duke, who claimed: “Our people have played a HUGE role in electing Trump.” News of a proposed post-election victory rally by a KKK group in North Carolina, the Kansas University cheerleaders suspended for their photograph captioned “KKK go Trump”, and the distribution of Klan leaflets in various locations all gathered extensive coverage. |
| For the KKK, which has regenerated on at least three occasions in the past 150 years, this is nothing new. Klan leaders invited Life magazine to the launch of its third incarnation on Georgia’s Stone Mountain in 1946, effectively granting it full access and exclusive rights to photograph the ceremony. | For the KKK, which has regenerated on at least three occasions in the past 150 years, this is nothing new. Klan leaders invited Life magazine to the launch of its third incarnation on Georgia’s Stone Mountain in 1946, effectively granting it full access and exclusive rights to photograph the ceremony. |
| After the New York World ran an extensive exposé of the “modern Klan” in 1921, its founder William Simmons was called before congressional hearings. Embracing this public platform, Simmons later remarked “Congress gave us the best advertising we ever got. Congress made us”, a claim supported by the reported 200 new chapters chartered in the following four months. | After the New York World ran an extensive exposé of the “modern Klan” in 1921, its founder William Simmons was called before congressional hearings. Embracing this public platform, Simmons later remarked “Congress gave us the best advertising we ever got. Congress made us”, a claim supported by the reported 200 new chapters chartered in the following four months. |
| It is this period of growth in the 1920s – broadly stretching from the red scare of 1919 to the immigration act of 1924 – that provides the most constructive point of comparison with today. In this moment, Klan membership swelled from an estimated 5,000 to a figure nearer 5 million. The KKK was big business, positioning itself as a protector of Protestantism, gaining national political influence, appealing far beyond the south and operating a very successful women’s group. | It is this period of growth in the 1920s – broadly stretching from the red scare of 1919 to the immigration act of 1924 – that provides the most constructive point of comparison with today. In this moment, Klan membership swelled from an estimated 5,000 to a figure nearer 5 million. The KKK was big business, positioning itself as a protector of Protestantism, gaining national political influence, appealing far beyond the south and operating a very successful women’s group. |
| It established itself in local communities, where it had its own bands and baseball teams and was embedded within religious and educational centres. Local groups attended school bake sales, made donations in full regalia during church services and put on film shows in local schools and churches. The Klan even had its own university. | It established itself in local communities, where it had its own bands and baseball teams and was embedded within religious and educational centres. Local groups attended school bake sales, made donations in full regalia during church services and put on film shows in local schools and churches. The Klan even had its own university. |
| Examining this rapid rise can help us to understand the current political situation. Here was a moment marked by a spurt of racial nationalism, a retreat from globalism and the rise of US exceptionalism. The KKK responded to, and fostered, these postwar anxieties around immigration and modernisation and, in particular, used the media to achieve this. | Examining this rapid rise can help us to understand the current political situation. Here was a moment marked by a spurt of racial nationalism, a retreat from globalism and the rise of US exceptionalism. The KKK responded to, and fostered, these postwar anxieties around immigration and modernisation and, in particular, used the media to achieve this. |
| In 1920 the group appointed two publicists who, in the brief period before they were disgraced, established a propagation department. The Klan published a plethora of newspapers, produced radio shows, made and exhibited film and condemned what it saw as the Jewish- and Catholic-controlled mainstream media. This “foreign” media, exemplified by Hollywood, represented an organised industrial threat to American national identity. Any media attempts to attack the KKK served to reinforce this argument. | In 1920 the group appointed two publicists who, in the brief period before they were disgraced, established a propagation department. The Klan published a plethora of newspapers, produced radio shows, made and exhibited film and condemned what it saw as the Jewish- and Catholic-controlled mainstream media. This “foreign” media, exemplified by Hollywood, represented an organised industrial threat to American national identity. Any media attempts to attack the KKK served to reinforce this argument. |
| The Klan adopted a regressive, nativist rhetoric. A similar version of its mantra, “100% Americanism”, featured prominently in the Trump campaign. When accepting the Republican nomination, Trump explained that “Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo”, repeating this message when he spoke to the American Legion in September. The legion had established an Americanism commission at its founding convention in 1919, and a decade later its chair was asked for a definition of the term. “We of the Americanism commission have come to the conclusion that it is a subjective term; it means just what you choose it to mean.” | The Klan adopted a regressive, nativist rhetoric. A similar version of its mantra, “100% Americanism”, featured prominently in the Trump campaign. When accepting the Republican nomination, Trump explained that “Americanism, not globalism, will be our credo”, repeating this message when he spoke to the American Legion in September. The legion had established an Americanism commission at its founding convention in 1919, and a decade later its chair was asked for a definition of the term. “We of the Americanism commission have come to the conclusion that it is a subjective term; it means just what you choose it to mean.” |
| Such a concept is, by its nature, exclusionary, defined as much by what is not American. For the KKK, directing the discourse around itself ensured that those that challenged its actions or views were invariably labelled “un-American”. This battle for control over the term, citizenship and what it means to be American continues today. Interestingly, Nikki Haley, who has been named by Trump as ambassador to the UN, had labelled the proposed ban on Muslims as “un-American”. | Such a concept is, by its nature, exclusionary, defined as much by what is not American. For the KKK, directing the discourse around itself ensured that those that challenged its actions or views were invariably labelled “un-American”. This battle for control over the term, citizenship and what it means to be American continues today. Interestingly, Nikki Haley, who has been named by Trump as ambassador to the UN, had labelled the proposed ban on Muslims as “un-American”. |
| When critics attempt to put the robes on Trump, to label him with the KKK, and almost goad its modern appearance as evidence of regressive moves in American society, we might think more carefully about what function the Klan serves in these discussions. | When critics attempt to put the robes on Trump, to label him with the KKK, and almost goad its modern appearance as evidence of regressive moves in American society, we might think more carefully about what function the Klan serves in these discussions. |
| Rather than looking for the literal contemporary link, the Klan provides a lesson from history. It is a history not only of racial violence but also of an inherently newsworthy group that, at the height of debates around immigration in the 1920s, used media to generate a public platform, to normalise its views and to help orchestrate a racial nationalism. | Rather than looking for the literal contemporary link, the Klan provides a lesson from history. It is a history not only of racial violence but also of an inherently newsworthy group that, at the height of debates around immigration in the 1920s, used media to generate a public platform, to normalise its views and to help orchestrate a racial nationalism. |
| It deployed the tactics and discourses of minority groups to present the privileged majority as the underdog and outsider. It defined and protested against those it deemed un-American, burrowed a retreat from globalism and used new forms of persuasive media to manoeuvre into the mainstream. And then, due to a toxic mix of scandal and financial problems, the so-called modern Klan disbanded. | It deployed the tactics and discourses of minority groups to present the privileged majority as the underdog and outsider. It defined and protested against those it deemed un-American, burrowed a retreat from globalism and used new forms of persuasive media to manoeuvre into the mainstream. And then, due to a toxic mix of scandal and financial problems, the so-called modern Klan disbanded. |