KU KLUX KLAN Definition & Meaning

Ku Klux Klan

[ koo kluhks klan ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

U.S. History. a secret hate group in the southern U.S., active for several years after the Civil War, which aimed to suppress the newly acquired rights of Black people and to oppose carpetbaggers from the North, and which was responsible for many lawless and violent proceedings.
Official_name Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. a secret hate group inspired by the former, founded in 1915 and currently active across the U.S., especially in the South, directed against Black people, Muslims, Jews, Catholics, foreign-born individuals, and other groups.

Ku Klux Klan

/ ˈkuː ˈklʌks ˈklæn /

noun

a secret organization of White Southerners formed after the US Civil War to fight Black emancipation and Northern domination
a secret organization of White Protestant Americans, mainly in the South, who use violence against Black people, Jewish people, and other minority groups

Ku Klux Klan

A secret society dedicated to the supremacy of white people in the United States. It began in the South during the time of Reconstruction and attempted to terrorize the many southern blacks and carpetbaggers who had replaced white southerners in positions of power. The Klan gained renewed strength in the 1920s and again in the 1960s but is now very diminished. It has stated that it aims to preserve “pure Americanism.” It has attacked Jews (see also Jews ) and Roman Catholics , along with immigrants and communists but is still primarily opposed to equal rights for black people and has often engaged in violence against them. Klansmen wear white hoods and robes. Klan leaders have titles such as Grand Dragon, Grand Cyclops , and Imperial Wizard.

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Notes

A favored tactic of Klansmen is to burn a wooden cross outside the house of someone whom they wish to intimidate. Typically, they want the occupant to move out of the vicinity. The burning cross is a threat of future assaults if the victim does not do what the Klan wants.

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Derived Forms

Ku Kluxism, noun
Ku Kluxer, noun

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of Ku Klux Klan¹

First recorded in 1865–70; Ku Klux (perhaps from Greek ��ý��ǲ� “circle, assembly”) + Klan, spelling variant of clan

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51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of Ku Klux Klan¹

C19 Ku Klux, probably based on Greek kuklos circle + Klan clan

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

In the interview, he took his swastika tee-shirt stunt a step further, appearing for the length of the interview in black Ku Klux Klan robes.

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On Feb. 25, the Times published my columna about the 100th anniversary of when Anaheim voters kicked four Ku Klux Klan members off the City Council.

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It’s also where in July 1924, the Ku Klux Klan held a rally that attracted over 20,000 people — one of the largest Klan events ever held west of the Mississippi.

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He placed pictures of Martin Luther King on the walls of the capitol building, as the Ku Klux Klan demonstrated outside.

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White Christian supremacy was also the backbone of the Confederacy and the Ku Klux Klan.

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