But the members of the Ku Klux Klan take an oath that puts the constitution at naught. They swear to bring about "white supremacy." Taken in conjunction with the speeches and writings of their leaders, this oath shows that the Klansmen intend to work together to create strife against the negro, to belittle him and his family, his churches, his business, his social societies and other things that are dear to him. The Klan is determined to put the negro out of business in the United States and to drive him back to Africa.
As is all other main objects—the warfare on Jews, Catholics and foreign born—the Klan intends to follow its own laws in dealing with the negro. The writings of its leaders are very plain on that point.
In his oath the Klansman swears:
"I swear that I will most zealously and valiantly shield and preserve by any and all justifiable means and methods White Supremacy——
"All to which I have sworn by this oath. I will seal with my blood by Thou my witness, Almighty God. Amen."
Prominent lawyers who have examined this oath declare that it really is an oath upholding mob rule and that any time the Klansman is given orders he will follow his leaders in a crusade outside the constitution of the United States that might lead to serious trouble and bloodshed.
Chaplain Ridley of the Ku Klux Klan has written in The Searchlight on white supremacy as follows:
"Back in the days of the reconstruction the fathers gathered at the call of the low, shrill whistle and rode into immortal fame, rescuing a threatened civilization and making real once more the White Man's Supremacy. Klansmen of to-day, whether they assemble in the mountains of Maine, or 'neath the shadows of the great Rockies, or on the plains of the Wonderful West, or amid the trailing vines and wild flowers of Dixie, meet to keep alive the memory of these men and preserve the traditions of those days when the souls of men were tried as if by fire."
In Texas a white man who testified in behalf of an accused negro—he merely told the truth under oath as he knew it—was tarred and feathered by masked men.
The Searchlight has printed column after column of anti-negro stuff, mostly under anonymous names or under the titles of organizations whose addresses are not given. One such resolution adopted by the "Patriotic Societies of Atlanta" condemns Rev. Ashby Jones, a minister, for inviting an honorable negro to an interracial meeting and for addressing the negro as "mister."