The Modern Ku Klux Klan

by Henry P. Fry

I went into this one partly because I was a joiner and was curious to see what it was all about, but principally because I thought it was a fraternal order which was actually a revival of the original Ku Klux Klan which played so important a part in the history of the South during the days of the Reconstruction. That old organization has always had a certain glamour for me as it has for every Southerner, and I could see no reason why a fraternal order commemorating the deeds of the original Klansmen should not fill a need in the country today. I knew absolutely nothing about the structure of the new Ku Klux Klan, took it on faith, and assumed that in its government and administration, it would function like any other of the standard fraternal orders. I thought, from the meager information with which I was furnished, that I was thoroughly in accord with its principles, and that it would be more or less a pleasure to belong to it.

In the case of the Ku Klux Klan I took an immediate interest in the work of the organizer, brought him into touch with prominent friends of mine whom I induced to join, and did all I could to make his work a success. Shortly afterward I was made one of the organizers, and in this capacity devoted nearly all my time for three months to the work, conferring degrees, talking to people who were in favor of the Klan and to some who were opposed, and carefully studying the entire system of organization.

The fraternal order man who can really visualize an organization is the man who absorbs its work by observation and study, and there is no better method of doing this than performing the duties of an organizer. In my work as an organizer for the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, I was first impressed with the fact, that, on account of its radical nature, it was dangerous. The first thing to which a candidate is enjoined is absolute secrecy. This is carried to the utmost extremity. A newly made “citizen” must not tell his wife or his family that he belongs to the organization, and must give no hint of it to his most intimate friends and business associates. I at once saw that any movement built along such a line was dangerous, regardless of its intentions, because secrecy of this sort places upon the organization the vital necessity of receiving as members only men of the highest character whose positions and reputations in the community would be an absolute safeguard against mischief. A secret organization composed of men of a low standard of civic responsibility would be the worst thing that could get into any community.

My experience as a fraternal order man has been that the personnel of the order varies with different localities. Therefore, while it might be perfectly proper to build a strictly secret organization in Kingsport, Tennessee, there might be, in another town an entirely different class of membership which would cause the movement to jeopardize the peace and dignity of the community. The potential danger of the Ku Klux organization in this respect was the first thing that dawned upon my consciousness, and it made me careful of the class of people whom I permitted to become members.

My duties took me into several towns, and night after night I administered the obligation and put on the degree work until I became thoroughly familiar with the mechanical end of it. Gradually, however, a feeling developed within me that there was something wrong with the organization—that it was not the sort of “fraternal society” to which I had been accustomed for nearly twenty years. I thought at first that this was due to the fact that I had done so much lodge work in my lifetime that I was growing stale. But certain portions of the obligation, which at first had seemed merely perfunctory, stood out in my mind and challenged serious thought and consideration.

I studied everything I could find to help me in my work; I received printed matter from the organization: I talked with Klansmen from other cities; and I delved deeply into the origin and history of the original Ku Klux Klan. But business men of standing and prominence in the places where I worked asked me pointed questions about the organization, questions that I could not answer and on which I could get no satisfactory answers from above. Slowly my vague fears that there was something vitally wrong crystallized into stronger belief. I spoke to a few close friends in the organization, and asked them to give me their frank opinions about it. Without any prompting from me they voiced the same thoughts and gave expressions to the same doubts I had myself.

After much thoughtful deliberation, I reached the decision that the Ku Klux obligation was radically wrong. It was not the kind of obligation men take in fraternal organizations—it was a political obligation. I saw that the ritual, which had previously been to me merely a badly written mass of words was really a sacriligious mockery. I realized that the whole scheme was vicious in principle, and a menace to the peace and safety of America. The basis for these conclusions can be stated briefly:

First: While the organization was incorporated under the laws of the State of Georgia, as a fraternal order, the claim being advanced by the promoters that it should have similar powers to the Masons and Knights of Pythias, it is not a fraternal organization in the sense usually understood, but an attempt to create in this republic of ours an “Invisible Empire,” entirely political and military in nature and designed to function bodily.

Second: The “Invisible Empire” is under the control of one man who openly calls himself an “Emperor,” holds position for life, and exercises despotic control over the affairs of the organization.

Third: Candidates—designated as “aliens”—who are received into the organization, are not regarded as “members,” but as “citizens” of this “Invisible Empire,” and instead of being “initiated,” as is usually the case in fraternal orders, are “naturalized” and become “subjects” of the “Emperor.”