Racism in the 1930s

Racism in the 1930s

The Ku Klux Klan: is characterized by diffuse motto supremacy of the white race and by using violence or intimidation as burning crosses.

The foundation of the group takes place in 1865 in Tennessee by six veterans defeated in the American Civil War. The name comes from the fusion of the Greek word "Kyklos" (circle) and "clan", in homage to their ancestor’s Scottish clans belonging to. The end result was very sound: Ku Klux Klan.

Klan activity initially was limited to jokes but was eventually hardened and become radicalized reaching a crusade against blacks, civil advocates and some politicians.

The U.S. President, Ulysses S. Grant in 1871, disbanded this organization.
However, it disappeared and created a new cell called "Second Klan" more strongly in 1915. Interestingly resurfaced fanaticism for the premiere of the film "The Birth of a Nation 'by David Griffith, from which also derives the characteristic costume of the second Klan: white coats, wooden crosses and hoods.

In the decade of the 30s and 40s the Ku Klux Klan suffered severe blows, especially the fact that one of its leaders, David Stephenson, was convicted of rape and charge the group for tax evasion, a fact that forced its dissolution.

Segregation: the separation or isolation of a race, class, or ethnic group by enforced or voluntary residence in a restricted area, by barriers to social intercourse, by separate educational facilities, or by other discriminatory means

Jim Crow: Jim Crow was the name of the racial caste system which operated primarily, but not exclusively in southern and border states, between 1877 and the mid-1960s. Jim Crow was more than a series of rigid anti-black laws. It was a way of life. Under Jim Crow, African Americans were relegated to the status of second class citizens. Jim Crow represented the legitimization of anti-black racism. Many Christian ministers and theologians taught that whites were the Chosen people, blacks were cursed...