Give Me that Old Time Religion?: A Study of Religious Themes in the Rhetoric of the Ku Klux Klan

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Carolinas Communication Annual

Volume

14

Publisher

Carolinas Communication Association

Publication Date

1998

First Page

3

Last Page

20

Abstract

Despite ongoing efforts on the part of educators and others to promote an understanding and appreciation of people from other cultures and subcultures, it is disturbing that the United States continues to see racist violence against blacks and other minority groups. Much of this violence has been perpetuated by the Ku Klux Klan, one of America's oldest hate groups (Seltzer & Lopes, 1986). In spite of its unethical and generally unpopular treatment of minorities, if one views the Klan from a traditional organizational framework, one might argue that, in some respects, the Klan is a successful organization. Indeed, if sustenance is one mark of a successful organization, it would be difficult to argue that the Ku Klux Klan has not had at least some degree of success; not only has the organization emerged and reemerged in the 1860's, 1920's, and 1960's, in recent times, it has maintained and successfully recruited a large number of members (Chalmers, 1981; Gerlach, 1982).

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