Hate Groups and the Civil Rights Movement Hate groups have existed for centuries and transformed radically over the years. Hate groups have appeared in America at times of social liberation time and time again. After the emancipation of the slaves in America, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was formed. This hate group committed heinous murders and other acts of defiance against the equality with African Americans that threatened their social and economic standings. KKK membership has fluctuated since they were formed, but; they reached two main membership peaks: in the 1920s with the red scare after World War I and in the 1960s during the civil rights movement. Both of these were times when minority groups fought for recognition. The civil rights movement also brought hate groups of African Americans. Groups like the Black Panther Party and Black Nationalists opposed the oppression they faced and fought it violently. Today, there is a modern civil rights movement happening and there has been a recent rise in hate group activity. Movements such as anti-racism and gay-rights have raised attention and faced opposition. In modern times, hate groups are less tangible. While there may not be groups with national committees holding meetings to oppose these civil rights, there are groups that have these common hatreds: religious groups, political parties, and certain demographic areas are just a few. Hate groups have left huge impacts on society during periods of social liberation, whether for or against the cause.
During the reconstruction period in the United States of America, former slaves were granted citizenship and encouraged by Northerners to participate in the government. The army and carpetbaggers flooded the South during reconstruction to assure the plan was being followed. When reconstruction ended and the Northerners left, the South returned to their racist views and implemented them wildly. This racism was seen as completely normal in the South and was a social norm. “’The problem with Northerners’, noted the dean of Mississippi’s Blue Mountain College, ‘was that they seemed unable to understand that the Negro race was an inferior one (Carter, 108).’” Black men and women were lynched continuously because white citizens feared social equality with African Americans. These lynchings and lynch mobs became so common that people would flock to them after church and bring their children. The slaughtering of an African American was a family event for all to witness and enjoy. Lynchings and the mobs of people that followed reached a peak in the 1920s and 1930s. America slowly became more tolerant of racial differences and the illegal murdering of blacks was eventually frowned upon. Although America as a whole was more open and accepting, there were still whites that opposed this advance to social equality. These people banded together to become more powerful at expressing their distaste for the civil rights of African Americans. Just as lynching reached its peak, so did the KKK. Soon after reaching 4 million members in the 1920s, KKK activity dropped drastically, as did social activism since African Americans had gained the civil rights they had sought. The Ku Klux Klan is the oldest known and most infamous hate group of America. It was founded in 1865, after the slaves in the Confederate States of America were emancipated. The group originally opposed political figures of the Republican Party. As freed slaves tried to gain citizenship, the KKK’s main platform was enforcing white supremacy. After World War I and the beginning of the first Red Scare, they became violent against blacks, communists, Jews, gays, and even Catholics. This is also when women were fighting for suffrage and equal rights. Anyone who was not a white, male, Christian, was in danger of the wrath of the KKK. As the fear of communism and the social activism of the 1920s died down, so did KKK activity, although it sparked again in the 1960s. On February 2nd, 1960, African Americans had a sit-in at the Woolworth Store in Greensboro. The KKK immediately called for a national meeting that they held just three weeks later to determine a National Klan Committee. By the end of 1960, membership had risen from 20,000 to 50,000 (ADL Staff). The KKK was avidly against integration, affirmative action, and court-ordered bussing. KKK members beat, shot, and murdered civil rights activists. In 1971, members blew up school busses in Pontiac, Michigan to protest court-ordered bussing (Chalmers, David Mark). In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced the arrest of four high-level Klansmen after they murdered a white female activist. Even though it took a white woman’s murder to bring attention to their gruesome acts, radical schemes such as this ultimately backfired, angered the nation, and helped win support for the civil rights movement (Chalmers, David Mark). Although their tactics backfired, they left a huge impression on America. Today, the KKK is viewed as a very negative part of the United States history and is part of the reason that anything cult related or involving the word “clan” is also viewed from a negative standpoint. Children learn about the KKK in school at a young age and discover the horrific actions of the members in hopes that the radicalism will teach them to be accepting of other races. Since the 1970s, KKK activity has dropped drastically. Most members have fragmented into other right-wing extremist groups like the Neo-Nazis and the White Power Skinheads. There is still an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 members that still exist in the Deep South (ADL Staff).
On the other side of the spectrum, there was the Black Panther Party (BPP). The Black Panthers were a group of violent, African Americans that desired to represent Black Nationalism, anti-capitalism, anti-racism, and revolutionary socialism (Baggins, Brian). Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panthers in 1966 for self-defense. They formed after the police brutally beat a black man in Los Angeles in 1965, which started the Watts Riots. Less than two years later, there had been more than one hundred major black, urban rebellions in cities across the country. Black Panthers believed the non-violent protests led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were not working and weren’t changing the lives of African Americans. Most of the BPP was made up of young, African American males. The BPP had four main goals: equal education, equal housing opportunities, equal employment opportunities, and equal civil rights. They believed in staying armed at all times, but they were also very concerned about their image. They had rules of conduct that included: always speaking politely, never possessing drugs or alcohol while representing the party, never pointing or using a weapon unnecessarily, never damaging property, and never swearing at people (Baggins, Brian). These rules were incredibly important to the party because they had to maintain an image so they didn't create further prejudices against them. The head of the FBI, John Edgar Hoover, called the BPP "the greatest threat to the internal security of the country,” and the FBI closely monitored them. The members followed these rules and many others to avoid being jailed or charged. One of the foot soldiers, although not a member of the BPP, said that African Americans couldn't even carry Advil on them during protests because that's all they needed to convict you (Civil Rights Foot Soldiers). It is rumored that many of the known leaders of the BPP that were murdered or jailed were actually set up by the FBI. The Black Panther Party used radical tactics to bring attention to the racial inequalities in America. The party sought to represent anti-racism, but was eventually seen as racist again whites. These violent tactics have been seen again in more recent times as well. One of the most noted uses of extreme violence was with the case of Rodney King and the King Riots. South Central Los Angeles was destroyed when the video of Rodney King being brutally beaten by police officers surfaced. More recently is the case of Michael Brown and the Ferguson Riots. These riots have included the burning of buildings, cars, and stores, as well as armed violence. These riots are bringing attention to the current day issues of racism that stem from the ideology of the riots from the Black Panther Party in the civil rights movement.
Black Nationalism was an idea used by African Americans that actually believed in segregation. Black Nationalism was also not a physical group, but more of an ideal. Leaders like Marcus Garvey and Malcolm X were faces of this ideal and used more radical tactics than non-violent groups such as the NAACP and SNCC. While Black Nationalists weren’t necessarily violent, or as violent as the Black Panthers, they strongly believed in racial segregation and used violence when they felt it was necessary. Marcus Garvey was the founder of the Back to Africa Movement and created the Black Star Line to bring blacks to Liberia. Malcolm X was an extremely violent protestor whose tactics have been rooted in the Black Panther Party and current day riots. Although racial separation is typically a topic of the past, the ideals of Black Nationalism are still visible in modern day racism.
Today, rather than hate groups that are actively holding meetings and rallies, most hate groups have transformed to common ideologies among people. There are some hate groups that do still exist though. Groups like the KKK, Neo-Nazis, Neo-Confederates, and White Power Skin Heads are still practicing and have leaders; but many other groups do not exist as tangibly. Some groups, like White Nationalists, Black Nationalists, and Black Separatists, are more of an ideology. These are beliefs that might exist within a right-wing extremist group. Other hate groups include anti-immigration, and anti-gay groups. These are also groups that aren’t necessarily holding meetings, wearing uniforms, and violently murdering in mobs; but they are very common ideologies among religious groups, political parties, demographic areas, and cults. While these hatreds are common, people aren’t as passionate about them as the KKK and BPP were about theirs. These hate groups have lost a lot of power because they aren’t bound together and fighting for a single cause. Recently, there has been an uprising in current civil rights that has caused a spark in mainly the anti-gay, anti-feminism, and anti-immigration supporters. People in America are drifting towards one end of the spectrum or the other as LGBT supporters, feminists, and immigrants are raising awareness of the issues they are facing. Right now, there is history being made as America divides over another topic of social liberation, which verifies that hate groups become more prominent when America is becoming more liberal.

Works Cited
ADL Staff. "The Ku Klux Klan: Legacy of Hate." Adl.org. Anti-Defamation League, 1 Jan.
2001. Web. 26 Nov. 2014. <http://archive.adl.org/issue_combating_hate/uka/rise.html>.
Baggins, Brian. History of the Black Panther Party. Marxists Internet Archive (marx.org). copyleft 2002. Web. 26 Nov. 2014. URL: http://www.marxists.org/history/usa/workers/black-panthers/ Carter, Dan. Scottsboro: A Tragedy of the American South. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State
University Press, Revised Edition, 2007. Print.
Chalmers, David Mark. Backfire: How the Ku Klux Klan Helped the Civil Rights Movement.
Rowman & Littlefield, 2003.
Civil Rights Foot Soldiers (TV-14; 04:09). Bio, 2014. Film.
PBS Staff. "Hoover and the FBI." A Huey P. Newton Story. PBS, 1 Jan. 2002. Web. 4 Dec.
2014. <http://www.pbs.org/hueypnewton/people/people_hoover.html>.