In this Book
- Politics, Society, and the Klan in Alabama, 1915-1949
- Book
- 2015
- Published by: The University of Alabama Press
summary
This first book-length examination of the Klan in Alabama represents exhaustive research that challenges traditional interpretations.
The Ku Klux Klan has wielded considerable power both as a terrorist group and as a political force. Usually viewed as appearing in distinct incarnations, the Klans of the 20th century are now shown by Glenn Feldman to have a greater degree of continuity than has been previously suspected. Victims of Klan terrorism continued to be aliens, foreigners, or outsiders in Alabama: the freed slave during Reconstruction, the 1920s Catholic or Jew, the 1930s labor organizer or Communist, and the returning black veteran of World War II were all considered a threat to the dominant white culture. Feldman offers new insights into this "qualified continuity" among Klans of different eras, showing that the group remained active during the 1930s and 1940s when it was presumed dormant, with elements of the "Reconstruction syndrome" carrying over to the smaller Klan of the civil rights era.
In addition, Feldman takes a critical look at opposition to Klan activities by southern elites. He particularly shows how opponents during the Great Depression and war years saw the Klan as an impediment to attracting outside capital and federal relief or as a magnet for federal action that would jeopardize traditional forms of racial and social control. Other critics voiced concerns about negative national publicity, and others deplored the violence and terrorism.
This in-depth examination of the Klan in a single state, which features rare photographs, provides a means of understanding the order's development throughout the South. Feldman's book represents definitive research into the history of the Klan and makes a major contribution to our understanding of both that organization and the history of Alabama.
The Ku Klux Klan has wielded considerable power both as a terrorist group and as a political force. Usually viewed as appearing in distinct incarnations, the Klans of the 20th century are now shown by Glenn Feldman to have a greater degree of continuity than has been previously suspected. Victims of Klan terrorism continued to be aliens, foreigners, or outsiders in Alabama: the freed slave during Reconstruction, the 1920s Catholic or Jew, the 1930s labor organizer or Communist, and the returning black veteran of World War II were all considered a threat to the dominant white culture. Feldman offers new insights into this "qualified continuity" among Klans of different eras, showing that the group remained active during the 1930s and 1940s when it was presumed dormant, with elements of the "Reconstruction syndrome" carrying over to the smaller Klan of the civil rights era.
In addition, Feldman takes a critical look at opposition to Klan activities by southern elites. He particularly shows how opponents during the Great Depression and war years saw the Klan as an impediment to attracting outside capital and federal relief or as a magnet for federal action that would jeopardize traditional forms of racial and social control. Other critics voiced concerns about negative national publicity, and others deplored the violence and terrorism.
This in-depth examination of the Klan in a single state, which features rare photographs, provides a means of understanding the order's development throughout the South. Feldman's book represents definitive research into the history of the Klan and makes a major contribution to our understanding of both that organization and the history of Alabama.
Table of Contents
Download Full Book
- Title Page, Copyright
- pp. i-vi
- Illustrations
- pp. ix-x
- Acknowledgments
- pp. xi-xiv
- Introduction
- pp. 1-10
- 1. Origins of the Revised Klan
- pp. 11-20
- 3. The Moral and Religious Klan
- pp. 37-50
- 4. The Racist and Nativist Klan
- pp. 51-62
- 5. The Political Klan
- pp. 63-91
- 6. The Year of the Whip
- pp. 92-115
- 7. Elite War on the Klan
- pp. 116-136
- 8. Limits of the Oligarchy's Campaign
- pp. 137-159
- 9. Race over Rum, Romans, and Republicans
- pp. 160-192
- 12. The Threat of Urban Radicalism
- pp. 238-258
- 13. Farm, Factory, and Hooded Persistence
- pp. 259-284
- 14. World War II and Postwar Alabama
- pp. 285-304
- 15. Federal-State Interaction in the 1940s
- pp. 305-324
- Epilogue: "To Wither Away"
- pp. 325-328
- Abbreviations
- pp. 329-334
- Bibliography
- pp. 399-426
Additional Information
ISBN
9780817389505
Related ISBN(s)
9780817309848
MARC Record
OCLC
45843131
Pages
471
Launched on MUSE
2016-01-01
Language
English
Open Access
No
Copyright
1999