Characteristic Of The Ku Klux Klan - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1691 Downloads: 8 Date added: 2019/10/31 Category History Essay Level High school Topics: Ku Klux Klan Essay Did you like this example? The Ku Klux Klan began in 1865 in the South after the Civil war and were a group of people who were disgruntled by the abolition of slavery. The Ku Klux Klan wore robes with white hoods, burnt crosses and used different intimidation tactics in pursuit of their ideal of white supremacy. During the Civil Rights Movement, the Ku Klux Klan re-emerged as an active group opposing the advancement of integration from the 1950s to1960s. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Characteristic Of The Ku Klux Klan" essay for you Create order The members of this white extremist group were fanatics, that wanted to gain a political stronghold in the South. The group resisted social change, using different tactics to limit the Civil Rights Movement. The Klan believed in racial extremism and were actively violent against the black Americans.   Terrorism arises when a group of people attack civilians to terrorise people to achieve a political goal. The Ku Klux Klan is regarded as a terrorist organisation, practicing extreme violence against African-Americans where murder, destruction of property, bombings and assault are committed. However, the Ku Klan believed that they were a freedom fighter organisation, fighting a revolution to achieve a political goal, with the mission to preserve the supremacy of the white race and to stop integration with African-Americans. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) used fear, violence and intimidation tactics in their mission to ensure white supremacy. The Klansman, known as the white knights, terrorised people, and this included the killing of black Americans and Civil Rights Activists and destroying property. In 1955 a 14-year-old black boy Emmett Till was murdered for alleged flirting with a White woman.   In Alabama, a memorial was erected as testimony of forty people that were murdered by members of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1960s. This testimony highlights the violent nature of the KKK, forming the basis of terrorist organisation. Furthermore, in the most famous murders committed by the KKK, were those of Schwerner, Goodman and Chaney, who were civil rights workers busy registering black voters in Mississippi. The Klan hunted them down and shot and buried them in pre-prepared graves. The local policeman refused to prosecute the perpetrators and the FBI had to be sent to investigate. They finally found the bodies wit h the help of informant and charged 18 men for these crimes, some of whom were policeman. This reinforces the argument that the Klan where a terrorist organisation as through these murders, the top law enforcement in America had to get involved. Whats more, in 1965 the murder of Civil rights activist, Viola Liuzzo, shocked America when she and a black American, Leroy Morton were shot, after they had attended a rally of Martin Luther King Jr and were driving in a car together. The KKK murderers were arrested and sentenced to ten years in prison.   This murdering of innocent civilians falls within the definition of a terrorist organisation. In addition to murders, the Ku Klux Klan burnt down property as a form of intimidation, particularly churches, houses and buses. In Florida, several African-Americans were driven from their homes throughout the area when their houses were burnt down, this came to be known as the Groveland reign of terror. The National Guard had to be sent to rest ore order in Florida. This act of destroying innocent peoples property by the KKK falls within the ambit of a terrorist group. The Ku Klux Klan was used by the Birmingham police commissioner, Bull Conner in 1961 to attack the Freedom Riders, a group of white and black civil rights activists who purposely rode on buses through the South to protest against segregated bus stations. The Klan attacked the Freedom Riders and burnt their buses as they travelled through Alabama. This clearly shows the terroristic characteristics of the KKK. Churches in particular were regarded as easy targets. In 1964, the Mount Zion Church was burnt down in Longdale, when the KKK were searching for the civil rights activist Schwerner and when he was not found, burnt down the historic wooden church. The burning down of sacred and peaceful places of worship, can only be described as a violent act of terrorisms. Therefore, through the murders and destruction of property, the KKK can be characterised as a terr orist organisation. The Ku Klux Klan threatened American citizens, particularly African-American through bombings and assault. The KKK particularly made use of bombs. One of the first bombings was the home of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Florida executive Director, Harry Moore on Christmas eve when both him and his wife were killed. This bombing threatened the peaceful American lifestyle and triggered many protests. Secondly, in 1956 during the Montgomery bus boycotts, the KKK threw dynamite into Martin Luther Kings house while his wife and baby were inside. This can clearly be seen as an act of terrorism. Thirdly, in 1963, dynamite was planted under the steps of a Church in Birmingham and four young girls were killed, and twenty members of the congregation were injured. This church, known as the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church was a place where civil rights leaders used to meet. This bombing and active violence clearly can be regarded as the destruction of a pe aceful environment in America, brought upon by the KKK. Fourthly, during 1964, the KKK fired bombed approximately 20 black churches in Mississippi. Between January 1956 and June 1963, 138 bombings were reported in the South. The sheer magnitude of bombings in one state and some of them in one year, is outweighing evidence that the KKK were a terrorist organisation. In addition, the KKK members committed a tremendous amount of assaults. During the Florida terror (called this due to the extensive number of bombings), the KKK declared war on the NAACP, the catholic church and the Federal Council of Churches. There were a multitude of cross burnings and floggings all the way from Florida to Miami. This period stresses the violent and terrorist nature of the KKK. Furthermore, after the Supreme Court judgement, Brown vs Board of Education, the KKK members in the rural areas of Alabama, decided to resort to violence to undermine the school integration. Many law enforcement officers were me mbers of the KKK and therefor the members did not fear prosecution, consequently many people were violently assaulted by mobs during this period. In Little Rock the army had to be sent to protect black students from assaults when they tried to attend schools regarded as for whites only.   In 1961, adding onto the burning of the busses, the KKK assaulted the Freedom Riders, beating them with clubs. When they finally arrived in Birmingham and exited the bus, they were beaten with metal pipes, baseball bats and chains. The police refused to interfere with these attacks. By assaulting innocent civilians, it clearly shows that the KKK acted with terrorist intentions. Therefore, with the extreme amount of cases of bombings and assaults, the KKK can be regarded as a terrorist organisation. However, the Ku Klux Klan regarded themselves as a freedom fighter organisation fighting for the true values of America. The Klan members believed that American citizens can be whatever person they want to be and therefore have the right to exercise violence, if they have a difference of opinion with the ruling party and were protecting their white heritage. The exercising of violence doesnt disqualify them as freedom fighters, as many other organisations that have been regarded as freedom fighters, like the ANC during Apartheid, have used violence to achieve their goals. Some of these Southerners, saw it as their civic duty to protest against laws, which they will felt was placing their way of life at risk. Furthermore, the founders of the Ku Klux Klan rode in secret with their faces covered, to instil fear in society and in their view to rightfully stop the Reconstruction policies. The KKK felt that government was in place for white people and not Africans, who could not be conside red as citizens of the USA. This argument, although backward in thinking, can support the claim that the KKK were a Freedom Fighter group as their intent was a revolutionary struggle against the government in order to better themselves in society. Due to the civil war, the Southerners lives were destroyed and they therefore felt they needed protection and that their jobs and livelihood needed to be safeguarded. Thus, they felt the laws being put in place were threatening their livelihood. This can be viewed as a form of protest against the state in order to achieve a political goal, which is the definition of what organisation is. The Klans resurgence in the 1960s, again arose due to the fears that their lifestyles and white heritage were being threatened and therefore they acted in violence as a form of resistance. All of these arguments considered, it is thus not incorrect to view the Klan can as freedom fighters if the definition of a freedom fighter is taken into consideration. Despite the above, the Ku Klux Klans motives behind their violent intent, was not well supported by most citizens and they cannot be viewed as a Freedom Fighter Organisation and it is clear to see that the Ku Klux Klan used intimidation, murder, destruction of property and assault for purposes of terrorism. All the three periods where the Ku Klux Klan was resurrected were in times of social upheaval when the white population felt threatened and though they allegedly were protecting their white heritage, their tactics injured individuals of all races and also intimidated entire groups of people damaging the entire society. The examples listed above, which shows all the intimidation tactics used by the Ku Klux, are criminal and spread their hateful racist nature. The Ku Klux Klan is without a doubt a terrorist organisation and further has a history of terrorising American citizens through murder, bombings and intimidation to further their pollical ideals of segregation of white suprema cy, which does not make them freedom fighters even if it fits the description to an extent. In conclusion the members of the Ku Klux Klan cannot justify their argument that they were fighting for the freedom of white people, as it is clear that they were a hate organisation practicing a reign of terror to stop change from occurring.

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Exxon Mobil is the one of the largest publicly traded corporations in the world with a market capitalization of nearly $410 billion. Primarily in the oil and gas extracting as well as refining business, it is one of the largest super-majors in the world. Employing over 82,000 people it runs operations worldwide, with its headquarters located in Irvine, Texas. Exxon Mobil is a committed company with good corporate culture and a great code of ethics. The ethics of the company lead it to have vested interest in research and development while still focussing on making a profit in the large and profitable oil industry. Exxon Mobil is a great stock for beginner investors because of its security, ethics, innovative ideas, and great stock records.†¦show more content†¦This type of scenario is improbable seeing as gas is relatively inexpensive and the world is still consuming a lot of oil and gasoline for various daily tasks such as transportation, heating homes, plastics, and genera ting electricity. Since the company is largely oil and gas based, and we see no future paradigm shifts for the companies market, the stock is considered safe and profitable for the coming 3 year period. ExxonMobil Corp. is selling a commodity like gasoline used by consumers across the globe. This leads its stock price to fluctuate with the price of oil and gas seen at your everyday gas station and with the price of oil per barrel. Since oil prices are a highly publicized area of the news, this allows us as speculators to see when the stock price will fall and rise making it quite readable and hence, easy to follow. The gas market is still booming and demand is high and with a constant demand for oil, ExxonMobil have a very stable portfolio and is a great stock to invest in. ExxonMobil has many shares available for sale with a market capitalization of $409.01 Billion with an estimate stock price at about $96.50/share. (Unknown, 2014). As seen in the above chart, if we were to invest in ExxonMobil 3 years ago without reinvesting our dividends back into the company each quarter, we would see a three year return of roughly 8.2%. This is over double what we would see if we put our money in a Canadian Savings Bond at 1.4% annually. Considering that

Great African Culture Free Essays

The Great African culture is the result of the influences of the African kingdoms and city states which thrived and prospered between 1200 and 1500 CE. In addition to this, the forces of cultural diffusion as well as trade had influenced and changed these African civilizations. The ruling Kingdom of Songhai, due to the influence of the Arab culture and trading system, was replaced by the Mali. We will write a custom essay sample on Great African Culture or any similar topic only for you Order Now This new power in Western Africa influenced and expanded the ruling class, culture, society and its people. On the other hand, through extensive trade contacts, Islamic traditions and customs were brought to East Africa. Consequently, this had a huge influence on the culture and politics in Swahili city-states. On the other hand, the Great Zimbabwe was able to deter the influence of Islamic cultural diffusion and other cultures despite having trading contacts from the Middle East, India and China. This is due to the obstacles created by its natural geographic location. While Kongo in West Africa continued to trade slaves, goods in return for weapons from the Portuguese merchants, ultimately leading to a change in religion (towards Christianity). In 1500, the power of several African societies was reduced because of the expansion of slave trading in the region. Generally, through trade, the African societies transact all the activities related to production and the reproduction of human life in its culture. Culture is consists of all that members of a society do. It is also passed on from one generation to another. Trade and development eventually must be understood or recognized as a cultural process, wherein culture is identified to encompass the social, economic, religious, political and other areas of social life and activity. In the African situation, conceivably greater than any other area of the world, culture as an incremental, as an inheritance and constructional basis of life and society, had a propensity to be forsaken in favor of unsystematic mimicry and cheap imitation of Western practices. The consequence of this is failure during most of the post-independence period to crucially or â€Å"significantly improve the quality of life of the majority of people in the continent† (Ukaga and Afoaku, 2005). Accordingly, modern Africa is still one of the poorest regions of the world regardless of its vast endowments of natural and human resources. References Ukaga, O., Afoaku, O. G. (2005). Sustainable Development in Africa: A Multifaceted Challenge. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, Inc. How to cite Great African Culture, Papers