The Ku Klux Klan Today
Even though the Klan has weakened greatly since the 1970s, they are still alive and practicing today. There are approximately 5,000 to 8,000 active members of the Klan. They still believe that races should be separate, but they do not show this in violent acts like they have in the past. Instead, they have local cross-burning ceremonies and hand out flyers to try and recruit new members. They strongly oppose Barack Obama as the President of the United States. The Grand Dragon of the Mississippi White Knight of the the KKK, Steven Howard, even believes "Barack Obama will ruin this country, and white people will be in concentration camps."
The Klan's Opposition Towards Obama
The Klan believes that President Obama is ruining America. Obama is known as a "Progressive Fascist" to the Klan. They believe that Obama will force whites out of colleges, jobs, and homes, and African-Americans will be in complete control.
"Barack Obama, who has yet to prove his Citizenship, (citing privacy concerns) claims the mantle of being the first 'Afro-American' President but wait, isn't he half white, Why is he the black president, why not the white president?" - The Obamanation: Progressive Fascist (pamphlet) |
Steven Howard talking about his beliefs about Obama as President, 2013, ABC News (video length: 0:10)
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Ku Klux Klan Membership
"Patriot groups have been classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate organizations because their anti-government sentiment is almost always paired with racism, ranging from fear of everyday crime to a looming race war, said Mark Potok, the law center's chief hate group and hate crime investigator."
"The law center found 1,360 patriot groups in 2012 -– an 813 percent rise since 2008, the year before President Obama took office. Of those groups, 321 constitute militias. The law center also found a near-record 1,007 hate groups with animus directed at minorities, gay men, lesbians, and transgender individuals in 2012. That's a slight decline from the 1,018 groups counted in 2011."
Southern Poverty Law Center(SPLC), March 5, 2013 Report
"The law center found 1,360 patriot groups in 2012 -– an 813 percent rise since 2008, the year before President Obama took office. Of those groups, 321 constitute militias. The law center also found a near-record 1,007 hate groups with animus directed at minorities, gay men, lesbians, and transgender individuals in 2012. That's a slight decline from the 1,018 groups counted in 2011."
Southern Poverty Law Center(SPLC), March 5, 2013 Report