How the “Second-Coming” of the KKK solidified Christian Nationalist Ideals
The KKK was one of the most prominent and well-known groups who were able to abuse religion in order to spread hate and oppression throughout the US. Although the Ku Klux Klan focused its efforts on the discrimination and continued oppression of African-Americans, in the 1920s, the KKK was more focused on gaining as many natural-born Protestant Christians to their order as possible. They were able to achieve the massive growth they were seeking by using Christian symbols and verbiage, giving money to churches who promoted their ideals, and using the growing fear of inferiority to encourage Protestants to embrace white Christian nationalism.
Perhaps, the most effective tactic the Klan utilized was using Christian verbiage and symbolism, which was critical to helping them appear less threatening, simply through subliminal messaging. The Klan used words such as sanctity, chastity, virtue, and purity when discussing their goals for the nation, using them to justify discrimination against those who they felt threatened the nation’s purity (Bringhurst 2000), which meant Protestant whiteness according to the KKK. In addition to the appealing diction they chose, they also chose symbols to help gain the respect (if not admiration) of Protestants as well, one of these symbols being the notorious white robe and hood that was the uniform of the Klan (Baker 2011, p. 317). Ministers often wore white robes, which were historically meant to symbolize innocence and purity, so it’s no coincidence that a hate group looking to gain new Protestant followers would choose such attire. They even wore crosses on their breast, and as Baker observes, “the color of the robes displayed the requirements for membership: Caucasian, Protestant, and "native-born" American” (Baker 2011, p. 322). However, the symbolism found in the uniforms were far less blatant than the burning crosses, which were a huge spectacle of Klan gatherings, meant to serve “as a constant reminder that Christ [was their] criterion of character” (Baker 2011, p. 333).
Another way the Klan recruited members of the Protestant church was by abusing their fear of settlers from Europe, specifically Jewish and Catholic ones. ‘The Hooded Order,’ as they were called, promoted themselves as a Christian group, and they claimed that other racial/religious groups had secret orders, and therefore, white Protestants were entitled to a secret order of their own. This attracted all of kinds of Protestants to the KKK because they seemed to be the only group that was fighting against the threats to Christian supremacy at the time (Bringhurst 2000). They also argued that they were “for better schools, better churches, better homes, and for a higher standard in both everyday life and political representation” (Bringhurst 2000, p. 374), and this statement helps show that they had a strategy to keep the Protestants in power, by using their power in the education system and political system alike. Because many white Protestants were feeling threatened by the new immigrants’ beliefs and cultures, the Klan was able to campaign itself as a protector of the Protestants, which was instrumental in gaining the many Christians that were drawn in by their promises to keep them in power.
One of the ways they were able to push this narrative in front of the Protestant population was by “donating” large sums of money to many churches throughout the country, in order to persuade pastors to promote the Klan’s ideology in the church (“Tolerance and Bigotry…” p. 167). This is where the Christian nationalist ideas were promoted heavily, as pastors such as Rev. I.E. Williams called on Protestant men “to embrace the “red-blooded Americanism” and true Christianity of the KKK” (“Tolerance and Bigotry…” p. 160). He also advocated for new immigrants to be required to pledge allegiance to the Christian church before acquiring citizenship, further enforcing the ideals of Christian nationalism.
He was not an outlier though, as reverends from other states, such as Rev. Booth of Michigan, used similar language, calling “every red-blooded American” and “all interested in the general welfare are urged to be present” (Fox 2011, p. 161) at a sermon in which the Klan’s message was being preached. He spoke highly of the KKK, stating that they were helping to better the community through charity and service projects, as well as by maintaining order through “running down bootleggers and rum runners” (Fox 2011, p. 163). He publicly praised them for being the “crusading Knights of Protestant Christianity” (Fox 2011, p. 163) and concluded his sermon by stating that “the finest thing about the Klan… is that the Bible is the basis for their constitution” (Fox 2011, p. 163), which was sure to grab the attention of the congregation. Even though the KKK was clearly not promoting the good Christian morals that many of these members probably did genuinely subscribe to, the use of church leaders by the Klan was largely successful in creating a nationalist perspective in the church, similarly to how political parties court church leaders to drive nationalist sentiment today.
Baker said it best in her analysis of the Klan’s artifacts when she stated that “commitment to religion and nation can transform into exclusion and intolerance of the supposed enemies of the nation” (Baker 2011, p. 315). This becomes especially true when people feel threatened, as many in the Protestant church did by increased immigration, so the Klan took their opportunity and chose a time in history when Protestants in the states were beginning to worry about what losing their superior status would mean for them in society. The “robes, crosses, and other Klan objects make not only for good storytelling but allow for a clearer picture of the relationship between white Protestantism and nationalism” (Baker 2011, 317). The use of these items paired with the promotion within the church were essential to the KKK’s recruitment of more Protestants, and by choosing the 20s as their time to strike, they took advantage of the growing fear of Christians’ lack of power.
The KKK was able to recruit a massive following in the 1920s by using Christian symbols and verbiage, donating money to churches who spread their ideology, and by utilizing the growing fear of inferiority to persuade Protestants to embrace white Christian nationalist perspectives. Subliminal messaging was crucial to their growth, however, this would not have been possible without the use of monetary power in the church to gain support from ministers. Even though this was about a century ago at this point, the ways in which the Klan affected the Protestant church were much more permanent than is to be desired, so hopefully, as society continues to learn and grow, the church is able to address these concerns as an institution, to ensure that a new group doesn’t fool and take advantage of their fear in the future.
Bibliography
Baker, Kelly J. 2011. “Robes, Fiery Crosses, and the American Flag: The Materiality of the 1920s’ Klan’s Christianity, Patriotism, and Intolerance.” Material Religion 7 (3): 312–43. doi:10.2752/175183411X13172844495894.
Bringhurst, Newell G. 2000. “The Ku Klux Klan in a Central California Community: Tulare County During the 1920s and 1930s.” Southern California Quarterly 82 (4): 365–96. doi:10.2307/41172036.
Craig Fox. 2011. Everyday Klansfolk : White Protestant Life and the KKK in 1920s Michigan. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.
“Tolerance and Bigotry in Southwest Louisiana: The Ku Klux Klan, 1921-23.” 2006. Louisiana History: The Journal of the Louisiana Historical Association 47 (2): 153–68. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,shib&db=edsjsr&AN=edsjsr.4234179&site=eds-live&scope=site.
