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As always it was easy to believe that the failures of today were the result of interlopers and insidious conspiracies by inferior types. Duke was elected to the Louisiana state legislature in 1989. Though the campaign focused to a considerable extent on his Klan connections it ignored his wider philosophical associations and social and political connections. Duke was heavily involved with the American Nazi party. National Socialism represented possibly the ultimate expression of the Klan's principles of racial hatred, these poisonous ideas being brought to their natural apex in the goal of literally exterminating the supposedly inferior races. Following the methodology of Adolph Hitler, Duke began as a revolutionary but then turned to an appeal to "jobs and bread," thus linking his virulently racist campaign to the most fundamental human needs (Moore, 1992, pp. 94-95). Duke claimed to represent the true, hidden majority. In the end he was driven from office by a coalition of African-Americans and seemingly opposed White groups who saw in David Duke a far greater threat (Moore, 1992, p. 34).
Thus the career of David Duke and the Klan's reemergence as a force behind politics and radical, racist social change in the late Twentieth Century, was based, in a great many ways, and the same ideology that always motivates such groups -- the fear of change and the identification of that change with a nefarious "other." In such a world change is inevitably bad. The past is always represented in idealized terms, and is always somehow stolen away from those who live now. Fundamental things -- jobs, homes, traditions -- are threatened by irrational forces that seek to empower the previously disenfranchised, or even to give power to those who might have been absent before. African-Americans as well as Catholics, Jews, and many other immigrant groups, were in effect absent from the American scene in the Klan's idealized past world. The Ku Klux Klan appeared and gained strength in response to...
The Klan battled ideas as well as individuals and groups. It used terror to intimidate those that could not be kept down by any other means. It used propaganda to sway the hearts and minds of those who could increase its power, and plus to give force to its racist arguments. Where possible it used legitimate means to further its illegitimate goals. The Klan increasingly operated on the principle of capturing political power within the framework of the recognized political system. With increasing finesse, it packaged its leaders as men of the people, ordinary American citizens who were simply fighting for what was theirs. The Klan thrives on the idea that there are "real" Americans and there are "unreal" Americans. Racism takes life from the exalting of difference and also from the need to eliminate those who are different. Inherently illogical, it lives through fear.
References
Feldman, G. (1999). Politics, Society, and the Klan in Alabama, 1915-1949. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press.
Harcourt, E.J. (2005). Who Were the Pale Faces? New Perspectives on the Tennessee Ku Klux. Civil War History, 51(1), 23+.
McGee, B.R. (1998). Rehabilitating Emotion: The Troublesome Case of the Ku Klux Klan. Argumentation and Advocacy, 34(4), 173+.
Mecklin, J.M. (1963). The Ku Klux Klan a Study of the American Mind. New York: Russell & Russell.
This single act, as shown by the documentation of the criminal justice system undeniably meets every single criteria for definition as an act of domestic terrorism as defined by section 2331 of Chapter 113b in the United States Code, which was quoted earlier. Of course this certainly isn't an isolated event. The court documents cited above themselves describe numerous acts of violence committed by Klan members throughout the 1960s and
] The Klan was therefore able to identify different methods of infiltrating American politics and ideologies, crafting their program to suit different regions of the country. In areas with large numbers of Jews, the Klan could be rabidly anti-Semitic and gain membership via the propagation of Nazi values. In areas where moral decay in Christian communities was viewed as a primary problem, the Klan leaders presented their ideology as an agent
The Earth Liberation Front (ELF) is also a domestic terrorist organization for the same reason, although it also maintains affiliations outside the U.S. (ELF, 2009). Like the AOG, the ELF preaches a message that would be perfectly legal if it were pursued strictly by nonviolent, legal means. Specifically, the ELF is dedicated to the economic sabotage of entities that, according to their definitions, are engaged in destroying the planet's environment
Terrorism Tragedies from deadly terrorist attacks have made the international communities to pervasively fear and loath terrorism. Terrorism is undertaken by individual with motivations that are complex for the understanding of security agencies and individuals. Definition according United States statutes states terrorism to be politically motivated, premeditated, violence against noncombatant individuals, private property by clandestine agents or subnational groups, with an intention to obtain audience (Launtenberg, 2011). This definition is
Terrorism Organizations What is Terrorism? Legacy in the 21st century Based Terrorist Organizations Aryan Nation Ku Klux Klan Counterterrorism and Prevention Definitions and Structures Homeland Security Patriot Act The very nature of terrorism, of course, is to engender fear and panic into the population base. Thus, targets are so numerous that complete protection of all is impossible. Targets could include any of the governmental buildings in Washington, D.C., courthouses or public buildings in major cities, malls, churches, and transportation centers
Terrorist Groups: Terrorism is basically defined as activities or violence that is carried out to coerce the government or civilian population to change its policies. Such activities are usually carried out due to divergent political, religious and ideological beliefs by individuals or members of an extremist group. However, the federal agencies definitions of terrorism vary depending on their operational roles and missions resulting in the lack of a universally accepted definition