The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that "by 1925, when its followers staged a huge Washington, D.C., march, the Klan had as many as 4 million members and, in some states, considerable political power."
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How strange and scary and dangerous those times must have been, when large numbers of Klanspeople paraded around, draped in white robes and sinister ideology.
But Kathleen Blee emphasizes that the omnipresence of such evil reveals a lot about the era. "The Klan's ability to be seen as just another club reflected the strong racial and religious segregation of the day," she says.
The Southern Poverty Law Center has probably done more than any other org. to stop extremist orgs. in last 20 years like the KKK and Skinheads by suing them and giving the proceeds to the victims.
In 1920s America the insidious Invisible Empire was not only visible, it participated in otherwise polite society.
npr.org
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