Rising out of the ashes of the Civil War, the Ku Klux Klan sowed seeds of racism, American white supremacy, and family values. According to New York historian Linda Gordon, by the 1920s this organization had become "the biggest social movement of the early twentieth century." Membership was limited to white, Protestant, native-born citizens; some four to six million Americans were involved.

The KKK elected mayors, governors, and senators across the country, mainly above the Mason-Dixon line in such states as Oregon, Colorado, Indiana, and Maine. With its loyal constituency, the KKK managed to promote programs of eugenic laws, censorship, and population quotas for immigrants.

During the Roaring Twenties, they expanded their hatred campaigns from blacks to other minorities which they saw as threatening the American way: Jews, Catholics, and foreigners (non-natives). By 1925, the KKK was experiencing their glory days as 30,000 of them marched proudly in a Washington, D.C. parade. Gordon notes with dismay that the KKK was espousing values that had great appeal to the majority of Americans at the time.

The author points out that the second rising of the KKK during the 1920s sputtered out thanks to its stunts, violent acts, and over-reaching pride. Gordon spells out the enduring legacy of this movement. The truth of her observation is frightening:

"The Klannish spirit -- fearful, angry, gullible to sensationalist falsehoods, in thrall to demagogic leaders and abusive language, hostile to science and intellectuals, committed to the dream that everyone can be a success if they only try -- lives on."