Klansville USA Movie Reflection

     Klansville USA was very disturbing but also an interesting documentary. It was disturbing because of the practices and beliefs of the Klan but it was interesting because of the manipulation and control the Klan had over its members. The leader of the KKK in North Carolina at the time of the documentary was Bob Jones and he was later known as the most influential Grand Dragon at the time. Jones was apart of the middle class in North Carolina, but he was on the poorer side. His father was a railroad worker and had been apart of the KKK in the past. Jones dropped out of high school and joined the Navy, but he was discharged because he refused to salute a black soldier. Bob Jones believed heavily in white-supremacy and he was also extremely angry about his life. He believed that black people having rights and having the ability to have jobs was just taking away resources and jobs from white people, especially poorer white people like Jones. This anger built up and that was when Jones decided to reopen a new chapter of the KKK in North Carolina. 

    The KKK in North Carolina wanted to be taken seriously and have more political power. They were also more peaceful then violent. The Klan would have parties on lawns and do peaceful protests through the streets of town. The only similar thing that the new chapter did was burn a cross at the end of each event. They would do this as away to scare people who stood against their beliefs. The most disturbing part of the Klan was the power that they had over their members. The leaders were manipulative and made the members believe that joining the Klan was the only way that they would have meaning in the world. The Klan was mostly made up of poor white people and people that were desperate to put meaning back into their lives. They were all afraid that black people would take their jobs and move above them on the social pyramid. Members were so afraid to lose value in the world and have another group ahead of them in the social world that they joined. Past members who were interviewed years after the Klan dismembered, they said that they didn't remember anything from the time and how the regret joining. This is scary because the real power of the KKK came from the intense fear of failure. All of the pain and chaos caused by the KKK was based on insecurity. The exploitation of people who felt lost was very devious of the KKK and it worked until the Klan was finally dismembered.