One didn't just become a Klansman by putting on a hood and burning a cross. Nope, the terrorist organization provided instructions to its members on how to further the cause of white supremacy in case any members were too dumb to figure things out for themselves (which probably applied to most members). The instructions were among a trove of documents recently discovered at the Mississippi Department of Public Safety.
An employee discovered a long-forgotten briefcase in a closet at DPS as the agency prepares to move to its new headquarters in Rankin County. The briefcase contained a collection of historical rattlesnakes from the 1960's, courtesy of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. A Klan robe, hood, and various Klan documents such as Klorans and meeting minutes filled the briefcase. DPS Commissioner Sean Tindall transferred the briefcase and its contents to the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.
JJ managed to snag this bit of history. The collection has over 150 documents and photos. As usual, JJ will post the documents. However, JJ does not want to overwhelm the reader so it is posting the documents in batches so they are easier to digest.
This material is a part of the state's dark past when the tyranny of racism reigned supreme. However, this website has always believed in reporting the past, good and bad, as history is history. When history is forgotten, the future almost always reminds us of past sins as we commit them again. This website covered the lynchings, whipping of blacks at the Capitol, and other racial crimes from the past. This post is published in the same vein.
What is posted below is not published to glorify the Klan but how a terrorist group in Mississippi operated as the briefcase takes off the mask the Klan used so well to terrorize its fellow Mississippians. The materials are predictable, making the usual remarks about segregation, white pride, and communist plots to overthrow the government through the Civil Rights Movement.
When studying the collection, one is struck by how organized the Klavern in Mississippi was. The documents often read like something from the Rotary Club or a local government. There are committees, agendas, detailed minutes, lists of fees paid (and unpaid), and rosters.
Posted below is a copy of an "Imperial Executive Order" that was found in the briefcase.
The order starts out as a call to arms, stating "this organization is the physical spear upon which the enemy will either impale or perish. The order exhorts members not to engage in counter-demonstrations or street battles as it would give "the communist authorities in charge of the national government" an excuse to declare martial law. Seriously.
The order cloaked its terrorism behind the banner of fighting communism as it claimed the civil rights movement was a communist plot. The order issues an intelligence directive where members are to collect information and forward it to leadership. It provides guidance on using propaganda to further the Klan's goals. The order repeatedly claims the Klan is defending Christian civilization from the godless communists (sarcasm).
The importance of security is discussed as well. The order warns members to keep as little in writing as possible, Each unit must have a security officer to discipline members (similar to the role of the Soviet Commissars embedded in the Red Army). Members are advised to use public phones and to assume they are being wiretapped. Paranoia abounded as the Klan claimed the postal service was using infrared techniques to scan mail.
The Klan advised known members to use subterfuge and portray themselves as becoming disillusioned with the KKK. Each unit was directed to have at least eight men and 50 rounds of ammunition. They are advised to "drill and shoot together until they are as proficient as an infantry squad.
16 comments:
These people went on the run the state of the next 40 years….
Was this written by Bennie Thompson?
Can you imagine these idiots if social media would have existed?
For one thing, we would all have polio and measles.
The Klan is probably the most infiltrated organization in the USA.
People need to realize that the klan was never meant to be forever. Just like the Nazi movement, temporary BS. MS can’t forget and move on from the klan because there are people that make money off keeping it alive.
The Rest Is History podcast is currently doing a multi part series about the history of the Klan which is very informative.
@3:03 p.m. I don't know about people making money of it other than the Klan. Could be because it is still an active organization in the U.S. or because people like 12:50 p.m. get so upset about the Klan that they believe its somehow Bennie Thompson's fault.
I have known Mississippi Klansmen and never knew one mean or vicious. Most were defending their heritage. Northern propaganda shaped the narrative. Just ask your grandfather.
8:38, I guess by “heritage” you mean forced racial segregation and keeping black folks from exercising their constitutional right to vote.
And I guess bombing homes and churches don’t constitute “mean” or “vicious” where you’re from.
I’ll add that the only person I’ve know who was associated with the klan back then was a mean bastard many years later.
But I guess they were all sweethearts compared to the klan you knew in Louisiana.
KKK was part of good ole boy system and infiltrated throughout the white community. That explains why Mississippi is in such a poor state and the quality of living is so low. Apples do not fall far from tree. Both sides continue to war and the every day person loses. I watch the white man rule and the black man eats his own kind. It is a horrible situation but I think no one can fix it except those directly involved. Mississippians must want change enough to make it happen.
Two men I respected recruited me for the Klan when I was about ten years old, around the time of Nixon's election. Seemed to consider it their duty to God and country. Claimed not to hate black people but saw them as pawns of hated Communists. Both were from all-white NE MS.
I've known only two men who belonged to the Klan. Neither of them were vicious or violent.
If one were to go to a Klan meeting now, I've read rather recently, and if there are 500 attendees, there will be five Klansmen and 495 FBI agents and informants.
The Klan wasn't an effective group after the turn into the 20th century. But a lot of people churn up fodder and money by waving that bloody shirt.
Those documents were the fruits of Chester Quarles infiltration of the White Knights of the KKK during the 1960's. Chester was a Mississippi Highway Patrolman whose mission was to infiltrate the Klan. Chester later became head of the Crime Lab and later became head of the Law Enforcement program at the University of Mississippi. He did his doctoral dissertation on those experiences and documents. Dr. Quarles was ordered to do this by Col. T.B. Birdsong and that is why those documents were kept in a closet at MHP Headquarters. Dr. Quarles was threatened by the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan with death. It was a threat that he did not take lightly
Suddenly, everybody is an expert on the KKK, especially those who were ten years old when it existed.
The clown who says two men tried to recruit him at age 10 was, at that time, busy affixing playing cards to his bicycle spokes and wondering what time supper was.
Dr. Quarles’ research on the KKK was his master’s thesis in 1970, fully available for download at egrove.olemiss.edu.
Dr. Quarles was fantastic; he took his experience and educated several generations of Mississippi and federal law enforcement personnel. He is a true Mississippi hero.
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