In his statement, however, the "Emperor" failed to elucidate point Number
Four, which was no doubt the principal incentive that caused the admission
of women. Each lady Ku Klux will be required to donate ten dollars to the
"noble cause," and the admission of women doubles the number of
"prospects" to whom the Ku Klux "gold brick" can be peddled. It is
doubtful if the effort to "work" this new field will prove successful, as
the women of the South are more or less antagonistic to the movement. The
Daughters of the Confederacy of Virginia, at a convention held in the
spring of 1921, passed a resolution condemning the organization, and
asking the Virginia authorities to suppress it. It is hardly likely that
the daughters of the women who "made with their fingers 160,000 robes for
the old Klan" would care to become associated with the Gate City
Manufacturing Company, which is selling robes to all members at $6.50 a
robe, with a handsome profit on the side. Women, as a rule, are good
buyers, and it is hardly probable that they will look upon membership in
the "Invisible Empire" as a bargain even at ten dollars. Women are also
the chief supporters of the churches of the country, and it is doubtful
if they would care to go through a "Naturalization" ceremony that is a
blasphemous and sacriligious parody on the sacred and Holy rite of
baptism.
Another point of comparison between the two organizations lies in the
attitude of the old Klan and the new in reference to allowing members to
study their constitutions. We find, in the case of the original Klan, the
following edict:
"Every Grand Cyclops shall read, or cause to be read, this Prescript
and these Edicts to his Den, at least once in every month; and shall
read them to each new member when he is initiated, or present the
same to him for his personal perusal."
Here we have openness, frankness, and a disposition to take every member
into the confidence of the Order, so that each Klansman, at all times,
would have an opportunity to study and to understand the laws of the
organization under which he was working. During the time I was an active
member and worker in the modern Ku Klux Klan, the constitution was a
secret document. Members under me repeatedly asked for a copy of it, and I
transmitted their requests to my immediate superior who could not comply
with it for the reason that he had never seen a copy of it himself. It was
only after he had served as King Kleagle of Tennessee for six months that
he was permitted to have one copy for which he had to give an iron-clad
receipt. I was allowed to glance through the booklet comprising the
document, which afforded me the opportunity of noting a few salient
points, but this happened just as I was leaving the work. The officials of
the organization dare not permit the booklet I saw to be generally
circulated among their members.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account