The Ku Klux Klan - A Secret History (History Channel)

To answer the reviewer's question below, I am a US History teacher who has used this video numerous times in my classroom. The video presents an objective (at least as objective as one can be about what is essentially a terrorist organization) history of what one professor who is interviewed calls an "American-born terrorist group." Created by the History Channel, this video covers the history of the Klan from its beginnings in the post-Civil War, Reconstruction-Era South to modern-day variations such as David Duke and the Skinheads. In a sense the video is also a history of the civil rights movement in America, as it is during periods of activism for equal rights that the Klan has been the most active - and deadly - hate group in American history. The video argues that during its history the Klan has not been a stable or consistent organization. Instead, it goes through cycles - it rises up to oppose minority rights and promote "White Supremacy," then nearly dies out, then rises yet again out of its own ashes to oppose civil rights activists in another historical era.The Klan's first period of power was in the post-Civil War South, when whites felt threatened by the newly freed slaves and used the Klan to try and thwart their newly-won civil rights, with considerable success. The organization then died away until 1915, when it was reborn at Stone Mountain, Georgia. In the 1920s it spread across the USA, with "klaverns" in all 48 states and some 4-5 million members. It opposed not only blacks, but Jews, Catholics, and nearly all immigrant groups. They staged a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, and controlled the state government in Indiana. But the Klan self-destructed in a series of scandals, ranging from the brutal rape-murder of a white woman in Indiana, bribery and blackmail of politicians, and the embezzling of funds by the Klan leadership. By the thirties the Klan was again virtually extinct, yet it rose again in the fifties and sixties to oppose the civil rights movement with bombings, lynchings, assassinations of civil rights workers and leaders, and other acts of violence. However, the FBI and other federal law-enforcement agencies, backed by President Lyndon Johnson, went after the most dangerous Klan groups by bribing its members to turn in those who had committed crimes against civil rights workers and leaders, and using the IRS to destroy the Klan financially. In the 1970s the Klan tried to change its image by using men such as David Duke in Louisiana to promote the view of the "Klan next door" as Julian Bond, a prominent civil rights leader, calls him. Unlike previous Klan leaders, Duke wears business suits and looks, talks and acts like a professional businessman, not a stereotypical, backwoods "hick" Klansman. Yet the documentary clearly shows Duke to be just as racist and dangerous as previous, less-polished Klan leaders. This video is not for the faint of heart - at its beginning and end the documentary shows a modern-day Klan rally in North Carolina, and the "n" word and other racial epithets are spoken frequently. Yet my students (black, white, and Hispanic) have learned a great deal from this video about the nature of hate groups and racism in America - and I believe they'll be better-prepared to resist such groups in their own lives. If you want a factual yet deeply disturbing "inside" look at America's most famous native-born terrorist group, then this video is the best you can buy.PS - I wrote this review many years ago, and while the Klan is still (fortunately) feeble, I thought it worth noting that many of the views it expressed are still unfortunately alive and well as of 2016. Many of the issues which are driving the current 2016 presidential campaign - nativism, anti-immigration, opposition to much of mainstream science, fear and loathing of minority groups among certain segments of the populace - are strikingly similar to the Klan's beliefs at its height of national power in the 1920s. During that decade the Klan advertised itself as a super-patriotic organization that promoted white, native-born Protestant Christians as being superior to everyone else, vigorously opposed immigration and religious minorities such as Catholics and Jews, and supported religious fundamentalist, morally restrictive legislation such as Prohibition and forbidding the teaching of evolution in public schools, even though a good deal of the Klan's leadership privately drank liquor, among many other hypocrisies. History does sometimes run in cycles, and while the Klan itself may be a spent force, many of the ideas it promoted sadly appear to have retained their attraction for a not-insignificant percentage of our population. For that reason, this documentary is still well worth watching some twenty years after it was first released.

I know that i’ll probably catch hell for actually writing a review on this considering its content.This is a well done documentary. I love documentaries. I don't believe what these individuals stand for or believe in at all, but regardless its interesting.

My 11 year old son was asking about the subject of the KKK, his interest sparked by a book they were reading in school. I wanted to explain it without prejudice and using facts, that I genuinely did not know. So, I turned to this video. Our whole family sat quietly and watched thie History Channel production. It was done so well. Both my sons, (11 & 13 yrs old) understood all that was being told, the language was common, and the deliverance kept their interest. The only negative is that the video, dated 2005, seemed a bit old and had not been updated. The facts were presented in a chronological, easy to understand manner. Persoanlly, I walked away from the video with more knowledge than I expected. The lesson of good turning evil came through loud and clear, and my sons really got it. This is a good video for educational purposes.

This is well worth having and seeing. One could only imagine what this KKK was all about. But now you can see and hear it fir what it really is. If you have or read my review of Nazi America A Secret History then this dvd adds to the extremism that exists in the USA since after the American Civil War. The dvd speaks for itself. thanks to the fine producers at the History Channel. Well documented account and history of the Klan

The KKK dominated politics in BOTH North and South since the late 19th Century. They enforced segregation to keep African American men away from White women and to deny them power. While majority of White Americans did not support the race violence but they supported Segregation. This encouraged this type of behavior because the KKK knew that public would not go against them since they were enforcing the racial standards of the day. BOTH Political Parties had their hands in the KKK Pockets. THE DVD is very informative although it could been brought up Storm Thurmond or Harry Byrd both Democrats. Sadly racial violence has not gone away-Pity the human animal

I have studied and have always been interested in the Klan, due to my love of the civil war era and interest into hate groups. This documentary shows a consise history of the klan through the post civil war era, nationalization in 20's, and the current klan today. Not for pg audiences, some gruesome scenes and stories are present.

Very educational. Everyone should be aware of the teachings and practices of hatred as it is worldwide. Show this to your children as a (what NOT to be lesson).

I had no idea that slaves and freed men could be treated so cruelly!!!!! I'm from the South and would never have treated anyone this way!!! Apparently some of these people had no feelings to do such horrible things to another human being!!!!

Whenever one seeks out documentaries on important subjects, one always has worry that the producers will favour tabloid shock over substance. Not so with this film.The film utilizes its 100 minutes to the utmost, comprehensively covering every necessary aspect of the Klan`s history & origins, and doing so in the proper sober manner.

very educational could have covered more recent activities.