Ku Klux Klan violence against African Americans is widely considered one of the bases of the acute racial tensions—particularly between blacks and whites—that are ever-present in American society today. This topic goes beyond simply the activities of this terrorist group and can be used to explore whether white supremacy has a “functional” role in America today, by looking at how the violent acts have been explained over time. I’ve divided my collection of sources into three categories, based both on the time of their publishing and on the perspective they offer on motivations behind Klan violence. Prior to 1960, the viewpoint taken on violence at the hands of the Klan is heavy on victim-blaming and justifying the violence by claiming “it was
