# Immigration debate causing surge in KKK membership? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 6, 2007, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-debate-causing-surge-in-kkk-membership/391153 "2007-02-06T23:59:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [February 6, 2007, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-debate-causing-surge-in-kkk-membership/391153/1 "2007-02-06T23:59:14Z")
[So says the Anti-Defamation League](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003558522_hate06.html), at any rate: > [@](#): > > Huge street protests made millions of immigrants more visible and powerful last year, but they also seem to have revived a hateful counter force: white supremacists. > > Groups linked to the Ku Klux Klan, skinheads and neo-Nazis grew significantly more active, holding more rallies, distributing leaflets and increasing their presence on the Internet — much of it focused on stirring anti-immigrant sentiment, a new report released by the Anti-Defamation League says. > > … > > Old Klan chapters have been revived and new ones started throughout the South, historically the heart of the group, and in other places such as Michigan, Iowa and New Jersey, says the report, which was scheduled for official release today. True? If so, significant? And is this the predictable result when the debate becomes emotional and by definition irrational, that irrational organizations flourish? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-debate-causing-surge-in-kkk-membership/391153/2 "2007-02-07T00:07:39Z")
From the linked article: _Precise data are difficult to pin down, but Potok’s group counts as many as 150 Klan chapters with up to 8,000 members nationwide. More than 800 hate groups exist around the country, Southern Poverty research shows._ 8000 members nationwide amounts to a fart in a hurricane. Fuck em. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-debate-causing-surge-in-kkk-membership/391153/3 "2007-02-07T16:53:17Z")
The KKK? You ever see one? Even one? Anywhere? They are like the boogeyman or Michael Jackson, just things dreamed up to scare people. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nuggets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@Mr.Nuggets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nuggets)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-debate-causing-surge-in-kkk-membership/391153/4 "2007-02-07T17:08:38Z")
I just saw an interview with the Imperial Wizard of the KKK on CNN Headline News. He wore a purple hat. Weird that he’d wear purple, a traditionally feminine color, as head of an organization that hates gays, as well as other groups. 😕😕😕😕 ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-debate-causing-surge-in-kkk-membership/391153/5 "2007-02-07T17:34:57Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] The KKK? You ever see one? Even one? Anywhere? They are like the boogeyman or Michael Jackson, just things dreamed up to scare people. [/QUOTE] In 1976, when my mom and I were driving to downtown Montgomery to go to Sears, we were held up because the Klan was holding a small parade down Perry Street. Other than that, I got nothin’. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-debate-causing-surge-in-kkk-membership/391153/6 "2007-02-07T17:35:59Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Nuggets] I just saw an interview with the Imperial Wizard of the KKK on CNN Headline News. He wore a purple hat. Weird that he’d wear purple, a traditionally feminine color, as head of an organization that hates gays, as well as other groups. 😕😕😕😕 [/QUOTE] Purple is the traditional color of royalty and authority. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-debate-causing-surge-in-kkk-membership/391153/7 "2007-02-07T18:13:34Z")
From even the time of classical Greece, purple in it’s original form, Tyrian Purple, came at great expense because it could only be derived from a certain mollusc, thus rendering it more valuable than even gold. Later, with the shift to a bluer Royal Purple in medieval Europe, rarity and expense continued, thus cementing it’s association with royalty, again really the only ones that could afford it. It’s use by the KKK isn’t ironic, it’s merely covetous of authority and moral right. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-debate-causing-surge-in-kkk-membership/391153/8 "2007-02-07T18:22:05Z")
From even the time of classical Greece, purple in it’s original form, Tyrian Purple, came at great expense because it could only be derived from certain molluscs, the murex and buccinum, thus making it’s extraction so expensive only a priviledged few could afford it. They called all these porphyry, which translates to purpura in Latin. Later, with the blue ingredient rare in medieval Europe, expense continued, thus cementing it’s association with royalty, again really the only ones that could afford it. It’s use by the KKK isn’t ironic, it’s merely covetous of authority and moral right. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-debate-causing-surge-in-kkk-membership/391153/9 "2007-02-07T18:25:28Z")
In the 80’s, in Chattanooga, I went to college with a member. He had the brass keychain thingy, & everything. Just a guy, if a little unpolished. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Joe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@Evil\_Joe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Joe)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-debate-causing-surge-in-kkk-membership/391153/10 "2007-02-07T18:28:11Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] The KKK? You ever see one? Even one? Anywhere? They are like the boogeyman or Michael Jackson, just things dreamed up to scare people. [/QUOTE] Yes, they march in towns around here. And here is not down deep in Dixie, it’s 30 minutes from Philadelphia. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-debate-causing-surge-in-kkk-membership/391153/11 "2007-02-07T22:05:21Z")
[QUOTE=Mr. Nuggets] I just saw an interview with the Imperial Wizard of the KKK on CNN Headline News. He wore a purple hat. Weird that he’d wear purple, a traditionally feminine color, as head of an organization that hates gays, as well as other groups. 😕😕😕😕 [/QUOTE] Give 'em a break. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep a white robe and hood spotless? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-debate-causing-surge-in-kkk-membership/391153/12 "2007-02-07T22:24:07Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] The KKK? You ever see one? Even one? Anywhere? They are like the boogeyman or **Michael Jackson,** just things dreamed up to scare people. [/QUOTE] Hey, he’s real. He’s back, too. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2007, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-debate-causing-surge-in-kkk-membership/391153/13 "2007-02-07T22:56:54Z")
Those living in the South can tell you that periodically a KKK chapter will request permission for a public meeting, usually the town agrees, free specch and all, and you end up with ten or so hillbillly males in stained sheets gathered yelling white power, with about 100 opponents hurling insults at them from outside a fence lined with cops. Pretty funny actually, but I can’t see any self-respecting person, no matter how racist, joing the current Klan- it’s just so cornball and low-class. ---
**Author:** ![Stan\_Shmenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/94ad74/32.png) [@Stan\_Shmenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stan_Shmenge)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-debate-causing-surge-in-kkk-membership/391153/14 "2007-02-16T08:45:33Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] The KKK? You ever see one? Even one? Anywhere? [/QUOTE] Yeah, but my partner gunned the accelerator and made them all jump into the Jackson Park Lagoon! 😃 Actually, some friends and I went to Lincoln Park when we heard the nazis were going to march. We were hoping to crack some heads. There were more police than Nazis or protesters combined. ---
**Author:** ![The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a87d85/32.png) [@The\_King\_of\_Soup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_King_of_Soup)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-debate-causing-surge-in-kkk-membership/391153/15 "2007-02-16T17:28:18Z")
**Paul** and **Oakminster** , the sheer numbers of the KKK compared to the population of the entire world really isn’t the relevant statistic: it’s their number compared to whichever victim(s) they’ve managed to corner. The Klan, like any bully, is inherently cowardly and fearful, but it has never, and moreover, doesn’t need to, outnumber _everybody_. It’s plenty brave enough to act whenever it has a momentary advantage, say twelve against two, masked, in an isolated spot, in the dark of night. Then, they’re just _ferocious_. Anyhow, with the greatest respect to the OP, the problem seems to be not that the issue is greatly swelling KKK membership, but that otherwise normal people may be persuaded to refrain from condemning the ignorant bigots by their adoption of an issue that can still be portrayed, superficially, as race-neutral. Personally, I can’t see the KKK being rehabilitated by anything imaginable. But if you’re up to no good, you don’t necessarily need active accomplices: you just need witnesses who are confused enough to decide to keep silent. And according to Burke, among others, [all that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing](http://www.wisdomquotes.com/000896.html). A debate over immigration strengthens the KKK so long as enough facts are excluded: then, its existence convinces the weak-minded that bigotry is an appropriate response, or is at least sympathetically understandable. Any slight hesitation in condemning the most heinous acts paves the way for more of the same. That’s because these pseudo-humans don’t care about winning any arguments. They want to start and win a war, and they’re willing to do it one crime at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/immigration-debate-causing-surge-in-kkk-membership/391153/16 "2007-02-16T22:21:51Z")
[QUOTE=Paul in Saudi] The KKK? You ever see one? Even one? Anywhere? They are like the boogeyman or Michael Jackson, just things dreamed up to scare people. [/QUOTE] 46 of them were on our state capitol steps holding a nice little rally ('04?). A coworker hunting by Brainerd accidentally stumbled onto a group of them a couple years back. Said “whoops”, turned around, and ran as fast as he could.