# Klu Klux Klan - Terrorist Organization? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 5, 2003, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/klu-klux-klan-terrorist-organization/146787 "2003-01-05T16:42:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 2\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/klu-klux-klan-terrorist-organization/146787/61 "2003-01-07T23:39:34Z")
> [@](#): > > Do you agree with Duck Duck that the Klan has had “a clean bill of health” for the last thirty-two years? I guess that would depend on your definition of “clean bill of health.” I do not think that they have given up their attitudes of fear that make them want to lash out at others. I do think that they have, (whether from fear of legal reprisal or from condemnation by their neighbors), moved away from actively promoting violence. And I do not think that any action by “the Klan” since the intimidation of the Vietnamese fisherman qualifies as deliberate, planned, terrorism. (The Donald murder can be argued the other way, but all the reports I have read indicate a bunch of drunks working themselves into a rage rather than a calculated decision by the leadership and members to deliberately send a specific message to the black community.) So, while “a clean bill of health” might be more than I would grant them, I would hold that they are not currently a terrorist organization. (Which does not preclude them reverting to such in the future, but does indicate that people who sympathize with the Klan’s complaints do not automatically incur the epithet of “terrorist sympathizer.”) ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/klu-klux-klan-terrorist-organization/146787/62 "2003-01-08T19:01:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*I have yet to see anything which indicates that they are not, as a group, still officially on the FBI’s domestic terrorist list. \*\* [http://www.terrorismanswers.com/groups/american3.html#Q16](http://www.terrorismanswers.com/groups/american3.html#Q16) > [@](#): > > Does the United States keep a formal list of domestic terrorist groups? > > No. While the State Department publishes a “Designated Foreign Terrorist Organizations” list, no U.S. government agency maintains a formal list of domestic terror groups. > [@](#): > > \*\*Are you saying that those five groups are the only ones considered to be a threat? That report also did not mention about 195 other organizations considered to be potentially threatening. \*\* But those 195 or so other groups are only “hate groups”, not “terrorist groups”. From 1999. [http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress99/freehct2.htm](http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress99/freehct2.htm) > [@](#): > > February 4, 1999 > > Statement for the Record of > Louis J. Freeh, Director > Federal Bureau of Investigation > > on > President’s Fiscal Year 2000 Budget > Before the Senate Committee on Appropriations > Subcommittee for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and > State, the Judiciary, and Related Agencies > Washington, D.C. > > \< snip \> > > Domestic terrorist groups are those which are based and which operate entirely within the United States, or its territories, and whose activities are directed at elements of the United States Government or its civilian population. Domestic terrorist groups represent interests that span the full political spectrum, as well as social issues and concerns. **FBI investigations of domestic terrorist groups or individuals are not predicated upon social or political beliefs; rather, they are based upon planned or actual criminal activity.** “Criminal activity”, which the KKK has not been indulging in. > [@](#): > > Right-wing Extremist Groups. The threat from right-wing extremist groups includes militias, white-separatist groups, and anti-government groups. All right-wing extremist groups tend to encourage massing weapons, ammunition and supplies in preparation for a confrontation with federal law enforcement, as well as local law enforcement who are often perceived as agents for the State/Federal government. > > \< snip \> > > Due to Christian Identity adherents’ widespread propaganda efforts and Identity’s racist/anti-Semitic/anti-government appeal, there are a number of churches and diverse organizations throughout the United States that embrace the doctrines of Identity. Identity beliefs are also increasingly found in the rhetoric of all types of right-wing extremist groups, including, but not limited to, militias, survivalist communes, the Ku Klux Klan, neo-Nazis, skinheads, tax protesters, and common law courts. Thus, with the approaching millennium, there is a greater potential for members from such Identity influenced groups to engage in violent activities as well. And that’s the only mention of the KKK in his report. He’s not talking about terrorist groups–he’s talking about extremist groups, of all sorts, who _might_ indulge in violent behavior. Again, he just wants it on record that he told Congress about it. But he’s not labeling any of them specifically as “terrorists”. Also, the groups he’s addressing are the “militias”, who arm themselves and go live in the woods–the KKK doesn’t do this. > [@](#): > > \*\*Are you saying that those five groups are the only ones considered to be a threat? \*\* Yes, exactly, and for the reason I already gave–the FBI Assistant Suit didn’t think the KKK were important enough, or threatening enough, to mention them to Congress. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/klu-klux-klan-terrorist-organization/146787.md?page=3)