Since the late 1860s, there have been many organizations that have used the title "Ku Klux Klan" or have split off from KKK groups using different names.
During Reconstruction, there were a number of white supremacistparamilitary groups that were organized in order to resist the reconstruction measures. While the Ku Klux Klan was the most famous group, it overlapped in membership and ideology with a number of others. In some cases, they were virtually indistinguishable from each other.[1]
Between the Reconstruction period, known as the Klan's "first era", and the rebirth of the modern movement in 1915, there were a handful of groups that scholars have identified as "bridges" that engaged in similar vigilante activities and introduced Klan-type organizing into areas that were untouched by Reconstruction.[2][full citation needed] In some cases, small towns often had so-called "decency committees" or "vigilance committees", which often used vigilante tactics against targets such as criminals, prostitutes, drunkards, and in some instances, Black people, Native Americans, Mexicans, Chinese Americans, European immigrants, Catholics, Mormons, and non-Christians, including Jews and atheists. Sometimes, in fact, their attire or their disguises resembled those which were worn by the KKK.[citation needed]
Since the 1970s, the Klan's popularity, both among racists and the general public, has been in consistent decline. Just between 2016 and 2019 the number of self-identified Klan groups dropped from 130 to 51.[6] While this may be partially influenced by popular public opinion against the Klan's views, it may also be influenced by the Klan's perceived modern lack of relevance among Americans whose politics tilt toward racist ideologies. Many factions of the Klan began to form alliances with neo-Nazi groups, some members of the American militia movement, and other right-wing extremists, with the goal of cross-recruitment.[7]
Since the foundation of the original Klan, a number of Ku Klux Klan groups and chapters have emerged outside the United States in places like Canada, Europe and South America.
Fiji had a Ku Klux Klan group which was founded by Europeans and the group was said to be the Klan's first foreign chapter. However, the group's activities were quickly halted by the British colonials once they discovered that the Fijian Klan had plans to rebel against the crown.[28]
There was a post-WWII Ku Klux Klan group in Chile which was headed by Franz Schweitzer. It received significant notoriety in the late 1950s when four of its members attempted to bomb a synagogueinSantiago. Threatening letters were also sent to Jews, demanding that they send funds to Horace Sherman, a member of the American Ku Klux Klan who resided in Waco, Texas.[29]
European White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan - Founded on October 1 of the year 2000, this short lived Klan group was based in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The organization is believed to have dissolved itself in late 2002.[30][31]
Imperial Klans of America, Brazil - The Brazilian chapter of the Imperial Klans of America. This group gained media attention in 2015 after propaganda stickers which were produced by it surfaced in Niterói. The stickers contained messages which threatened Muslims and homosexuals.[34]
Imperial Klans of Brazil - An earlier Brazilian chapter of the Imperial Klans of America that was shut down after its leader was arrested in 2003.[35]
Knights of the Ku Klux Klan of Kanada - A Canadian Ku Klux Klan organization that was based in Toronto.[36]
Ku Klux Klan – Distrikt Nordrhein-Westfalen - A German Ku Klux Klan group operating in North Rhine-Westphalia.[37]
Ku Klux Klan of Kanada - One of the most prominent KKK groups in Canada during the mid-1920s.[38]
Ku Klux Klan in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern - An active German Ku Klux Klan group that operates in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.[31]
National Socialist Knights of the Ku Klux Klan Deutschland - A German KKK group that mixes elements of Nazism with the ideologies of the American Klan.[39][40]
Order of the Knights of the Fiery Cross - A KKK-related group which was founded in Germany in the 1920s. The group disbanded after the Nazification of Germany occurred, prompting its members to join the Nazis.[41][42]
European Empire White Knights (EEWK) – founded on December 1, 2015, based in France and present in several European countries.[citation needed]
