A Living Organization Changes With Time. Some Parts Of It May Remain I Essay Example For Students

A Living Organization Changes With Time. Some Parts Of It May Remain I Essay dentical to that which was first constructed. Most parts will adapt to changes in the world, in society, and in mankind itself. If it does not change, it withers and dies. Organizations which fail to adapt to changes, whether they like it or not, tend to become shrunken relics of their original selves. They become mummified images of a once living creation. Such an organization is the Ku Klux Klan, better known as the KKK. The Ku Klux Klan is one of the most hateful groups that still exists today. They are not as strong as they once were, but still pose a threat. I believe that the KKK should have never been formed because of the pain and increased racial tension that it has caused in our society today. The origin of the Ku Klux Klan was a carefully guarded secret for years, although there were many theories to explain its beginnings. One popular belief held that the Ku Klux Klan was originally a secret order of Chinese opium smugglers. Another claimed that it began by Confederate prisoners during the war. No matter what people thought it was, its formation is still the blame for the deaths of many innocent blacks in the South. In fact the beginning of the Klan involved nothing so sinister, subversive or ancient as the theories supposed. It was the boredom of small-town life that led six young Confederate veterans to gather around a fireplace on one December evening in 1865 and form a social club. The place was Pulaski, Tennessee, near the Alabama border. When they reassembled a week later, the six men were full of ideas for their new society. It would be a secret, to heighten amusement, and the titles for the various officers were to have names as ridiculous sounding as possible, partly for the fun of it and partly to avoid any military or political implications. Ahuja 2Soon after the founders named the Klan, they decided show off a bit. They disguised themselves in sheets and galloped their horses through the quiet streets of little Pulaski, Tennessee. Their ride created such a stir that the men decided to adopt the sheets as the official costume of the Ku Klux Klan, and they added to the effect by making grotesque masks and tall pointed hats. The founders also performed elaborate initiation ceremonies for new members. Their ceremony was similar to the hazing popular in college fraternities, in which consisted of blindfolding the candidate, subject him to a series of silly oaths and rough handling, and finally bringing him before a royal altar where he was to be invested with royal crown. The altar turned out to be a mirror and the crown two large donkeys ears. Ridiculous as though it sounds today, that was the high point of the earliest activities of the Ku Klux Klan. Had that been all there was to the Ku Klux Klan, it probably would have disappeared as quietly as it was born. But at some point in early 1866, it enlarged with new members from nearby towns, and began to have a chilling effect on local blacks. The intimidating night rides were soon the centerpiece of the hooded order: bands of white-sheeted ghouls paid late night visits to black homes, telling the terrified occupants to behave themselves and threatening more visits if they failed to behave. It didnt take long for the threats to be converted into violence against blacks, whom insisted on exercising their new rights and freedom. Before its six founders realized what had happened, the Ku Klux Klan had become something they may not have originally intended a deadly uncontrollable organization. American Involvement In The Cuban Revolution EssayIf the Ku Klux Klan was never formed, there wouldnt be as much racial tension as there is today. The KKK took many innocent lives and caused many families to suffer many white men who were helping the blacks gain social status. This hateful group never took the time to try to work or socialize with blacks, but rather tried to exile them. The bare facts about the birth of the Ku Klux Klan and its rebirth half a century later, are still baffling to most people today. Little more than a year after it was founded, the secret society thundered its way across the war-torn South, sabotaging Reconstruction governments and imposed a reign of terror and violence that lasted three to four years. And then as rapidly as it had spread, the Klan faded into the history books. After World War I a new version of the Klan sputtered to life and brought many parts of the nation under its paralyzing grip of racism and bloodshed. Then, having grown to be a major force for the second time, the Klan again receded into the background. This time it never quite disappeared, but it never again obtained such widespread support. While the menace of the KKK has peaked and waned over the years, it has never vanished. I am sorry to say that the KKK is still around today. It may not be strong as it use to, but there are still a couple of idiots that believe that the blacks should still beAhuja 6 slaves. It saddens me to see people, whom speak out against blacks, but never take the time to get to know any of them. I dont know how they can still have clan rallies, like the one in Memphis that just creates more racial tension. It may be a constitutional right, but there should be some exceptions. I live in the small town of Holly Springs, Mississippi, where the black population is far greater than the whites, and have received a KKK invitation letter in my very own yard. I still cant believe that they are even around today. Even in our University, there is vandalism that is racially motivated. When will people learn not to hate?I am happy to see that there are not any places that I know of that still segregate agai nst blacks. Black people have come a far way and have fought hard to gain the social status that they have today. It is hard for me to realize that the University only allowed admissions to blacks in the 1960s, but I am proud to see that Ole Miss has finally voted in its first black president. The KKK built up racial tension and it will take the students to tone it down. The only way to get rid of it is to talk about it.