The KKK
The\xa0Ku Klux Klan\xa0(/\u02ccku\u02d0\xa0kl\u028cks\xa0\u02c8kl\xe6n,\xa0\u02cckju\u02d0-/),[a]\xa0commonly called the\xa0KKK\xa0or the\xa0Klan, is an American\xa0white supremacist\xa0hate group\xa0whose primary targets are\xa0African Americans, as well as\xa0Jews,\xa0immigrants,\xa0leftists,\xa0homosexuals, and, until recently,\xa0Catholics.[9]\xa0The Klan has existed in three distinct eras at different points in time during the history of the United States. Each has advocated extremist\xa0reactionary\xa0positions such as\xa0white nationalism,\xa0anti-immigration\xa0and \u2013 especially in later iterations \u2013\xa0Nordicism,[10][11]\xa0antisemitism,\xa0prohibition,\xa0homophobia,\xa0Islamophobia,\xa0anti-atheism, and\xa0anti-Catholicism. Historically, the first Klan used\xa0terrorism\xa0\u2013 both physical assault and murder \u2013 against politically active blacks and their allies in the South in the late 1860s, until it was suppressed around 1872. All three movements have called for the "purification" of American society and all are considered "right-wing extremist" organizations.[12][13][14][15]\xa0In each era, membership was secret and estimates of the total were highly exaggerated by both friends and enemies.