특집논문 - 1920년대 KKK : 하얀 두건, 검은 속셈 (The Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s: White Supremacy and a Dirty Marketing Strategy)

서지정보

· 발행기관 : 한국서양사학회
· 수록지 정보 : 서양사론 / 122호 / 82 ~ 111페이지
· 저자명 : 황혜성

초록

This study is about the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s, which recruited a large number of members, amassing more power than any other group in U. S. history. By the mid-1920s four million white, native-born Protestant men were enlisted and more than four thousand local chapters were established. This study begins with simple questions: how the Klan grew so rapidly and how it was able to attract millions of American white men to pledge their loyalty to the order’s leaders and its program. To answer these simple questions this study situates the Klan in the culture of the times and tries to explain how ordinary men came to believe the Klan was the defender of Americanism. In this way, we can understand what made them tick. Thus, the first part of the study deals with the radical racism and white supremacy which was the base the second Klan was built on in 1915. Radical racism had prevailed after the 1890s in the New South and soon spread throughout the nation. The second part treats “discontented America,” where declining agricultural prices, rapid technological and social changes, high rates of immigration, postwar nativism and rapid urbanization made ordinary white men feel threatened and frustrated. They found an outlet in the second Klan which claimed itself the regulator of morals. The result was an incredible growth of the Klan. Moreover, in adopting collective violence to achieve their ends, the Klan formulated their own theory, insisting that the Klan was the defender of 100% Americanism and the protector of “the purity of white womanhood.”The idea of “white womanhood” was a crucial rallying point for the Klan in the 1920s. Therefore, it is impossible to understand the second Ku Klux Klan without attention to their ideas about gender or sexual politics. Then, the study reveals what was underneath the white masks and robes, the dirty strategy of collecting money. The second Klan was like an enterprise running its own companies. In short, this study demonstrates that the Klan’s rapid growth was the result of the traditional appeals of nativism, the attraction of mystical fraternalism, and high-pressure salesmanship.

영어초록

This study is about the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s, which recruited a large number of members, amassing more power than any other group in U. S. history. By the mid-1920s four million white, native-born Protestant men were enlisted and more than four thousand local chapters were established. This study begins with simple questions: how the Klan grew so rapidly and how it was able to attract millions of American white men to pledge their loyalty to the order’s leaders and its program. To answer these simple questions this study situates the Klan in the culture of the times and tries to explain how ordinary men came to believe the Klan was the defender of Americanism. In this way, we can understand what made them tick. Thus, the first part of the study deals with the radical racism and white supremacy which was the base the second Klan was built on in 1915. Radical racism had prevailed after the 1890s in the New South and soon spread throughout the nation. The second part treats “discontented America,” where declining agricultural prices, rapid technological and social changes, high rates of immigration, postwar nativism and rapid urbanization made ordinary white men feel threatened and frustrated. They found an outlet in the second Klan which claimed itself the regulator of morals. The result was an incredible growth of the Klan. Moreover, in adopting collective violence to achieve their ends, the Klan formulated their own theory, insisting that the Klan was the defender of 100% Americanism and the protector of “the purity of white womanhood.”The idea of “white womanhood” was a crucial rallying point for the Klan in the 1920s. Therefore, it is impossible to understand the second Ku Klux Klan without attention to their ideas about gender or sexual politics. Then, the study reveals what was underneath the white masks and robes, the dirty strategy of collecting money. The second Klan was like an enterprise running its own companies. In short, this study demonstrates that the Klan’s rapid growth was the result of the traditional appeals of nativism, the attraction of mystical fraternalism, and high-pressure salesmanship.

참고자료

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