The number of KKK groups by state,
There’s a reason members of the Ku Klux Klan wear robes and hoods and use odd-sounding titles as they preach their message of white power: They have a rule book.
Through its 150-year history, the Ku Klux Klan has been associated with hatred, terror and mayhem. The group’s rule book — known as the Kloran — was first published 100 years ago, in 1916. The Kloran lays out a series of beliefs, titles and rituals that formed the core of Klan practices, sometimes dubbed “KlanKraft.” The book was supposedly secret for generations, but today copies are posted on the internet.
Some groups within the modern, splintered Klan say they don’t follow the Kloran, while others do. Regardless, an online version of the Kloran published by the University of Wisconsin library offers a glimpse into one of the nation’s most notorious organizations.
WHITE SUPREMACY
Some Klan groups try to present themselves in a soft light today, but white supremacy combined with religion is at the core of the group, which considers itself a Christian organization. From the “Ku Klux Klan Kreed” at the opening of the Kloran: “We avow the distinction between the races of mankind as same has been decreed by the Creator, and we shall ever be true in the faithful maintenance of White Supremacy and will strenuously oppose any compromise thereof in any and all things.” Aspiring members must swear that they are a “native-born white, Gentile American citizen.”
ROBES AND HOODS
The title page of the Kloran includes a drawing of the garb most commonly associated with the Ku Klux Klan. In it, a Klansman wearing a white robe and hood sits astride a rearing horse, which also is wearing a white robe bearing a cross.
BURNING CROSSES
The practice of setting crosses aflame dates back to the earliest days of the KKK. The script of a ritual proscribed by the Kloran describes flaming crosses as “the emblem of that sincere, unselfish devotedness of all Klansmen to the sacred purpose and principles we espoused.” According to Slate, modern Klan groups are careful to refer to their ritual as “cross lighting” rather than cross-burning and insist that their fires symbolize faith in Christ. The days of so-called disciplinary burnings, they add, are long since over.