Klansville USA

North Carolina, a widely known progressive state in the South, rarely experienced the violence of the Civil Rights Era that their neighbors had. Yet the state of North Carolina had more members of the Ku Klux Klan living within its boarders than all other southern states combined. At its peak the Klan had more than 10,000 members involved in open street walks, Klan rallies, and even radio sponsorships. The Klan became incredibly prominent during the 1960's and became a driving force of voicing "white interests" in the state.

But why the sudden spike in Klan involvement in the progressive state of North Carolina? Well, to be simply put, the answer is inclusion. The organization of the Klan in North Carolina during the 1960's was masterfully completed and gave a "county fair" setting to their rallies. If you're in the backwoods of North Carolina and you hear about a rally where the whole town would attend, food would be served, music would be played, AND there would be a preacher ranting about the wants and desires of your fellow white people, that sounds like a damn good Saturday. Rallies received a lot of local attention because even if people didn't want to be outgoing about their social views, they enjoyed listening to a preacher discuss them and having their views projected through someone else. Most likely the local Klan rally would be the highlight of your week, and it didn't hurt that you could relate to their message as a lower, working class, white southerner. The main purpose of the Klan was to act as a protector for these lower class whites to avoid falling to the bottom of the barrel. With minorities gaining more and more rights under the law, lower class, southern whites were hit with a huge culture shock when they weren't allowed to stand on the backs of oppressed minorities. This culture shock led these North Carolinians to join the Klan in waves, and they were welcomed with open arms.