![]() (AP Photo/John Bazemore, used with permission from the Associated Press)Ĭrosses were burned not only at lynchings but also more generally to terrorize African Americans, Roman Catholics, Jews, and others hated by the Klan. politics are going their way, as a nationalist, us-against-them mentality deepens across the nation. In 2016, KKK leaders say they feel that U.S. At Klan gatherings, members, dressed in hoods, sang “Onward Christian Soldiers” and “The Old Rugged Cross.” In this Saturday, Apphoto, members of the Ku Klux Klan participate in cross burnings after a "white pride" rally in rural Paulding County near Cedar Town, Ga. Cross burning used to terrorize racial minorities hated by KlanĪs the Klan grew in numbers and influence, cross burning became an important ritual of group solidarity. Shortly thereafter, a cross was burned in nearby Marietta, Georgia, to celebrate the lynching of Leo Frank, a Jewish factory manager who had been accused of raping and killing a white Christian girl. Not long after the film’s appearance, a cross was burned on Stone Mountain, outside Atlanta, Georgia. In the film, Klan members chase and catch an African American man who had pursued a white woman, and ultimately lynch him in front of a burning cross. Griffith’s controversial, if popular, 1915 film The Birth of a Nation played a crucial role in the revival of the Klan, which had declined after Reconstruction. Popular film depicts Klan cross burning with a lynchingĭ.W. An earlier version of the Klan, which was created by former Confederate officers to impede Reconstruction in the South and to terrorize newly freed slaves, did not burn crosses. The modern use of cross burning is directly linked to a revival of the Ku Klux Klan in the early 20th century. The practice dates back to 14th century Scotland, where tribes burned crosses as signaling devices. (AP Photo, used with permission from The Associated Press.)Ĭross burning, which has been used as a form of intimidation against African Americans and Jews, has been defended in the courts on free speech grounds. 30, 1939 photo, members of the Ku Klux Klan, wearing white hoods and robes, watch a burning cross in Tampa, Florida.Cross burning, which has been used as a form of intimidation against African Americans and Jews, has been defended in the courts on free speech grounds.
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