A Climate of Fear: The History of Racial Terror
To maintain a segregated society in the South, many white residents sought to make fear and intimidation a part of everyday life for African Americans. Their tactics included physical violence, economic threats, and psychological intimidation, as well as sexual exploitation. The goal was to leave African Americans unsure of when or even why they might become victims. The wrong gesture, look, or response could end in a fatal encounter.
Confederate veterans organized the first Ku Klux Klan (KKK) group in Tennessee in 1865. The Klan spread quickly, intent on intimidating freedmen across the South. After the end of Reconstruction, Klansmen escalated their violence to discourage African Americans from voting or running for office. They also threatened Republican politicians. Their actions helped white Democrats return to power in the South and undermined the political influence of African Americans.
White southerners also used lynching to terrorize African Americans. Most victims were accused of a crime but never put on trial. Rape of white women was the most frequent unsustained charge. Victims were shot, hung, tortured, and burned at the stake. Some lynchings were public spectacles attended by large crowds, reinforcing the idea that fear was the only way to control African Americans and force them to accept segregation and discrimination.
The Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s opposed the growing urban populations of immigrants, Catholics, and African Americans. Their appeal was strong enough to elect mayors in Portland, Maine, and Oregon as well as gain control of state politics in Colorado and Indiana. At the height of the Klan’s influence in the 1920s, it was estimated to have as many as eight million members at all levels of society.
Learn more about the history of racial terror in the United States: s.si.edu/2fODyvi
