Rising Out of Hatred

by

Eli Saslow

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Ku Klux Klan (KKK) Term Analysis

The Ku Klux Klan is a white supremacist hate group that was first founded in 1865 and was responsible for lynchings, bombings, and other acts of violence against Black people. After becoming inactive in the 1870s, the Klan was revived in 1915 and again in 1946. David Duke and Don Black helped rejuvenate the KKK in the 1960s, and Duke eventually became Grand Wizard and then passed on the title to Don.

Ku Klux Klan (KKK) Quotes in Rising Out of Hatred

The Rising Out of Hatred quotes below are all either spoken by Ku Klux Klan (KKK) or refer to Ku Klux Klan (KKK). For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Ostracism vs. Open Dialogue Theme Icon
).
Chapter 1 Quotes

No family had done more to help white nationalism bully its way back into mainstream politics, and Derek was the next step in that evolution. He was precocious, thoughtful, and polite, sometimes delivering handwritten thank-you notes to conference volunteers. He never used racist slurs. He didn’t advocate for outright violence or breaking the law. His core beliefs were the same as those of most white nationalists: that America would be better off as a whites-only country, and that all minorities should eventually be forced to leave. But instead of basing his public arguments on emotion or explicit prejudice, he spoke mostly about what he believed to be the facts of racial science, immigration, and a declining white middle class.

Related Characters: Derek Black, Don Black
Page Number: 7
Explanation and Analysis:

As Derek explained it to his listeners, white nationalists were not fighting against minority rights but fighting for rights of their own. As the white population in the United States continued to drop, Derek and other activists were “simply trying to protect and preserve an endangered heritage and culture,” he said. They were trying to save whites from an “inevitable genocide by mass immigration and forced assimilation.” Theirs was the righteous cause. They were the social justice warriors. “What’s happening right now is a genocide of our people, plain and simple,” Derek said. “We are Europeans. We have a right to exist. We will not be replaced in our own country.”

Related Characters: Derek Black (speaker), Allison Gornik
Page Number: 13
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

During the coming months, Don and Derek would watch as white nationalism continued to explode into mainstream politics. There would be fights over the destruction of Confederate monuments, followed by a succession of marches and rallies led by white nationalists throughout the South. One of those marches would arrive in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia, in August 2017, where Richard Spencer, David Duke, and hundreds of neo-Nazis would carry guns and torches into downtown, threatening counterprotesters with chants of “White lives matter” and “You will not replace us,” until one neo-Nazi rammed his car into a crowd, killing one counterprotester and injuring nineteen others. Trump would go on national TV to explain away the violence by blaming “both sides”—what he called the “alt-left” and also “the good people” on the “alt-right”—creating a moral equivalency between racists and antiracists. Don would call Trump’s comments “the high point” of white nationalism during his lifetime. Derek would write another opinion piece for The New York Times to say that Trump’s “frightening statement” had “legitimized” a racist ideology. Don would watch Stormfront's traffic triple overnight, spiking to 300,000 daily page views, signifying what he called the “full awakening of our people.”

Related Characters: Derek Black, Don Black, David Duke, Donald Trump, Richard B. Spencer
Page Number: 282
Explanation and Analysis:
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Ku Klux Klan (KKK) Term Timeline in Rising Out of Hatred

The timeline below shows where the term Ku Klux Klan (KKK) appears in Rising Out of Hatred. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Introduction
White Supremacy and Racism Theme Icon
Redemption Theme Icon
Rhetoric and Language Theme Icon
...police shootings, and the rise of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Derek’s godfather, David Duke—a former KKK Grand Wizard—ran for the Senate. Stormfront, a hate website that Derek’s father Don Black founded,... (full context)
Chapter 1
White Supremacy and Racism Theme Icon
In fall 2008, 150 of the world’s most prominent white nationalists, Klansmen, and neo-Nazis arrive for a meeting in Memphis. Despite attempts by local governments to stop... (full context)
White Supremacy and Racism Theme Icon
Rhetoric and Language Theme Icon
...the movement from the fringes to the far conservative right. He’s rebranded himself from a KKK Grand Wizard to a “racial realist” politician giving rants on YouTube. At the conference, he... (full context)
Family, Community, and Values Theme Icon
Redemption Theme Icon
...a prodigy in the movement and a product of it—his father, Don Black, led the Klan for nearly a decade and created Stormfront, the internet’s first and largest white pride website.... (full context)
White Supremacy and Racism Theme Icon
Family, Community, and Values Theme Icon
...a mailing list on behalf of a white power organization. In college, he joined the KKK and rose through the ranks. The FBI later caught him when he tried to overthrow... (full context)
White Supremacy and Racism Theme Icon
Redemption Theme Icon
Rhetoric and Language Theme Icon
...racial diversity causes a lot of problems, recommends writings from Holocaust deniers, and talks about KKK ceremonies. Derek also uses the show to interview other white nationalists about their experiences, always... (full context)
Chapter 3
Ostracism vs. Open Dialogue Theme Icon
...than 200 people, and later he left LSU after his junior year and revitalized the Klan, ultimately remaking himself into a politician and spending four decades as a notorious racial zealot.... (full context)
Chapter 5
White Supremacy and Racism Theme Icon
...years of high school volunteering for J.B. Stoner’s campaign. Stoner was a segregationist and a KKK member once convicted of bombing a Black church. One of Don’s tasks was to break... (full context)
White Supremacy and Racism Theme Icon
Rhetoric and Language Theme Icon
...at the University of Alabama. At 22, Duke initiated him into the Knights of the KKK. By 24, Don was running for mayor of Birmingham as the city’s most famous white... (full context)
White Supremacy and Racism Theme Icon
Leaving the Klan, Don joined with other white nationalists in Operation Red Dog, a plot to overthrow the... (full context)
Rhetoric and Language Theme Icon
...affirmative action, and welfare. It was a relatively small race, but Duke’s history with the Klan made it visible. President George Bush and former president Ronald Reagan denounced him, but Duke... (full context)
Chapter 7
White Supremacy and Racism Theme Icon
...becomes a major news story, with news outlets reporting that conference-goers will include neo-Nazis and Klansmen. Still, despite her growing anxiety, Allison trusts that Derek will not put her at risk,... (full context)
Chapter 8
Ostracism vs. Open Dialogue Theme Icon
White Supremacy and Racism Theme Icon
Redemption Theme Icon
...decline of white Americans. He doesn’t support neo-Nazism, nor is he a part of the KKK. He doesn’t outline all of his beliefs, but he hopes it helps slightly. (full context)