Textual Analysis

Kloran: Confederate Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in the Context of America's Lynching Culture

Predictably, the content of this historical Ku Klux Klan document provides countless avenues for exploration and analysis. This exhibit does not purport to showcase all meaningful aspects of the text; rather, it aims to highlight the handbook’s pertinence to the culture of racially-motivated lynching in America. Sections of the text that bear this specific value are identified and addressed individually below.

Front cover and illustration:

The handbook's sole illustration, which also comprises its sole use of a second ink color, appears on its front cover and forms the background for its title and organizational information. In faint cornflower blue, the line drawing depicts a Klansman in full KKK getup, mounted on a rearing horse in high grass. This positioning of horse and rider recalls a centuries-long trope for glorifying warriors in art, particularly in equestrian statues. The choice to depict the horse in a rearing posture suggests the unseen context of an active battle, as horses typically rear in response to threats or in preparation for conflict. Seeing as the KKK postdates America's Civil War, the viewer is left to conclude that the Klansman's current battle is a corporeal struggle for white survival. The effect here—likely intended—is a sense of urgency, of ongoing crisis, of racial “threats” made manifest and physical.

The Klansman appears faceless due to both his standard cloth face mask and the overlay of the title text. He dons the Klan's distinctive, sharply pointed, conical hat, draped in flowing white cloth, with one of its hanging ear flaps visible along his face. The purpose of the white costume is threefold: by covering the face, it disguises the individual identity of the group member and thus frees him to act without consequence, it standardizes the appearance of group members much as military uniforms would, and it uses a bizarre visual presence to startle and intimidate onlookers. Notably, the horse in this illustration wears its own hooded cloak, with necessary alterations having been made to accommodate its ears and stature.

The M.I.O.A.K. (Mystic Insignia Of A Klansman), typically a circular red badge affixed to the left side of a Klansman's robe, appears here without a distinction in color. It is also quite oversized in the drawing, covering at least half of the man's chest; this likely reflects a necessary adjustment for conveying detail. The detail that does appear is crude, but its strokes correspond to the central elements of the M.I.O.A.K., or “Blood Drop Cross” symbol: a white Greek cross (either upright or turned as an “X”) on a circular background, a diamond outlined in the center of the cross such that four “K”s are formed through its meeting with the cross arms, and a single drop of blood centered within that diamond. The M.I.O.A.K. is an explicitly white supremacist symbol evoking a closed, fixed circle of participants, a perceived fusion with Christian ideology, and, of course, the desired isolation and protection of “white blood.” Rendered as a recurring emblem and worn as a sort of “coat of arms,” the M.I.O.A.K. bestows an air of archaic dignity on Klan regalia. Its visual purpose is to convey legitimacy by evoking the “official” iconography of governments and militaries.

The Klansman in this drawing hoists the flag of the Confederate States of America upward and rearward in his left hand, so that the flag billows on full display. This indication of the Klan’s alignment with the values of the seceded Southern states during the Civil War is fairly straightforward. Significantly, the flag is flying at half-staff, which in American tradition indicates mourning for a recently deceased figure of importance. The meaning of this detail could be interpreted a number of ways, but it may represent respect for the Confederate dead and/or point to an imagined loss or casualty on the part of white Americans. Taken as a whole, the illustration uses layered, potent symbolism that suggests validation for white fears and justification for even the most extreme responses by Klan members.

The text on the cover of the handbook is in unadorned, black, sans-serif type, in three sections centered vertically and horizontally on the paper. Its effect is business-like and no-nonsense, in sharp contrast to the dramatic depiction behind it. It lists no author, no individual names, no subtitle, no physical address—only the handbook’s one-word title, the name of the group, and a post office box address.

Inside front cover ("WHY WE BURN THE CROSS") and Page 1 ("KLAN KREED"):

The body of text featured on the inside front cover of the handbook is, plainly, a rationale for one of the Klan’s signature terroristic rituals. In three short paragraphs, the page uses language strongly associated with the Christian religion to posit a connection between cross-burning and Biblical values, and a secondary connection between American identity and both of the former. The twin images of fire and blood pervade the writing, driving hard at notions of purity and purification, violence and righteous martyrdom, ancestry and survival. Terms that are sourced from the Bible or refer to Christianity are set apart using all capital letters: “BOOK DIVINE,” “HOLY CROSS,” “CHRIST,” and “FAITH, HOPE, AND LOVE” are examples. On the facing page, another piece of text states as fact a Biblical basis for both racial separation and white supremacy. It goes on to single out the United States as the ultimate white, Protestant society, and its citizens as holding “a Divine commission” to protect white lineage.

The implications of these pages are both clear and crucial. Glossing Biblical rhetoric and sprinkling Christian and nationalist buzzwords, the short pieces of writing make a rapid leap to paint Klan terrorism as a religious duty. The word choices throughout the paragraphs—and specifically within the final paragraph of “WHY WE BURN THE CROSS”—seem intended to wed the concepts of spiritual dignity and violent conflict as efficiently as possible. Through references to the Crusades and emphasis of concepts like the “burning out [of] vices” and “life-blood-bought,” the text makes a case for necessary harm and sanctifies self-protective violence. The burning of the cross is a key symbolic act for the Klan, in that it issues a threat of destruction couched in the self-certainty of a religious mission while also marking an initial encroachment on property and physical security. By explicitly justifying acts of terrorism as spiritually mandated, the Klan opens a door to justifying more brutal crimes on the same terms.

Page 2 ("ORDER OF BUSINESS OF THE KU KLUX KLAN" and "LIST OF KLAN OFFICERS"):

Predictably, this historical Ku Klux Klan document provides countless avenues for exploration and analysis. This exhibit does not purport to showcase all meaningful aspects of the text; rather, it aims to highlight the handbook’s pertinence to the culture of racially-motivated lynching in America.

Pages 5 through 9 ("INITIATION CEREMONY"):

Pages 9-12 ("TITLES AND EXPLANATIONS"):

Page 12 and inside back cover ("Qualifying Interrogatories"):

Outside back cover ("Qualifying Interrogatories"):

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Exhibit curated by Rhagen Olinde