![]() It was religion that empowered the El Paso Klan. ![]() That left the eugenics movement over control of the city’s political structure. Because El Paso’s Black population has been in the single digits, racism against Blacks did not dominate the city’s politics. El Paso had access to Mexican laborers thus the need for slavery was never a factor. Although, in El Paso, immigration was part of the Klan’s agenda, its focus was driven by its anti-Catholicism underlined with white supremacy. The El Paso KKK’s central issue was control of the public schools. Instead of Black racism, the “Klan in El Paso was partly a response to divisions between Hispanic and Anglo populations.” Although El Paso was and is Hispanic dominated, the Anglo minority wields the political power of the city. Many joined the KKK for business and political reasons. It should be noted that not all members of the KKK, at this time, were focused on nativism. Ideologically, the KKK “labeled the newer immigrants as inferior and dangerous to the American Republic.” This ideology reflected the eugenics movement across America at the time. The Klan began focusing more on ideology in the 1920’s. It was nativism along with the eugenics movement that drove the El Pasoans to join the Klan. It is against this background of the second version of the KKK that El Paso’s leadership joined rank with the KKK. The second version of the KKK has its foundation within the Protestant religious communities, proclaiming themselves as upholders of Christian morality. Both the latest iteration, the third version, and the second version oppose civil rights movements through violence and intimidation. However, a third version of the KKK returned in the 1950’s, again focused on immigrants as a perceived danger to white supremacy in America today. It is this version of the KKK that rose to prominence in El Paso. It is this version of the KKK, which largely ended in the late 1920’s, that used the imagery of burning crosses and white hooded members that most represents the KKK today. In 1915, the KKK evolved away from predominantly targeting the Black community towards focusing on what it perceived to be the dangers posed to the white supremacy movement by immigrants coming to America. ![]() In addition to violently targeting the Black communities, the first version of the KKK intimidated voters. The first version of the KKK was in opposition to Republican politicians running for office in the former Confederate states. The secretive organization was established after the Civil War in response to the end of slavery, where its members were generally found in the former Confederate States of America. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) is a racist white supremacy group.
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